mostly WALKING

Moving

noreply@blogger.com (-maria-) — Thu, 26 Jun 2014 08:55:00 +0000

I continue to blog in a new blog:

Footprints

Welcome there!

Haukanholma in winter darkness

noreply@blogger.com (-maria-) — Sun, 12 Jan 2014 17:20:00 +0000

Nuuksio 2/1/2014 - 3/1/2014

A little over a week ago I went for my first overnighter of 2014. The destination was Nuuksio national park. I took the train to Espoo centre and the bus 85 from there. I had chosen to set my camp up in Haukanholma.

There had been a lot of daywalkers in the area and they were leaving the national park as I was walking from the bus stop. It seemed that the vast majority were driving their own cars. I felt like an over-equipped elephant with all my gear; I had even chosen to take my new winter sleeping bag instead of my 3 season bag despite the fact that the temperature was around freezing. I have successfully slept in the 3 season bag in conditions like that but I really wanted to try out the new bag.

There was still some daylight when I arrived in Haukanholma. As I was on this trip alone I wanted to do all the "dangerous" things first (when I could see what I was doing) so I chopped some wood for the campfire and went to get some water from the lake (always the risk of getting your feet wet on the slippery rocks). I had brought 2 litres of tap water with me but I used lake water for food and tea (as I was anyway going to boil that water). I hadn't taken a water filter with me (I was afraid of freezing it).

At half past five it was completely dark and I started the camp fire. I have mixed feelings about using fire wood just for fun (I was using my gas stove to prepare food) but in the winter darkness it is nice to stare at the flames. It was just me and my thoughts. A little later I heard chatting in the woods and saw some torches approaching: some young fellows had decided to spend a night camping, too. I think there were three of them and they were maybe in their early twenties - it's hard to tell as it was so dark. There are two fire places in Haukanholma and they occupied the other one.

I sat by the fire a couple of hours and then retired into my tent. In the warmth of the sleeping bag I read a book for an hour or two before switching off my headlamp and going to sleep. I slept like a baby and woke up at around 7 am. only to notice it was still way too dark to get up. At 9 I finally crawled out of the tent. I had promised to come home early so I cooked some water for the breakfast (and found out that my last sandwich had disappeared from the vestibule of my tent during the night - a fox, maybe?) and started to break the camp. A short 2 kilometre walk to the bus stop and two hours later I was at home again. It was a good and relaxing start for the new year - and a perfect way to spend the last days of Christmas holiday.

_____

The winter has been warm but yesterday we got our first snow in Helsinki. As I'm typing this text the temperature is -8 C and the ground is covered by a thin layer of snow - not enough for skiing but enough to make it look like winter. The conditions would be perfect for a winter overnighter but I'm no longer on holiday!

Season's greetings

noreply@blogger.com (-maria-) — Tue, 24 Dec 2013 12:06:00 +0000

24/12/2013

This year there is no white Christmas in Helsinki - it is +3° C and rainy. No complaints though: chocolate and mulled wine taste good all the same.

The pics in this post were taken on our local family Christmas Eve walk today.

A short visit to Nuuksio NP

noreply@blogger.com (-maria-) — Sun, 03 Nov 2013 15:31:00 +0000

Nuuksio 2/11/2013

Hubby and I visited Nuuksio national park yesterday. It was just a short bimble with some hot beverages (coffee for him, tea for me), cheese buns and sausages in our rucksacks.

We started our walk from Siikaniemi and headed to Holma-Saarijärvi where there is a fire place. It had rained the previous night and it was rather wet in the woods.

There were some scouts in Holma-Saarijärvi when we arrived there. They intended to stay overnight. But there was plenty of space for us and our sausages.

While we were eating it started to rain. We didn't have our waterproofs with us (how amateurish) but luckily it was just a short shower. And anyway we weren't more than a couple of kilometres from the car.

Before heading home we still drove to the other side of the national park and visited the Finnish Nature Centre Haltia which opened its doors last spring. Nothing wrong with the exhibition but if you like to experience the Finnish nature I think you should get outdoors and not indoors.

Oh, nice!

noreply@blogger.com (-maria-) — Sun, 20 Oct 2013 18:51:00 +0000

I don't know if you are familiar with the British sitcom Keeping up Appearances from the early 1990's - if you are, you surely remember Onslow and his sarcastic catchphrase Oh, nice! (And in case you are unfamiliar with this important piece of information you can always use YouTube to educate yourself. Those living in Finland can also watch TV1 on Saturdays and Sundays as the Finnish broadcasting company Yle is sending the series once again - it's called Pokka pitää in Finnish.)

*****

When I got back home from Lapland in late July (having spent a week backpacking there) I found out that my blog had become very popular. More hits per week than ever before. The bad news was that the referring sites were rather suspicious. Oh, nice! Not that I share any great secrets here but anyway. I know Internet is public (and I do not want to restrict my readership) but I did consider giving up blogging altogether. Hint: if you wish to see pictures of exposed private parts you better go somewhere else. I wish the robots that most likely are behind these attacks would understand this as well.

*****

Google decided that their reader - GoogleReader - was not part of their core business. Oh, nice! I kind of liked the simplicity of their reader and have been a little homeless since the 1st of July when GoogleReader stopped operating. I have tried this and that but haven't settled for a new reader yet. Following other blogs has therefore been occassional.

*****

I have started a new job this autumn and even if I quite enjoy it a new job always means less time outdoors. Especially as I have had a persistent sinuitis and a virus infection in my throat. I have had to cancel two planned overnighters and I have been able to do only a couple of short day walks since July. Oh, nice!

*****

Winter is approaching. We've already had some frosty mornings and on Friday we got some sleet. Oh, nice! Although this year I'm kind of waiting for the winter to come as I have a brand new winter sleeping bag. The manufacturer says an avarage male sleeps comfortably in it down to -32 °C - I expect that it'll be good for me down to -20 °C or so. And I doubt if I will be going for an overnighter if it gets much colder than that. If you can't beat your enemy get the right gear to cope with it.

*****

The pics from Lapland are still more or less unsorted on the external hard disk. A selection of them will eventually appear on this blog. The photos in this post are just some recent pics taken in and around Helsinki. See you soon again!

A girls' night out - Liesjärvi NP

noreply@blogger.com (-maria-) — Fri, 19 Jul 2013 09:24:00 +0000

Liesjärvi national park 16/7/2013 - 17/7/2013

Back home from a relaxing overnighter with our daughters and granny. We visited Liesjärvi national park just around 100 kilometres from Helsinki. It is very close to Torronsuo national park I visited last April. When choosing the destination for our outing it was important that 1 ) the drive wouldn't be too long, 2) the car park would be within a reasonable walking distance from the camp, 3) if possible, there would be something interesting for the kids to see besides the nature. Liesjärvi ticked all these boxes.

