tisdag 10 januari 2017

Hallandsleden Walk #19: Ljungslätt-Vessigebro (Friday 29/07-16)

The final Hallandsleden walk took place on Friday when I walked from Ljungslätt near Asige to Vessigebro. Actually it was a bit tricky to get by bus to Ljungslätt since during summers the bus from Falkenberg only goes twice a week and only during the afternoon. Either way, the walk was only 17km and took 3h8min. The average speed was thus 5.43km/h (which is pretty fast).
In general the character of the walk is quite similar to Hallandsleden walk #16 between Hakestad and Vessigebro. The walk went mostly on asphalt or gravel roads and went through quite open landscapes for the most part. It was an easy but nevertheless interesting walk. Enjoy the photos!


1.
Near Ljungslätt.

2.
Lunnagård.

3.
Li. Rotated and cropped the photo.

4.
Ablid Kyrka. Rotated and cropped the photo.

5.
Rotated and cropped the photo. Then I used the hue-restorer plug-in to get rid of the cyan-ish sky.

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7.
Rotated and cropped the photo. Also brightened the non-sky parts slightly using the levels tool.

8.
Skattagård nature reserve
"Welcome to Skattagård nature reserve! A one-hundred year old woodland dominated by oak trees is to be found in the reserve. Species such as the uncommon moss Metzgeria fruticulosa grow in the forest that has been undisturbed for a long time. In the shady deciduous forest alongside the trail Hallandsleden you can find herb-paris as well as whorled Solomon's-seal in large quantities. The rare moss Zygodon conoideus grows on a couple maple trees by the abandoned courtyard of the now demolished farm Skattagård. The lesser spotted woodpecker and the common nutcracker are part of the animal life of the woodland. In the eastern part of the reserve there is a small meadow. The globeflower and the pleasant smelling greater butterflyorchid grow here."

9.
Skattagård nature reserve.
The ground part of the photo had a quite bad blue cast (too much blue color). I first used the curves tool to reduce the influence of the blue channel for the ground part overall and then I further reduced the effect of the blue channel for the ground part closer to the camera (using curves tool and trying to balance things out so there wouldn't be a weird transition). The ground colors are not yet great but certainly much closer to natural looking than before.

10.
""Betty's"
You are now standing by the remains of Skattagård or "Betty's" as the farm was known locally, named after its last owner, who lived here until the 1990s. The little old lady lived a very frugal life without running water or electricity in the house. Now the deciduous hardwood forest is slowly reclaiming what was once farm land."
Rotated and cropped the image. I tried removing the severe blue cast (too much blue color in the photo) by reducing the effect of the blue channel (using curves tool) and then equalizing the histogram.

11.
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Darkened the background slightly using the levels tool.

13.
14.
Jättastenen
There are 10 bowl hollows (skålgropar) on this block. Bowl hollow is a type of rock carving that is sometimes referred to as älvkvarnar. The bowl hollows can be several thousand years old and are linked to several religious rites.
According to the legend of Jättastenen, a giant sat on the stone and drank alcohol. Imprints formed by the giant's bottom, boozeroo, schanps bottle and sugar bowl. The giant also made imprints with his fingers.

15.
Via Regia
The road you have reached was part of "Halland's Via Regia". It was an important route between not only northern and southern Halland but also between Denmark and Norway. It went on ridges a bit further away from the coast since it was easier to get across rivers that way.

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"The view across Ätradalen
In front of you the Ätran valley spreads its soft contours. The river flows slowly but just a few kilometers upstream it changes character and becomes more "wild". Ever since the Bronze Age people have chosen to settle by the calmer stretches. Along the edge of the river valley are hundreds of ancient graves which bear witness to the fact that it was a densely populated area. Even today the pattern is repeated and present-day buildings are located on the high areas of land."
Rotated and cropped the photo. Then for the non-sky parts I increased the brightness using the levels and the curves tools.

18.
Vessigebro Church. Rotated and cropped the photo.

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