tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-39321346937974072162024-03-10T04:45:53.015+02:00Jolkko Around the WorldExcursions to various mountains around the world koomikkohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02063626989042540385noreply@blogger.comBlogger20125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3932134693797407216.post-74939356444784537152019-12-15T17:01:00.000+02:002019-12-15T17:01:28.110+02:00Immersive Hiking Experience over Virtual Mountains in Death StrandingThe journey uphill seems to go on forever. I can still see the town from where I started far away in the distance near the sea level. Using a topographical map I had tried to find an optimal route to avoid the steepest incline by aiming to cross the mountain range through a gap between two peaks. Continuously, I need to hold on to my backpack straps in order to maintain my balance on unsteady boulders. Eventually there will be some scrambling required. Just when I stop for a quick bite and a drink, the unborn fetus in my artificial womb starts to cry, which foreshadows invisible dead spirits somewhere in the vicinity. <a name='more'></a><div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Plotting a route to the source of the river.</td></tr>
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My latest hiking trip took place in the virtual world of Death Stranding the video game. During 40+ hours I ended up travelling vast distances across the desolate landscape of post apocalyptic America. As a real life hiker, I felt that the game beautifully captured the meditative trodding across majestic scenery. In this blog entry I wanted to give my homage to some of the hiking related highlights of this game. </div>
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Here’s a very short introduction to Death Stranding for non-gamers out there: This is the very latest game by Hideo Kojima, who is nothing short of a rock star in the video game industry. A new game by him & his team is always a phenomenon and Death Stranding is no exception. Kojima is practically creating a new game genre of parcel delivery. Typically in games it is the most boring and unimaginative type of a mission to bring an item from point A to point B. In this game, that’s practically the only mission there is. The davidlynchian story is way too complex and weird to describe shortly, but suffice to say that it involves carrying cargo across America while cutting invisible umbilical cords with handcuffs at the behest of a skullmask wielding character called Die-Hardman (yes, really). By a sheer coincidence there was a postal strike going on in Finland when the game was released, so I was practically working another shift after my regular office work to carry the packages, which were not being delivered due to the strike. </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">You can almost feel the heat from the fumaroles.</td></tr>
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The very first thing that blew me away was the photorealistic landscape that is very reminiscent of Iceland. <a href="http://www.jolkko.com/2016/08/rotten-eggs-for-four-days.html">A few years back I completed the most famous hike</a> in this country of glaciers and volcanoes and therefore I felt right at home during the first hours of Death Stranding. The black volcanic rock, dark green moss covered boulders, majestic waterfalls, earth's crust broken by earthquakes and movement of tectonic plates, geothermal pools and cold torrents flowing from the nearby mountains all felt very familiar. The first time I was wading through a river while fighting against the current, I was convinced that Kojima and his team must have been visiting Landmannalaugar, Thórsmörk and other Icelandic locations to be able to capture this level of authenticity. </div>
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There are several individual features small and big, which reflect real life hiking very accurately. When an artificial wind is blowing against my virtual alter ego, Sam Porter Bridges played by Norman Reedus, the level of immersion is tangible. The way how air exhaled condensates the higher up the mountains you go. The way how unforgiving rain (which in the game lore is called Timefall, which expedites ageing of everything it touches) dampens your mood. The way how heavy backpack leaves sore marks on your shoulders. The way how you can risk falling over when your backpack load starts to push you too fast downhill. The way how long exposure to snow storm can cause snow blindness. And so on. </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Just a tad bit more cargo than what I would haul in real life.</td></tr>