First we visited Korteniemi heritage farm which is located in the southern end of the national park. It is an old forest ranger's farmstead. Life there has remained almost unchanged for a century now. An interesting place to visit.

Having spent some time in Korteniemi we headed to our intented camping site in Savilahti. Even if we have extensive everyman's rights in Finland there are restrictions on camping in national parks where it is generally allowed to camp on specific camping sites only.

Savilahti camping site lies by the lake. It was very windy and the ground was rather dry so we didn't set a camp fire - but pancakes with strawberry jam tasted good anyway.

Like I mentioned in my previous post it is long since granny's been out camping. She was a little suspicious about this trip and even more so about drinking lake water. As we were "making water drinking water" she kept asking whether I've done that ever before and if anybody else has been drinking water filtered by me before. I have to admit that at first when I started with filtering water I was a bit dubious myself, too, but after a couple of years of not falling sick because of filtered water I've grown quite confident in all the filters I have used: Katadyn Hiker, Super Delios, and Travel Tap.

We slept well (at least the girls and I!) and ate a leisurely breakfast. Then it was time to break the camp and start walking back to the car. Having packed the car we still had a short walk to Kyynäränharju and then started driving back home. I think we all enjoyed the trip as granny called me: "As I said this was my last camping trip - but IF I ever go camping again I'd like to have an inflatable sleeping mat!"

Some summer activities outdoors

noreply@blogger.com (-maria-) — Mon, 15 Jul 2013 20:00:00 +0000

Just a post to catch up with my outdoor activities so far this summer. It is a long post but I was too lazy to split it into parts.

***

Kaunissaari (Sipoo) 9/5/2013 - 10/5/2013

Back in May I went for a traditional early season overnighter to Kaunissaari in Sipoo. It was still very much spring then, there were no leaves in the trees and spring flowers were in bloom.

An Esbit stand and a Trangia burner. The Esbit stand i very similar to the Trangia Triangle pot stand although I prefer the Trangia Triangle. The good thing about the Esbit stand is that it works better with narrow pots. The windscreen is by Firemaple.

***

Mustavuori (Helsinki) 14/5/2013

A few days later my mother asked me for a day walk in Mustavuori. It is a great place to see different flowers blooming in spring. She's been going there with my father for decades for a spring walk but since he died a couple of years ago she liked to have some company.

***

Vaakkoi (Vihti) 26/5/2013

Helsingin Latu organised an outdoor event in Vaakkoi. I went there with the kids and we walked the family trail (one or two kilometres). It was an enjoyable day even if it started to rain and we had to don our waterproofs - but that is why we carry them.

Blueberries-to-be.

***

Isojärvi national park 11/6/2013 - 13/6/2013

After the school summer holiday started I headed for a short backpacking trip with my son and father-in-law. The destination was Isojärvi national park in Kuhmoinen. On the way there we saw Vääksy canal in action. We were lucky with the weather: Helsinki had experienced some heavy downpours while we were away but we only had some very light rain showers. The waterproofs remained in our backpacks.

Our camp for the two nights. To the left, my Fjällräven Abisko Lightweight 1. A nice little tent that has been my solo shelter for more than a year now (although at 1.8 kg it is not that light as the name suggest). To the right, a Halti tent from the early 1980's, still going strong. That's where the boys slept.

The Trangia Triangle with the gas burner. Popping corn is fun on a backpacking trip.

***

Ulko-Tammio, Gulf of Finland national park 15/6/2013 - 16/6/2013

Having slept two nights indoors it was time for an overnighter in Ulko-Tammio, an island which belongs to the Gulf of Finland national park. The trip was organised by Helsingin Latu and I was accompanied by my husband. Car pools drove to Hamina from where the 3-hour sea journey commenced. Ulko-Tammio is an interesting island not only because of its nature but also for historical reasons. You could see to the Russian side, e.g. Suursaari island. It used to belong to Finland before World War II. There were several hundreds of Finnish soldiers located on this island during the war.

Me - myself - I.

***

Vihti 2/7/2013 - 3/7/2013

In the beginning of July we spent a night at the summer place of my parents-in-law. As usual, a tent was pitched in their front yard. The kids slept with their grandparents but hubby and I spent the night under canvas. I was playing with my new stove (Jetboil Flash - hey c'mon, it was on sale!) and we also got to test kayaking at a nearby beach where a local club had organised an event where you were able to try out different kinds of kayaks and canoes. We used to do some kayaking pre-children and it would be great to revive this hobby. The kids seemed to love it.

They say it is only for boiling water. I disagree.

***

Kaitalampi 10/7/2013

Kaitalampi near Nuuksio national park was our destination for a family walk and picnic with some friends. We were six adults and six children, that is three families. We got some heavy showers at us, but did it bother us? -No. We had our rainproofs with us, and the shelter with the camp fire was in place, too.

***

Kaunissaari (Sipoo) 11/7/2013 - 12/7/2013

The second trip of the year to Kaunissaari took place last week. A friend of mine has had some great sorrow in her life so I thought a day in the beautiful archipelago would do her good. And I think it did: even if it doesn't take the sad things away, nature is a great healer and can help you live with them.

***

So that has been the outdoorsy side of my life this summer so far. Tomorrow will see me head for an overnighter with my two daughters and their granny (that is, my mother). I think granny is a little terrified (it's a long time since she's slept in a tent) but the weather forecast looks promising and I believe we are going to have a nice little outing. Son is not coming with us this time but he's waiting eagerly for us to leave; they are going to watch some films with daddy and have some quality time together at home. And soon after I return from the overnighter I will be travelling north for a week long backpacking trip in Lapland (Finland/Norway/Sweden). I hope I will report these trips in due time.

Torronsuo overnighter

noreply@blogger.com (-maria-) — Wed, 15 May 2013 19:26:00 +0000

Torronsuo 26/4/2013 - 27/4/2013

A view over the mire.

The snow in the previous post melted rapidly away and spring took over. A couple of weeks ago I headed for my first overnighter of the year. The destination was Torrosuo national park.

The bird watch tower.

Water heating up.

The weather forecast was not too promising but luckily the weathermen are not unerring. There was a drizzle when we arrived on Friday evening but it soon ceased. We spent the evening sitting and chatting by the camp fire. Anyhow it was rather chilly: the temperature was around freezing. I made the stupid mistake of not walking myself warm before crawling into my sleeping bag so it became a night of shivering (even if I've previously slept comfortably in the same kind of conditions in the same sleeping bag and clothes). A stumble of the early season (I definitely need to start winter backpacking to avoid these long breaks.)

