Description of the package Timber raft 8 days
Day 1: Meeting and information
Assembling at 5 pm in Gunnerud (assembling is the same as starting day, which is the date you have made your booking). You will be issued with the equipment you have booked for your tour. After this, we will provide information about building the raft, the route on the river and the Swedish right of public access. If you arrive by car, this will be parked in Gunnerud (or Björkebo) during your timber raft tour. The first night you spend in your tent in our wilderness camp in Gunnerud.
Day 2: In the morning
Early in the morning (around 8 am), we drive you to the raft building site in Branäs, about 1.5 hours north of Gunnerud.
Day 2: At the building site
At the building site, on the riverbank, there will be a good supply of 3-metre long logs and rope, which are all you need to build a stable timber raft. You either roll or carry the logs down to the river, since your raft – which once completed will weigh 1.5 to 2 tonnes – must be constructed in the water. An experienced instructor will be on hand at the building site. Since building and, later on, steering the raft requires some physically hard work, at least two adults per raft have to be present and helping out. Each raft can carries up to 6 persons.
Day 2: Start of the tour
Sometime in the afternoon, you will be ready to cast off. For the next few days, this 18 m² timber raft will be your home. (If you are planning on taking this trip as just two persons, you also have the possibility to build a smaller, half size, raft of 9 m²). The canoe, which is included in the basic equipment, simplifies making land, looking for a campsite for the night or making a stop at one of the local convenience stores.
Day 2-8: Camping/Accommodation
You plan the daily distances for the trip on your own, depending on the circumstances at the time. During the timber raft tour, you spend the night under canvas on your well-moored raft or on land in a tent. The suitable spots for each night are your individual choice. Along the river, there are also some campsites, giving you the possibility to spend one or more nights for a fee at a well-equipped campsite – either in your own tent or in a small cabin. If you choose to stay at Klarälvens Camping, one night in tent is free of charge.
Day 2-8: Adventures on the tour
The evenly repeating bends of the river Klarälven are unique. As you let your timber raft float downstream from one bend to the next, you are being part of an amazing nature experience. The river Klarälven, being full of sand, offers you a lot of good swimming opportunities, while at the same time challenging the rafters with tricky sandbanks, difficult to spot just below the water surface. To get stuck upon a sandbank is part of a rafter’s daily work, unless the water level is unusually high. Stones and eddies are other challenges you surely will face during your timber raft tour.
Day 2-8: The river and wildlife
With the current as the engine of the timber raft, you will travel completely silently. This enables the sighting of wild animals, although you should not forget that the cultural surroundings in the valley have been populated for centuries. From a historical point of view, the agricultural exploitation of the soil has been very profitable over the years. While floating down the river you will still experience cultivated land and pastures. The wild animal you are most likely to see is the beaver, mainly living in – and close to – the river. The riverside is also full of other small and interesting animals, such as an almost extinct bug, which is dependent on open sandy areas to survive.
Day 2-8: Fish for dinner?
For many people going down the river, it is a dream to catch your own supper with the fishing rod. You can purchase a fishing permit in Gunnerud and then feel free to try your luck at fishing – though, just to be on the safe side, you shouldn’t count on catching your supper out of the river every evening. Instead, you could use the opportunity to pay a visit to one of the small local convenience stores, supporting the local inhabitants of the valley.
Day 8: Finish
At your destination, in Björkebo or Gunnerud, you return your hired equipment and dismantle your raft by 5 pm.