A short account of what happens when a landscape is so beautiful that you fear it will vanish, and you simply have to run and look at it. The restaurant and breakfast room of the hotel at the top of Koli have panoramic views over Lake Pielinen. The place is always impressive, but that October […]
The Pallas fells are one of Finland’s 27 nationally significant landscapes. The cluster of round-topped, massive fell peaks is a sight that easily leaves onlookers speechless – both first-timers and more experienced visitors to Lapland alike. The Pallas fells can be seen from far away and admired from many different directions. Here’s a list of […]
The mid-morning sun is already shining at full strength, but the thermometer reads only about ten degrees of crisp warmth. The air drifting over the bog smells of autumn. The forest floor around us is blanketed in blueberry and bog bilberry shrubs turned red, and the pale lichen coat covering the rocks is cold and […]
I had been waiting for quite a while for a day when all of the following elements would line up at once: fine weather, a weekday, good company, a reason to be in Turku, and a free schedule. When such a day finally arrived, I knew exactly what to do: I would walk the route […]
At the end of the Midsummer weekend, we took a little trip to Torronsuo National Park. Torronsuo is one of the most popular national parks in Southern Finland, perhaps because its raw, wilderness-like character brings to mind the landscapes of Lapland for many visitors. Our one-and-a-half-year-old toddler got to set the pace part of the […]
When someone comes to visit me in Salo from far away, I always know where I’ll take them. We head for Teijo National Park, to its very best spots: Lake Matildanjärvi and Teerisaari. Over the years I’ve gotten to lead wonderful guests down these paths — from Lapland, from Ukraine, and most recently from Alta […]
The sky was grey and the air rich with oxygen when my husband, our friend, and I set out on a weekday in July to walk the Värikallio Loop trail in Hossa National Park, in Suomussalmi, Kainuu. The forecast promised heavy rain all day, but we’d decided in advance not to let it ruin the […]
Pirunkurun ponnistus When I arrive in Äkäslompolo, a beautiful summer day that started sunny, but windy, turns rainy. The rain continues when I park my car in the carpark of Kesänkijärvi. So, I decide to eat my lunch in the car, while staring at the raindrops running down the windscreen. While enjoying a tasty baguette, […]
It was a cold, dry morning in Lauhanvuori national park without the same dusting of snow that coated the forest on the previous morning. While tucking into my porridge, cheerful birdsong tingled my ears. What bird is entertaining me so sweetly? Not long after I finish my porridge, I see the singer in a small […]
On a chilly afternoon in early May, when spring sunshine competed with passing clouds for dominance, I arrived at Kivajata carpark in Lauhanvuori national park. Through the trees, I could see a mass of stones and boulders. I lifted my camera rucksack on to my back and strolled to find the start of the trail. […]