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The game has been positively received in general, but there has been also those, who have not enjoyed the experience. I can understand some of the issues mentioned: a bit clunky combat controls, long cut scenes and repeating mission structure. However, for me this has been easily the game of the year -- perhaps of recent years -- partly due to my fondness of hiking. One of the repeating signature moments of Death Stranding are the sequences of hiking when the camera zooms out into the distance and a perfectly matching eerie songs from American-Icelandic band Low Roar surround me. Forward trodding Sam is still fully controllable by the player. Very powerful experience, which no other medium can conjure! Also the pacifist in me appreciates how other players can only be assisted and appreciated rather than competed against. I thoroughly enjoyed the pacing of the game, continuous introduction of new mechanics and sheer creative storytelling and new intellectual property in the times of repetitive movie sequels and game series. Truly a 5 out of 5 game. </div>
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My final statistics at the end of the story were 43 hours of playtime, 3+ tons of cargo cargo delivered, 180 kilometers travelled and 10 dumps taken. I know other players who have been clocking many more hours. There is still clearly plenty of side missions for me to keep on revisiting the virtual hiking grounds. Those parcels do not get delivered by themselves. Strike or no strike.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I wish some kind soul has left a few strategically placed ladders for this next ascend. </td></tr>
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koomikkohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02063626989042540385noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3932134693797407216.post-61874034690601453122018-11-26T17:20:00.000+02:002018-11-26T17:20:13.379+02:00Map of all the hikes listed in this blogBlogger allows me to set a location to all the blog posts, but there is no standard handy widget of showing posts by geo tag. Therefore I have created a separate map view, which will be kept up to date as and when new posts are being added either from history backlog or from upcoming future hikes.<br />
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<iframe height="480" src="https://www.google.com/maps/d/embed?mid=1WGf8phk_g4Kv7EzSkiC6RUWH9Pc_wH0k&hl=en" width="640"></iframe>koomikkohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02063626989042540385noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3932134693797407216.post-47141059739079113302018-11-25T21:25:00.000+02:002019-01-08T13:13:34.060+02:00Quality father-son time - Hiking in Val d'Anniviers in SwitzerlandThe hiking fun back in 2017 did not stop at <a href="http://www.jolkko.com/2017/07/alleviated-hell-gr20-in-corsica-part-1.html">Corsica</a>. Towards the end of Summer me and my older son, who was 11 years old at that time, spent an awesome long weekend staying with friends in Switzerland. From Geneva it is only a short drive to magnificent Alps, so we succumbed to the temptation of a 2-day walk in the region of Central Valais. Truth be told, it did not require a whole lot of succumbing from us.<br />
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The father of my son's friend has impressive hiking mileage on him. Therefore he had preplanned the route for the four of us: two father-son teams. Before this trip I had never though of the possibility of leveraging the ski lifts to take a short cut directly into higher elevation. Perhaps, I might even have frowned upon the idea of going on a hike but not hiking. As if it was cheating. With the two kids along the option did sound excellent. We were able to cut to the chase and start enjoying the majestic scenery without trodding 2-3 hours upwards.<br />
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Saint Luc to Zinal</h3>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Uranus jokes never go out of style.</td></tr>
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We drove from Geneva to the village of Saint Luc in the Val d'Anniviers and left our car there. From there we took a funicular directly to mount Tignousa at 2186 meters. With only a few hours since we had woken up in Geneve we were already savouring the majesticity of Alps all around us with visibility to the so called Imperial crown of five 4000 m peaks including Matterhorn. On the first leg of the day 1, there was quite an interesting planetary trail to follow: Heavenly bodies made of metal are represented here with the relative distances from one another.<br />
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My not-so-hidden agenda for this trip was trying instil the joys of mountain hiking into my son. A truly successful moment during the course of induction was when we stopped for a picnic lunch on top of a rock overlooking into the valley floor below. Cutting pieces of fresh baguette with even bigger slices of local cheese and enjoying them in the fresh air after a good physical exercise did the trick of convincing how very enjoyable hiking can be. Some truly special father-son time happening here.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">On a journey to anywhere you can draw your own map, quoting the words of Hip-Hop trio Ugly Duckling. </td></tr>