There was plenty of room for everybody in this shelter. There is no door - luckily the mosquito season hasn't started yet.

My bed.

It is actually not allowed to stay overnight or light a fire in the national park but just outside the national park itself there is a privately built fire place and a shelter. They are on privately owned land but anyone is allowed to use them. Someone also brings firewood there. I don't know how this all is organised but I got the impression that it all is run by a gracious villager. A big thank you to him!

At around 5 am Saturday morning.

The Torronsuo mire is a great place for birdwatchers. I was accompanied by a few of them and we agreed we'd wake up at 4:30 am on Saturday morning. The sunrise was at 5:30 and I was told the break of dawn is a good time to observe our feathered friends. At 4:30 several alarm clocks went off and we started to get out of our sleeping bags and climbed the bird watch tower. The sky was overcast so unfortunately no beautiful sunrise was seen.

Duckboards on the way to Kiljamo.

Gray and red...

A few hours later we started walking to Kiljamo. The mire with its vivid colours was really impressive. The duckboards were truly needed! There was a second bird watch tower in Kiljamo with equally nice views over the mire.

The mire was very wet.

... shades of green...

After arriving back to our camp we cooked some lunch and then packed our backpacks into the cars and started driving home. Everyone was rather tired due to the early wake-up. I decided I would stay awake and chat with the driver so that he wouldn't fall asleep but it didn't take long until I was sleeping - luckily he did stay awake...

... rust and yellow-green...

... more gray...

We had left Helsinki on Friday after everyone was free from their duties and were back home early in the evening on Saturday. The weekend felt much longer that way: there was still Sunday to spend with the family, sort out the gear etc. A nice way to mix outdoor time and at home time into one weekend - especially now that the evenings are full of daylight until you go to sleep.

Miles of duckboards. A view from the Kiljamo bird watch tower.

... and blue.

Good Friday day walk

noreply@blogger.com (-maria-) — Mon, 01 Apr 2013 16:20:00 +0000

Marjaniemenranta - Vartiokylänlahti 29/3/2013

Easter time has been sunny. We have four days off during Easter; from Friday to Monday. I utilised the opportunity and went for a day walk on Good Friday in the company of me, myself and I. There were a lot of people on the move: some were walking, others were skiing, and there were joggers and bicyclists as well. And the ducks were not the only ones swimming - some brave souls were swimming in the ice cold sea.

The becks have already lost their icy covers.

Skiing on the ice or swimming in the sea? Which would you prefer? (Although if you go skiing, you might end up doing both - the ice must be rather thin by now.)

O Easter tree, o Easter tree...

Boats hibernating under their blankets.

When I went to take this picture I sank down to mid-thigh into the snow. A lady asked if I needed help. I didn't but we had a chat about the weather. No need to travel to Lapland to enjoy the Easter weather!

Willow catkins against the bluest sky.

See - the snow has started to melt away!

More no-snow.

My route took me along the coasts of Marjaniemenranta and Vartiokylänlahti in Helsinki. It is good to have company when walking but this time I fully enjoyed the fact that I was in my own company and was able to dictate pace, route and stops all by myself. The only restriction was that I had agreed a certain time when I needed to be back.

These areas are so familiar to me that I didn't even carry a map. It is fun to get "lost" in a familiar environment like this, take a route you haven't taken before and soon you'll find a familiar place again. And even if I didn't have a mental map of the area getting lost is not really something that could happen here - whichever direction you choose to walk, there are houses and roads near.

I think I walked some 10 kilometres in all. In the end I had to hurry a bit as I was walking against the clock.

It felt like spring already. The birds were singing and snow was melting. The day temperatures have been above freezing lately, and the night temperatures have been around -5 °C. There are no snowflakes on the weather forecast for the next 5 days, either...

Sunny Sunday walk

noreply@blogger.com (-maria-) — Sun, 24 Mar 2013 20:12:00 +0000

Herttoniemenranta - Tullisaari 17/3/2013

I am a lousy blogger - I have failed to write of a few day walks. It is actually not the writing which is so difficult; it is the pictures. They need to be saved on the hard disk, resized, uploaded into Internet, added to the blog. Phew! So no fancy mosaics/slide shows now, just pictures.

Anyway, I went for a day walk with a friend of mine a week ago on Sunday. She has moved to Herttoniemenranta in eastern Helsinki a couple of months ago and was willing to explore the surroundings. There are several nice places to visit in the area. This time we chose to walk to Tullisaari, a recreational area.

Tullisaari is actually really close to Herttoniemenranta. The distance between them is only a couple of hundred of metres. But they are separated by a strait. This March the weather has continued cold (especially the nights have been freezing; the temperature has often plummeted down to -10 °C... -15 °C) and the sea is still covered by ice. So we decided to cross the strait. I am normally not very eager to walk on ice - you never know where the ice is thinner and it may crack any time - but this time I had a friend with me and (which is equally important) no kids. So hey ho, we were in Tullisaari in no time at all.

It was a very enjoyable walk. Not a long one, but we spent some time eating sandwiches and drinking coffee/tea as well. Even if the spring seems to be cold and snowy it's anyhow sunny and the amount of daylight is very refreshing after a long and dark winter. I'm positive the snow will melt, eventually.

Some boats in Herttoniemenranta.

That's me, on (thin?) ice.

In Tullisaari. Villa Aino Ackté in the background.

A beautiful little bridge.

Ski tracks.

Some fungi.

See the dragon?

Icy and snowy - but sunny.

"Thou shalt have a miserable life if thou takest litter into the nature." (A very free translation by me - my command of old English is poor indeed!)

I hope to be updating soon again!

A windscreen for the Coleman F1 stove

noreply@blogger.com (-maria-) — Sun, 24 Feb 2013 13:42:00 +0000

Alan asked me about the windscreen setup I was using with the Coleman F1 stove in an earlier post. I didnt' want to enclose the gas cartridge inside the windscreen (as there is the risk of overheating the gas cartridge - not that it is very likely, but just to be on the safe side...) so I came up with this solution. It has worked well - although I need to add that the F1 is not my most used stove.

As a picture is worth a thousand words (and five pictures worth 5000 words?) I'm showing the setup with some pics. So here you are, Alan! And maybe there are other interested out there as well.

The windscreen setup consists of two parts: a baseplate and a foil windscreen. The baseplate started its life as a mint box cover. I cut the edge away and then a slit into it.

