Karkali nature reserve

Karkali nature reserve, Lohja 30/6/2014

Karkalinniemi is located in southern Finland, some 60 kilometres west from Helsinki. We visited Karkali nature reserve in the end of June. You are supposed to walk only on marked trails there. We chose the longest, 6 kilometre trail.

The remainders of an old croft are still visible in the nature. We found an old well. It is over a hundred years since the last inhabitants left the area.

It was very fresh and green in the woods. The nature is rich in Karkali: for example common hazel grows in the area.

We found some interesting looking fungi. In a nature reserve the trees are supposed to decompose without any interference from humans.

The duckboards were very slippery in places. It was more like skiing on the boards, not walking. I'm happy none in our family of five got injured. The rainy June was kind to us: it started raining only after we had started driving back home.

Lemmenlaakso nature trail

Lemmenlaakso, Järvenpää 29/6/2014

On a rainy Sunday we headed to Lemmenlaakso (Love valley) nature trail in Järvenpää. We hadn't been there before but a guide book I recently bought told the place was a good destination for a day walk.

The first part of the trail was easy to walk but the nearer we came river Keravanjoki the clayier the soil got. The rain had turned the path into a slippery slide and we had hard time not slipping. Sorry - no pics of that part of the trail!

The water in the river was clayey, too: we had tap water in our bottles but I guess it would have been quite troublesome to filter this water into drinking water.

The banks of the river are subject to erosion and many trees had fallen into the water. It is easy to see on the map how the river meanders.

 

We got a little muddy but had enjoyed the day out.

In the Austrian Alps

Austria 14 - 21/6/2014

We spent a lovely week in Austria. We stayed at a hotel in village Badgastein in Gasteinertal but made trips also elsewhere.

 

To climb or to take the cable lift? Well that's the question!

An impressive waterfall runs through the village Badgastein.

We visited village Heiligenblut. Großglockner in the background, behind the church.

The trails were rather well marked. Our walks were leisurely as we didn't want to push the kids too hard.

There were some very tame squirrels along the Kaiser Wilhelm Promenade trail.

Hohenwerfen fortress has an interesting history. It can also be seen in the film Where Eagles Dare.

We met some marmots in the Hohe Tauern national park.

 

It is over a decade since I last visited the Alps but I remembered correctly: walking in these landscapes is a wonderful way to spend your holiday. A week passed far too quickly. We could easily have spent another week exploring the area.





Giant's kettles in Askola

Askola 7/6/2014

Some 20 giant's kettles were found in Askola in 1950. They were emptied in 1965 and since then they've been a local attraction.

We packed our backpacks and visited the area in early June.




We were greeted by this fellow when we arrived.

Some of the potholes are large...

... and some are smaller.

Each of them has a name.

Many of the potholes were occupied...

... and we saw some other locals as well.

A nice place to visit, and not too far away from Helsinki where we live.