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The journey continued past Hotel Weisshorn which is serving locally famous <i>tarte aux myrtilles</i>. Given that we just stopped for a lunch, we did not stop for a piece of <i>tarte</i>. Next time then! Later in the afternoon, there was a moment when the two boys started to grow tired of the steady incline. The other father noticed the early alarms and devised a word game to lighten up the mood. I love my love with an A, because she is adorable. Her name is Amelia (as per Dr. Who's companion!) and she lives in an Anomaly in space-time continuum. Then the next person then goes with letter B and so on. I was so very proud of my son, who is able to speak English fluently to the extent that he was having fun with coming up with creative suggestions.<br />
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Quite a steep descent through a forest took us to a picturesque town of Zinal at the very end of the valley. There we had booked a room at a hotel. This is the civilised way of mountain hiking when you can rest your weary feet over a proper meal and a nice comfortable bed. Then you are ready to start a fresh the very next day.<br />
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Zinal to Grimentz</h3>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Col de Sorebois with spectacular views to glacial lake as you can see.</td></tr>
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Kids' weariness was all gone after a good night's sleep, but again we opted for the cable-car short cut from town directly to ski center on the mount Sorebois and therefore avoiding almost 800 meters of dull looking ascent in a forest. Although the day was particularly cloudy and with poor visibility, we decided to ascent all the way to the peak of Sorebois at 2896 meters. My son decided to start listing all the mountains he has summited. For some reason he decided not to include grandiose Finnish mountains like Laajavuori (Grand Mountain!) at 227 m or Kanavuori (Chicken Mountain!!) at 197,5 meters (NB: the affectious level of accuracy). Where is his sense of national pride?<br />
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Apparently the views from the col de Sorebois down the lake Moiry with its Caribbean blue glacial waters would have been exceptionally dramatic if not for the clouds. We had to just trust our little trail booklet on level of dramatism. Perhaps next time. There were plenty of marmotte holes on the way to the lake, but no creatures in sight. Again we had such a lovely outdoor lunch on our way down.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Just what you except Swiss towns to look like in the Alps.</td></tr>
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There is a massive dam to be crossed. I am suffering a bit from a sensible vertigo (not a good feature for a mountain hiker) and I felt queasy walking next to that damn (sic!) railing. The walk down from the dam following the river Gougra all the way to the town of Grimentz was quite uneventful. The other father's hiking boots ceased all their collaboration at the very border of the town. Excellent timing. Arriving successfully at the goal provided a rush of good feelings. We made it! There was a handy bus connection back to the car park. How convenient is that!<br />
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Final musings </h3>
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For me the personal significance of this trip easily was the fact, that I was doing a proper mountain hike together with my son for the first time. I have travelled with him quite a bit already before, including an <a href="https://www.interrail.eu/en" target="_blank">Interrail</a> trip across a number of countries, and I knew beforehand that he is one tough cookie and does not give up easily, but it was still an overflowing pleasure to be with him on the mountains and see how well he completed the hike carrying his own backpack. The trip was somewhat similar to the hike I had completed with my own father on the other side of Matterhorn on the Italian alps several years ago.<br />
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During the same trip to Switzerland we did a quick excursion on the French side of the border to the foot of mount Blanc. Unfortunately the cloud shroud followed us there all the way to the <a href="https://www.chamonix.com/refuge-du-nid-d-aigle,48-56252,en.html" target="_blank">Refuge Nid d'Aigle</a> and the view to the peak, which was supposed to be particularly spectacular, refused to show itself to us. A third reason to come back!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">We did stages 2 and 3 from this suggested 4-day itinerary. </td></tr>
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<br />koomikkohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02063626989042540385noreply@blogger.com0Val de Anniviers, Switzerland46.1357214 7.625789199999985646.1137139 7.5854486999999855 46.1577289 7.6661296999999857tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3932134693797407216.post-60445044329994597652018-01-05T15:50:00.001+02:002018-08-22T10:54:31.862+03:00GR20 reprise <br />