The baseplate sits nicely on the neck of the Coleman F1 stove. The slit must not be too wide although it is a good idea to cut it wider on the outer edge so that it is easier to turn the gas on/off.

The foil screen sits on the baseplate. I use a paper clip to keep in the size I like. The baseplate not only supports the windscreen but also traps the heat in.

Here is the whole setup. As you can see the turning knob is lower than the baseplate and it can be turned even when the windscreen is in its place. The only plastic part of the stove is also outside of the windscreen + baseplate so I haven't had any trouble with it melting.

Despite the snowy surroundings I'm not suggesting the Coleman F1 is a winter stove - I just preferred to take the pictures outdoors. And the final words: use common sense if testing this kind of a setup (at your own risk only)!

EDIT: I looked at the stove again and I'm not sure which parts are plastic and which are not. I thought all the black parts are made of plastic but I'm no longer sure about that. But the main point is that no melting has occurred.

Uutela nature trail in winter

noreply@blogger.com (-maria-) — Sat, 19 Jan 2013 11:07:00 +0000

Uutela nature trail, Helsinki 13/1/2013

Last Sunday we headed for a family walk in Uutela - just like in August 2011. The temperature was -6° C and there was hardly any breeze. The sky was overcast. It was actually rather gloomy. But it was anyhow good to get out. We walked for a couple of kilometres along the nature trail. We no longer use a child carrier or a pushchair so we like to keep the family walks short enough so that it is enjoyable for everyone.

The big thaw around New Year had melted some of the snow. Now there was some freshly fallen snow which made the scenery quite beautiful but the amount of snow was anyhow moderate so walking was easy.

We finished our walk in a nearby café where they served salmon soup. The soup was very welcome as everybody was already hungry and warm soup always tastes really good in winter weather. - What a great way to spend a Sunday.

Uutela is within easy reach even for people who use public transportation (like we usually do - take the metro to Vuosaari and either walk to Uutela or take the bus 78 there), so I highly recommend this area to both all living in/near Helsinki and to those who visit Helsinki!

A new outdoor year

noreply@blogger.com (-maria-) — Tue, 01 Jan 2013 19:04:00 +0000

1/1/2013 local walk

The beautiful winter weather is only a memory now: the new year started rainy. It's been drizzling all day today - which of course was no reason to stay indoors. A short bimble in the neighbourhood was very welcome.

There were few walkers on the icy roads. The continuous rain and grey dullness of the weather may not have attracted everyone out. The Kahtoola Microspikes I bought a couple of years ago proved once again their worthiness.

There was already an anticipation of spring in the air. Snow was melting into streams and there were puddles here and there. But it's definitely not yet springtime: the forecast for the weekend shows temperatures below freezing. However, the days are becoming longer and longer, and soon it will be spring.

I wish you all an enjoyable outdoor year 2013!

Two stoves in winter weather

noreply@blogger.com (-maria-) — Fri, 28 Dec 2012 16:27:00 +0000

26/12/2012

So far I've only done day walks during the winter months, so a 1-liter-flask full of hot water has been enough. But I've become more and more interested in winter backpacking as well - probably not this winter, but maybe the next... So it's better to start practising. What follows is a completely unscientific look at two stove alternatives for winter.

It was a sunny and crisp morning on the Boxing day. I went for a short walk in the nearby woods to test two Trangia stove set-ups. They say multifuel stoves are the way to go when it's cold but I wanted to see if a gas stove or an alcohol stove are any good. So far, I don't even own a multifuel stove.

The temperature was around -14° C (or 7 F if you prefer it that way) and there was hardly any wind at all. I was using two Trangia 27 windshields - one of them was in hard-anonized aluminium, the other in regular ultra-light aluminium. I placed them on table mats made of cork to prevent them from sinking into the snow. I reckon the material of the windshield doesn't make any difference. I was using a hard-anonized pot in both of them. I had ~500 ml (roughly 2 cups) of cold water in the pots.

Both the gas canister (a 450 g Primus Power Gas canister which was half empty) and the Trangia alcohol stove filled with denaturated alcohol had been on the balcony overnight so they were cold. I started with the gas stove. It was the original Trangia gas stove (made by Primus) I was using. The stove has a pre-heat tube so it is possible to invert the gas canister and use the stove in liquid feed mode.

I did what they advise to do: First, I warmed the gas cartridge inside my jacket for 15 minutes. Then I attached the stove into the windshield, lighted it up (which was an easy job) and put the pot and lid on. I let the stove burn for 15 seconds before I turned the cartridge upside down. In about 3 minutes 20 seconds I had a full rolling boil.

Second, I put the Trangia alcohol stove (with the fuel inside) inside my winter jacket. It was there for 15 minutes. I was using the Trangia winter preheater. I added some 5 ml of denaturated alcohol into the absorbent pad in the preheater and attached the preheater into the stove. I attached the stove into the windshield, lighted the preheater and the stove up and put the pot and lid on. In around 7 minutes 30 seconds there was a full rolling boil.

Having run the tests I headed home with my little assistant. I think both of the stoves performed well - a multifuel stove may well be needed for arctic expeditions but for one or two nights in southern Finland gas or alcohol might be good alternatives. I was expecting more problems (and hadn't really any). Sure, this is no proper review but anyway it provided some useful information to me - and maybe to someone else, too. It would be interesting to run some other tests as well, like melting snow with a gas stove / an alcohol stove. But that's is a project for the future.

Happy holidays

noreply@blogger.com (-maria-) — Mon, 24 Dec 2012 20:26:00 +0000

24/12/2012

It's Christmas time. The high time of Christmas is already over here in Finland - the big celebrations happen already on Christmas eve. We went to the in-laws for dinner (it was our family of five, the in-laws, my mother and hubby's aunt). Santa happened to travel that way, too.

It is very snowy around here, but the temperature has stayed at a reasonable -9 °C. It has been an evening full of enjoyment - the kids were excited to meet the Man Himself...

and I was able to relax only after we had arrived back home. I really don't like driving in this kind of weather.

Now it's time for a mug of mulled wine and some ginger bread!

I wish you all happy holidays!

Winter is here

noreply@blogger.com (-maria-) — Sun, 02 Dec 2012 21:22:00 +0000

Local walk 1/12/2012

EDIT 3/12/2012: Added a YouTube link (see below).

Winter started full blast on Friday when a snow storm hit the southern coast of the country. I had planned an overnighter with hubby in Nuuksio national park - the kids were going to spend the night at my mum's place and a hut had been reserved for us in Nuuksio. But the traffic weather turned really, really bad and - although it wasn't an easy decision - we decided to stay at home.

