Safe Return Doubtful

The National Park has two entrances, Heretty to the south, and Kaatvuori on its north side. I parked up at Heretty and was the only vehicle there on Monday night, though was joined on Tuesday by a few hikers including a group of 17 year old students from a nearby college, out for an overnight camp. 

On Tuesday Roja and I hiked the southern section with a few add-ons, about four hours out in all. 

The Park is 19 square kilometres in size, and made up of forested hills and valleys, lakes and bogs. These parks that are relatively near to cities attract quite a few overnight visitors at this time of year, with ideal weather for camping; cool nights, no biting flies, pleasantly warm days and very little rain. The forests are dominated by Scots Pine and Norwegian Spruce.  It gained National Park status in 1982 but ever since the Second World War had been a popular destination for visitors. The status guarantees there will be no logging, which had been the case for the years after the war, as they provided essential employment. It wasn’t until the 1960s when machinery took the place of many of the workers. 

I chatted with the teachers leading the group of 17 year olds, but they seemed very straight-laced, the students, even at their age, didn’t seem to have much opportunity to do their own thing. 

On return there was a guy bikepacking in the car park waiting for his partner to join him. He had cycled and she had driven, and on meeting up they went to head off into the forest to camp. She was late, and it turned out we had a lot in common, as he had not long completed a 5000 kilometre journey through Europe. I put the kettle in and we sat with a cup of tea and reminisced about places we had both been to, and gave recommendations as to the ones we hadn’t both been at. He put forward that Finland was the best country for outdoor activity, and justified the statement with a few examples. It was hard to contradict him. It certainly is one of the best; that it offers such different experiences in the winter certainly counts for it. In Central Finland there is a vast maze of single track gravel roads, such as the one used to get to the National Park, and these are perfect for gravel cycling, with practically no vehicles on them. 

I stayed two nights at Heretty, and this morning drove round the the north entrance to hike the northern trails. We were out for a bit less time today, just over three hours, and saw nobody.

The weather has settled into another hot and dry spell, with this afternoon getting up as high as 26C. Sunset is about 8 pm, so the nights do get cooler than they were a week or so ago. Tonight’s minimum is forecast for 13C. 

In the afternoon I drive two hours to the west coast and the Gulf of Bothnia. That meant the ring road / motorway around Tampere and through the town of Pori. There is more population here, which I expected. My plan is to head down the coast over the next couple of weeks, perhaps visiting some of the islands that make up the archipelago around Turku, though as of tomorrow, summer has finished as far as the ferries are concerned, and many boats only run for commuters. I haven’t quite finished my research on that, so, as ever, will make it up as we go along.. 

I’m parked up on a peninsula about twenty kilometres out of Pori which is part of the Bothinan National Park, which extends, mainly on islands, to the south. It is shaded, great for Roja and I, less good for the van’s solar appetite, and adjoining sand dunes, beaches and a golf course. We had an hour out to investigate just now, but will do so further tomorrow..