My face contorted with a bitter realisation and a shriek escaped me as mixed emotions of ickiness and regret washed over me. It was a beautiful summer evening in the Danish countryside with silver waters of a lake adjoining the trail and beautiful Beech trees that soared above me in the dense woods. But a crackling noise from under my feet made me aware I had just unknowingly squished a huge snail at around half past five. It turns out neither one of us were to have an uneventful evening that day. But my fate wouldn’t nearly take such a dark turn as it did for the poor snail. It would only remain a lesson in how not do solo hiking.

I was out for an evening stroll in the woods encircling a lovely lake near the wealthy suburbs of Farum, an hour outside of Copenhagen by train. After spending nearly 10 days in the stylish Danish cities of Copenhagen and Aarhus, I was craving for my nature fix. After much scouring, I stumbled upon a convenient listing on Airbnb situated near two lakes called Furesø and Farum Sø. The property description mentioned the possibility to hike around the lakes and I was instantly sold. I decided to spend my last four days in Denmark soaking in its famously flat landscape.