But the kids went to their grandmother's place, as they had been promised (she lives within a walking distance so no driving was required!) and as the snow storm had settled by Saturday morning we decided to head for a walk in the neighbourhood.

It was rather beautiful, in its own peculiar way¹. Just a couple of days earlier there was no snow whatsoever.

It's been rather warm until now but it seems the sea has already started to freeze. I quite liked the way the ice has started to form.

And as some kind of a compensation for not getting to the planned trip I played a little bit with my new Trangia preheater. At -8° C the Trangia 27 did its job without hesitation. I didn't time it, but I don't think it took any more time than usually to get our hot tea/coffee. I think there will be more on the subject "some of my stoves during winter" in a future post.

If interested in the preheater, there is also a video on YouTube: Trangia Winter Attachment.

Sometimes there are force majeure reasons for not going backpacking. There were so many car accidents in the Helsinki area on Friday and I'm happy we were not involved in one of them. Nuuksio can wait for a visit some other time.

1) I have never really enjoyed winter but it seems that my attitudes have started to change!

Stargazing on Gåsgrund

noreply@blogger.com (-maria-) — Thu, 29 Nov 2012 22:04:00 +0000

Gåsgrund 11/8/2012 - 12/8/2012

Helsinki got covered by snow last night, so it is good to look back at the summer and my latest overnighter so far.

I just can't get enough of staring at sea.

I had gone camping with my two other kids already earlier in the summer so it was the middle one's turn. Our destination was Gåsgrund, a small island in Espoo (a neighbour of Helsinki).

Daughter having an adventure.

I had never before visited the island so I didn't really know what to expect. One of the biggest concerns was drinking water: is there a well on the island or not? I couldn't find that piece of information anywhere. A water filter is of not much use if only sea water is available. I ended up carrying some 5 litres of water with me. On the boat to the island we heard that there is no drinking water available on Gåsgrund - good for us that I was carrying all that water!

It is allowed to pitch anywhere on the island but we chose a place close to the fire place.

We pitched our tent quickly after arriving on the island. I was surprised by the amount of people on Gåsgrund - on the other hand, it seemed that roughly half of them were children. So probably no late night alchol-driven parties? Later on we found out that most of the other people belonged to an outdoor organisation and they were having their annual family weekend on Gåsgrund. Very nice people they were, and it was good to chat with them.

Enjoying the evening sun.

This particular night we spent on Gåsgrund was exceptionally rich in falling stars on the sky. So when the sun started to set we took our positions and gazed stars into late night - and we managed to see some very imposing falling stars. It was almost midnight when we finally crawled into our sleeping bags. I think the memory of this night is rather unique for both of us.

The beautiful late summer night.

It was a good weekend. The weather was in our favour and Gåsgrund is definitely a place I'd like to visit again.

Again, more pics in the slideshow!

Kaldoaivi wilderness area in July

noreply@blogger.com (-maria-) — Fri, 23 Nov 2012 17:16:00 +0000

Kaldoaivi 22/7/2012 - 28/7/2012

A skull in Kaldoaivi.

Just a short prologue before I start with my trip report from last July. Some of the readers of this blog may know that I like the old-fashioned Trangia stoves - I often use the Trangia Mini on solo trips, and a Trangia 27/25 when hiking with family. (I try, really try, to like gas stoves - they are, after all, clean, efficient, easy to switch on and off - but I still keep coming back to the wonderfully silent and extremely reliable alcohol stoves! You can't force love, eh?)

So a while ago I did a Google image search on Trangia and, to my great surprise, found a picture taken by me. In the top 10 of the pictures! But the site was not mine. Ok, I know people are using pictures without asking permission. But I was somewhat astonished to find out that also my text had been "borrowed" almost word-for-word, with only some rather clumsy localization efforts.

Compare my blog post with that of someone else's.

I got rather fed up with blogging - but now I'm back. And what am I going to do with this incident? Well, nothing. This is Internet, and that's the name of the game. Stealing other's pictures and/or text is not nice (and anyone who does so should feel ashamed), but sometimes you need to live with it. It may happen again, but this is anyway my blog and my way of interacting with like-minded. Maybe I should just feel flattered that my text and pictures were stolen? Rant over.

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Kaldoaivi wilderness area is located in the very north of Finland, in the Finnish Lapland. It was my destination last July for my first real trekking trip in Lapland. As a newbie I did not want (or maybe I just didn't dare?) to walk alone, so I joined a group of other backpackers from Helsinki. The trip was organised by a non-profit outdoor organisation. I knew the two group leaders beforehand (although not very well); the rest of the group were unknown to me.

The sleeper took me smoothly to Rovaniemi.

The plan was to walk from Sunday (22/7) to Friday (27/7) and then celebrate the successful trip on the Friday evening together, spend the last night in huts and head back home on Saturday (28/7). But it is a long way (~1300 km) from Helsinki to Utsjoki, where we were to gather on Sunday. So I took the sleeper from Helsinki to Rovaniemi on the previous Friday (20/7) evening. The kids and hubby waved goodbye as the train started its journey from Helsinki railway station up north. It was going to be nine nights without them - the longest time I've been away since I started to have a family of my own.

Ivalo bus station.

On Saturday (21/7) I took a bus from Rovaniemi to Utsjoki via Ivalo. The journey took practically the whole day. I chatted with a couple of fellow backpackers (and a dog) on the bus. We were all part of the same group and it was good to notice that these more experienced backpackers greeted me warmly. They knew each other from the previous summer.

The Finnish border from the Norwegian side.

We arrived in Utsjoki in the late afternoon, and headed to the local camping area. One of the ladies I had met on the bus had reserved a hut for the last night before our trekking would begin and she asked us other two whether we would like to share. Yes, please: it was raining, so it felt really nice to be able to start the journey with dry clothes and equipment. The evening was spent checking and re-checking the contents of the backpacks and chatting. And I even walked abroad: the Norwegian border is just a couple of hundred of metres from the Utsjoki village centre. We Finns don't even need a passport to go to Norway.

Some local residents.

On Sunday (22/7) morning other people in our group started to show up. Many had driven the whole way from Helsinki (they had arranged a couple of carpools). Some had already been holidaying in the area and had been spending the last night somewhere in the neighbourhood and now drove the final leg to Utsjoki on Sunday morning. All in all, we were 11 participants + 2 group leaders + 1 dog. There was one couple and one mother + daughter pair (the daughter being in her late teens): the rest of us were walking solo (if you really can walk solo in a group - but you know what I mean: we were not sharing tent/stove/... with anyone).

There are a lot of small ponds, lakes and streams in Kaldoaivi, so it is easy to find water sources.

We were taken by a minibus to lake Pulmankijärvi. We were dropped off there and shouldered our backpacks. It was raining, so waterproofs were also donned. There was some excitement in the air. It was not going to be a very long journey: 5 nights in a tent, ~15 km/a day. It was going to be easy going, as they said. Breaks every 45 minutes. A longer lunch break during the day. Lazy mornings - you would need to be ready only by 10 am. But how am I going to get along with these people, some of whom I've met for the first time only half an hour before? Will my physical condition live up to the requirements of this trip? Have I forgotten something important? Do I carry enough food and fuel? Etc.

One of the group leaders was walking in front of the group, the other one was walking last. But it was easy going, and everybody could walk in their own pace.

But I have to say I was worrying for no reason. All the people in the group were really nice. We were three first-timers (me and the mother/daugter pair). All the rest had done at least one similar backpacking trip. Some had been walking all over the globe, in Europe, Americas, Africa, Asia... For one chap this was the fourth backpacking week in a row: he had been on a two-week long journey together with a couple of friends, then rested for a couple of days, started a 5-day trip alone and now he joined this group. It was a nice example of the fact that even the more experienced trekkers get something out of group walks. I didn't feel like a second class walker because of my inexperience; I was just like anyone else and part of the group.

Supper on one evening. Anything tastes yummy in the great outdoors!

I had more than enough food with me. In the mornings I ate a large portion of porridge and some kissel (using instant kissel powder). During lunch break an instant soup (e.g. tomato) with noodles and some textured soy protein granules added into it. The main meal (after setting up the camp) was either a Real Turmat/Blå Band "just add hot water" meal or something simple cooked in the pot. I also had some chocolate (~50 grams/a day) and trail mix (~100 grams/s day; dried fruit and nuts) with me. I ended up carrying practically all the bread and most of the flapjacks home. I won't take them with me next time. And of course, tea was drunk in great quantities. I had a full 1 litre Trangia bottle of alcohol for my stove with me; that was more than enough (even if I cooked 4 or 5 times a day) - but the smaller 0.5 litre bottle would have been too small.

Some heavy showers were experienced.

The weather was rather cool. The coldest night was +3° C. On many days the temperature stayed in single digits and the warmest weather we experienced was around +15° C. There was a brisk wind most of the days which made it feel like colder. It rained practically every day, but luckily often only after we had set the camp. Well, that is July in Lapland. The others said it usually has been warmer in July, though. I had enough warm clothes with me, but had I known it is so cool up there I would have taken my insulated vest with me for breaks. It would have been easier to put on/take off than the woollen jumper I had (which, on the other hand, was great in the camps). On a couple of days the sun greeted us, too.

One of the camps. There was plenty of room for us - we only saw two other backpackers during the week, and they were in distance, on the other side of a lake.

All in all, it was a great trip. I didn't experience any major problems. If I hadn't taped my little toes as soon as I started to feel something I probably would have developed blisters. But the tape did wonders. In the last camp everybody started talking about sauna and eating reindeer stew, and that really happened on Friday (27/7) evening. First we washed ourselves and relaxed in the sauna, and then went to the local bar for reindeer stew and some beer. I think everybody was tired but happy, and we retired to bed at around 11 pm. Some started driving back home early on Saturday morning, but I took the bus back to Rovaniemi and the sleeper from Rovaniemi to Helsinki. The rest of the family had survived well and hubby has already shown green light to my plans to do a similar trip next summer.

There are more pictures in the slideshow.

Yet another overnighter on Kaunissaari - and some thoughts on camping with kids

noreply@blogger.com (-maria-) — Wed, 22 Aug 2012 13:40:00 +0000

Kaunissaari 11/7/2012 - 12/7/2012

This little girl got a lot of positive attention when we were going to Kaunissaari. With her Fjällräven Kånken Mini backpack, sleeping mat roll and map she looked like a real backpacker!

Shortly after arriving back from our trip to Jurmo I realised there are not that many opportunities left this summer if I am going to take the girls out camping, too. (After I had been to Repovesi with our son I had promised that the daughters would have their overnighters as well.) At least with the smallest family member I prefer the months of June and July when the days are long and the nights relatively warm. So after I had cleaned and aired all the gear it was time to pack the backpack again.

We headed to Kaunissaari. I find the islands near Helsinki nice places for family camping as there is something exciting about the boat trip and you can first set up your camp and only then start exploring the surroundings. Kaunissaari, and some other islands too, are easily accessed by public transportation. Having been to Kaunissaari several times before the island is of course very familiar to me. This time it was an added bonus: there are enough things to take care of when camping with a 3-year-old, so it is actually quite nice to know the place beforehand.

I realise I didn't take that many photos of the landscape this time, but believe me, the island looks more or less the same as before. Bark boats were again floated, pancakes eaten and pebbles thrown into the sea. This summer hasn't been very warm, and the weather during our overnighter was no exception: mittens, beanies, woollen jumpers and windproof jackets were really needed!

One by one the children have started to walk on their own feet (no child carriers/strollers are needed any longer) and carry at least some of their gear. And of course no nappies/diapers or special baby food is needed. All this makes it a lot easier to go backpacking with them. I have a feeling that next summer it could be possible to take all three of them together somewhere. Even if it's not very far from the nearest bus stop/car park/ferry stop it could be quite an enjoyable experience!

Jurmo island

noreply@blogger.com (-maria-) — Sat, 18 Aug 2012 15:13:00 +0000

Jurmo 5/7/2012 - 7/7/2012

Stony shores of Jurmo.

Last summer I spent a weekend on Utö island. On the way there we passed Jurmo - a beautiful, rugged island - and I decided I need to come back. So in early July husband and I packed our backpacks and headed to Jurmo.

Turku in the upper corner on the right, Pärnäinen almost in the middle (on Nauvo island, just before Korppoo island), and Jurmo at the bottom on the left.

It is easy to get there from Helsinki by public transportation. First, a bus to Piispanristi, then a second bus from Piispanristi to Pärnäinen, and finally the boat connection (m/s Eivor) from Pärnäinen to Jurmo. The boat, by the way, is free of charge. There is also a small cafe/restaurant on the boat.

Piispanristi bus stop on the border between Turku and Kaarina.

The sun was shining as we sat on the sun deck sipping some refreshments. We passed Nötö and Aspö islands and again I got the same feeling - I need to come back. In the early evening we arrived in Jurmo.


Approaching Jurmo.

Few people live on Jurmo but during the summer it is quite popular among those who sail with their own sailboats. There is also an area reserved for campers. There is a small shop selling tourist stuff, a shop/cafe selling some very basic foodstuff (not a real grocery store), and a kiosk where they sell some foodstuff, too. They seemed to have also a license to sell beer/cider. There were two small saunas that could be reserved for an hour at a time - we used that possibility on the second night (but I cannot remember how much we paid for the sauna). And drinking water is available. Other than that, not many services (and I guess these services are only available during the summer season).

Alpacas and cows belong to the local residents on Jurmo.

We spent our time on Jurmo just walking and taking in the lovely landscapes. The island is roughly 4 km long and 1 km wide so it is easy to walk across the island both ways in one day - and during our stay the access to the westernmost area was restricted due to the nesting season.

The easternmost corner of Jurmo.

Jurmo is mostly unwooded. The legend tells that the residents of Jurmo used to have fires on the island to disturb sea captains and in that way to cause shipwrecks - a lot of valuable stuff would then float to the shores of Jurmo. The King Gustav Vasa (1496 - 1560) of Sweden got fed up with this and decided to burn down everything on Jurmo (Finland was a part of Sweden in those days). No one knows if this legend is true or not, but it might explain the bare landscape.

Walking on the island was enjoyable. We met some other walkers but the majority of the visitors seemed to stay in the harbour area.

We were lucky with the weather. We got rain and heard the thunder during the second night but we were already in the tent. And yes, we had to take our tent down in rain, but after that the rain ceased and we were able to travel back to Pärnäinen on the sun deck again.

Eivor visited Jurmo also while we were staying on the island. We watched it sail to the sunset.

If you are interested in visiting Jurmo you can find more information on Archipelago National Park pages.

More photos in the slideshow:

My current kitchen

noreply@blogger.com (-maria-) — Wed, 15 Aug 2012 15:54:00 +0000

My blog is lagging behind for a very good reason: I've been out and about enjoying the summer. There are four trip reports to be written but meanwhile I want to show my new gas kitchen. I've been building it for some time already. I think the oldest parts are a couple of years old but the Optimus Terra Weekend HE pot arrived only yesterday. And as you can see from the pictures below, it all packs quite neatly together! So I want to share this joy, and maybe someone out there will get some ideas to his/her own kitchen.

My kitchen includes the following parts (from L to R): 1) lighter, 2) plastic folding spork (by Primus), 3) tea infuser (I don't drink coffee, but am a tea addict), 4) cup with lid (by LightMyFire), 5) pouch for the gas stove, 6) plastic bowl (from the GSI Outdoors nesting bowl set), 7) foil windshield, 8) Optimus Terra Weekend HE pot set, 9) Primus Express Spider gas stove, 10) 230 gram gas cannister.

Spork, tea infuser and lighter fit into the empty space under the gas cartridge.

The gas cartridge fits into the pot and the windshield is wrapped around the cartridge.

The stove (in its pouch) has just enough room inside the lid of the pot.

Now this is how it looks like - a lot of stuff inside the simple pot!

The cup (+lid) can be placed under the pot (it also covers the heat exchangers, thus protecting your backpack from the sharp edges), and the bowl stays nicely on top of it all.

And a stuff sack is used to keep it all nice and tidy!

I could leave the blue bowl at home and use the lid/frying pan of the Optimus pot as a bowl. On the other hand, I like to eat cold instant fruit/berry kissel in the mornings and it takes some 15 minutes to rehydrate. While it is rehydrating I boil some water for my tea and porridge and the lid is handy then. So it is either the plastic bowl or a separate lid for the pot (a piece of foil would do). But the bowl is rather light in weight and doesn't really add any bulk so I think I like to eat my kissel from it. I also prefer a remote gas stove to a top mounted stove. The 0.95 l pot is a little larger than my previous favourite (the 0.8 l Trangia Mini pot - it is still my favourite if we talk about alcohol stoves), but I don't think it is unnecessarily large for solo use - and I couldn't get all the bits and pieces into a smaller pot!

I can tell you I'm pretty excited about this new kitchen of mine. I know there are other good sets out there, some of them considerably lighter, but this set answers my needs pretty well. Now I only wait for the next backpacking trip so I can start using it in earnest!

A day walk on Djurgården island

noreply@blogger.com (-maria-) — Sun, 01 Jul 2012 19:16:00 +0000

Stockholm 9/6/2012

I made a trip to the capital of Sweden, Stockholm, with my mother and sister in June. That's what many Finns, at least those living near/in Helsinki do every now and then - take the ferry, spend the evening and the night at sea, arrive in Stockholm in the morning, spend the day there, and take the ferry back to Finland in the evening, arriving in Helsinki the following morning. That's two nights on the ferry and one day (7½ hrs) in Stockholm.

This trip was just for fun, and all three of us have been to Stockholm several times. So there was not really any need to visit the city centre. Instead, we decided to take a boat connection from Värtahamn (the harbour) to Djurgården island. There are many attractions on Djurgården - like several museums and an amusement park - but the island is also used for outdoor recreational purposes. It is close to the city centre, and within a walking distance from the harbour.

We did our cultural duties and visited Waldemarsudde, that is, Prins Eugen's (1865 - 1947) castle and gallery. Also the surrounding park was worth seeing. After that, we decided to start walking back to the harbour. It was a pleasant walk. Despite having been to Stockholm many times before, I had never really had a walk on Djurgården. The island is connected to the mainland by several bridges, so we didn't need to use a boat connection on our way back.

Going to Sweden is not really going abroad for a Finn - we've not needed a passport to travel there since 1954 and they speak a language I speak more or less fluently - but this is anyhow the first "walking abroad" post in this blog!

Again, more pictures in the slideshow (button below).

I crunched it - and lived to tell the story

noreply@blogger.com (-maria-) — Thu, 14 Jun 2012 18:11:00 +0000

As a committed alcohol stove user I have decided to give gas stoves a try this summer. I still do like alcohol stoves: There is very little that can fail with for example a Trangia burner, the fuel is cheap and readily available (at least in this corner of the world), you can take as much or as little fuel with you as you like and it is easy to estimate how much fuel you've used/there's left. Plus, an alcohol stove is very silent.

But there are some things I like in gas stoves as well: They are easy to switch on and off (and on and off... and on and off), they are quicker in boiling water/preparing food and you can't spill fuel all over the place. All these are valid points especially when camping with the little people. But then there is the disposal of empty gas cartridges.

So I bought the Jetboil CrunchIt Tool at a local outdoor shop the other day. It's been on the market for a while already but I've never before held it in my hands. A tiny little gadget (of the size of a bottle opener) which makes recycling the gas cartridges a lot easier. You screw the tool on top of the cartridge to let all remaining gas out (there usually is a tiny amount left even if there is not enough to run your stove). Then a couple of holes are punched to the top part of the cartridge (I made several, so excited I was using my new toy). After this the cartridge can be disposed of as waste metal (you better check the local regulations still).

You should perform this operation somewhere well ventilated (=outdoors) away from fire sources. But even I was brave enough to use the tool. In my opinion it is certainly a better alternative than the hammer-and-nail-method I know some folks are using.

Early summer trip to Repovesi

noreply@blogger.com (-maria-) — Mon, 11 Jun 2012 22:42:00 +0000

Now even in Finnish! Nyt myös suomeksi!

*****

Repovesi national park 3/6/2012 - 5/6/2012

Last week we - my 8-year-old son, my father-in-law and I - visited Repovesi national park in southern Finland. It is one of the most popular national parks but we only met a handful of other people - for example, we had the camping spots all to ourselves both nights. Maybe the fact that we were hiking from Sunday to Tuesday made the area so tranquil.

We started our journey from Lapinsalmi car park. There is a suspension bridge near the parking area. That's me in the picture above looking at the views after I've crossed the bridge.

We had a break at Kuutinkanava. This duct has been used to float logs. It has been operational still in the 1960's after which it had deteriorated but was rebuilt again in the 1990's for cultural reasons.

The first night was spent in Olhava. The camping spot was really nice as you can see in the picture above (taken the following morning). The weather was great during our trip: not too hot for walking and only few drops of rain. And, importantly, not too many mosquitoes around!

Grandfather prepared pancakes over the fire on Sunday evening. He had even carried the nice pan all the way. I had voluteered to carry the rest of the food + stove + pots + fuel for all three of us, not really altruistically: I wanted to imitate packing food for one person for a whole week. Packing food for three persons for two days equals roughly the amount of food I will be taking to Lapland in July.

The view from our camping place was not bad! The Olhava area is popular amongst rock climbers. This time we had the place to ourselves.

The next day we climbed to Olhava cliffs and continued our journey to Lojukoski via Valkjärvi and Kirnukangas.

Lojukoski camping place was almost as nice as Olhava. The evening was spent by the fire, the tents were pitched some 20 - 30 metres further away. There was a water well also in Lojukoski. It must be rather new as it was not marked on the 2011 brochure which we had. We didn't need to filter any water during the trip as there were wells at regular intervals: in Kuutinkanava, Olhava, Lojukoski and Määkijä. According to our brochure there is one also in Saarijärvi (but we didn't walk that way).

The view from this camping place was not bad, either! The water was still quite cold so none of us went swimming.

On Tuesday it was time to head home. We walked from Lojukoski to the cable ferry which would take us back to Lapinsalmi. On the way we passed Sulkusalmi, Talas and Määkijä. At first we thought there had been a wildfire in Määkijänniemi but later on we read that these forests have been set on fire on purpose for some kind of forest managemental reasons. Some of the vegetation will only grow after a fire.

The three backpacks on the cable ferry from Määkijänniemi to Lapinsalmi. The ferry operates manually by pulling it over to the other side. The car was waiting where we had left it. It had been a good trip with some lovely views. The daily distances were 6 - 7 kilometres and I was happy to realise that son coped really well. I carried his sleeping mat (the CCF mat on top of my rucksack) and his grandfather carried the tent the boys were sleeping in. Otherwise he carried all his personal gear (excluding food). I hope to be able to take the kids backpacking more often!

If you like to see more pictures (including the ones in this post) click on the button below. Hope you enjoy the slideshow!

Kaunissaari overnighter

noreply@blogger.com (-maria-) — Fri, 01 Jun 2012 20:48:00 +0000

Kaunissaari 11/5/2012 - 12/5/2012

Let's face it - I've been lousy at updating my blog. Some minor day walks will remain unrecorded, but now that I'm already packing for a backpacking trip to Repovesi national park let me tell you something about my mid May overnighter on Kaunissaari island.

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This Kaunissaari trip was my third attempt at going for an overnighter this spring. We - hubby and I - had planned a short backpacking trip to Nuuksio national park already in April. But on the day of our planned start of the trip hubby got fever and we had to cancel the trip. Then I had planned a solo backpacking trip (again to Nuuksio), but this time I got some nasty virus that kept me under the blankets for nearly a week. So I was really looking forward to this overnighter on Kaunissaari. The plan was to unpack the package we had so carefully created in September and to build a summer home for this friend of mine who spends her summers camping on the Kaunissaari island.

Enjoying the spring under a couple of layers of warm clothing!

It was a wet and windy weekend. It started to rain on our boat trip to the island, and it kept raining for the whole of the Friday evening. I think my friend got soaked - she already started questioning the meaning of coming to Kaunissaari - but I was quite comfortable in my waterproofs and merino baselayers. We got her huge tent up (it took a couple of hours - remember, you need to build the wooden tent platform first), and I got my small tent up (in ~5 minutes). Then it was time to cook some pasta and have some tea. By 11 pm. I was soundly asleep.

These guys were looking for an easy prey.

I woke up - nay, I was concious for a minute or two - at around 7 am the next morning. I could infer the rain had stopped but it was now very windy. The next thing I know is that at around 10.30 am my friend started asking in a loud voice "is there anyone here" outside my tent. Ok, I know I sleep like a log in a tent, but...

It wasn't raining on Saturday morning, but it was easy to infer that it had rained heavily the previous night - this is a road, not a pond.

I had a leisurely breakfast after which we went for a short walk. It was easy to see it had rained heavily the previous night! On the southern side of the island it was really windy, the wind blew all the way from Estonia over the Gulf of Finland. But it was lovely to be there. The temperature was around +6 °C so it was rather chilly. But I was dressed to the occasion and had no trouble at all.

The Söderskär lighthouse in the background.

I had to leave back home on Saturday evening as we were celebrating Mother's Day on Sunday and I wanted to be at home with the rest of the family on that special day (it is always joyful to receive those little packages and cards the little people have created at school/kindergarten). But it was anyway the first overnighter of the season.

But it was spring, after all.

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Not only am I heading to Repovesi national park with my son and father-in-law, but I've also booked a week in Lapland in late July in all the calendars I have access to. Mine, of course, but also hubby's (he's the one staying at home with the kids). Also the grandparents (who, I hope, are willing to assist hubby during the week) have been informed about my absence. The train tickets have been booked. Also a short trip to Jurmo island with hubby is in the planning phase. Not to mention that I've kind of promised to take the girls out camping... Oh yes, I'm looking forward to all these nights under silnylon!