As promised I wanted to share one more post-trip summary of the GR20 hike. Clearly this particular journey has been a significant experience for me as there are already four blog entries and now this summary text will be the fifth and final cheese-smelling entry. Next time in this blog there will be something completely different! I promise.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8xbLYrZbLU3V329Zpz715HPUKV3Hx0tIN3SDXjFvTqflv7NsJ0rCHcGKAMMP5btxRfbG9ah-nNVVvS3u0LORjtiuWBbrpkzm5FvmNujKu4g_jqwtJYOZrQQvkGloTPr5zGMrTsoyxX9Lh/s1600/IMG_20170627_091337.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8xbLYrZbLU3V329Zpz715HPUKV3Hx0tIN3SDXjFvTqflv7NsJ0rCHcGKAMMP5btxRfbG9ah-nNVVvS3u0LORjtiuWBbrpkzm5FvmNujKu4g_jqwtJYOZrQQvkGloTPr5zGMrTsoyxX9Lh/s640/IMG_20170627_091337.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Looking back at the hike across Corsica</td></tr>
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<b>Statistics</b><br />
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<tr style="height: 21px;"><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"From \n(link to blog)"}" style="font-weight: bold; overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; vertical-align: bottom;">From <br />
(link to blog)</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"To \n(link to map)"}" style="font-weight: bold; overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; vertical-align: bottom;">To <br />
(link to map)</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"km"}" style="font-weight: bold; overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">km</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"h"}" style="font-weight: bold; overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">h</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"elevation gain \n(m)"}" style="font-weight: bold; overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">elevation gain <br />
(m)</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"elevation loss \n(m)"}" style="font-weight: bold; overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">elevation loss <br />
(m)</td></tr>
<tr style="height: 21px;"><td data-sheets-formula="=HYPERLINKKI("http://www.jolkko.com/2017/07/alleviated-hell-gr20-in-corsica-part-1.html#day1";"Vizzavona")" data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Vizzavona"}" style="color: #1155cc; overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: bottom;"><a class="in-cell-link" href="http://www.jolkko.com/2017/07/alleviated-hell-gr20-in-corsica-part-1.html#day1" target="_blank">Vizzavona</a></td><td data-sheets-formula="=HYPERLINKKI("http://www.sports-tracker.com/workout/koomikko/59564370c3d639467e36f7ef";"Petra Piena")" data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Petra Piena"}" style="color: #1155cc; overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: bottom;"><a class="in-cell-link" href="http://www.sports-tracker.com/workout/koomikko/59564370c3d639467e36f7ef" target="_blank">Petra Piena</a></td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":20.01}" style="overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">20,01</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"7:55"}" style="overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">7:55</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":1376}" style="overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">1376</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":437}" style="overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">437</td></tr>
<tr style="height: 21px;"><td data-sheets-formula="=HYPERLINKKI("http://www.jolkko.com/2017/07/alleviated-hell-gr20-in-corsica-part-1.html#day2";"Petra Piena")" data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Petra Piena"}" style="color: #1155cc; overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: bottom;"><a class="in-cell-link" href="http://www.jolkko.com/2017/07/alleviated-hell-gr20-in-corsica-part-1.html#day2" target="_blank">Petra Piena</a></td><td data-sheets-formula="=HYPERLINKKI("http://www.sports-tracker.com/workout/koomikko/59564365f1757228deb5411c";"Manganu")" data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Manganu"}" style="color: #1155cc; overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: bottom;"><a class="in-cell-link" href="http://www.sports-tracker.com/workout/koomikko/59564365f1757228deb5411c" target="_blank">Manganu</a></td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":10.74}" style="overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">10,74</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"6:38"}" style="overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">6:38</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":660}" style="overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">660</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":905}" style="overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">905</td></tr>
<tr style="height: 21px;"><td data-sheets-formula="=HYPERLINKKI("http://www.jolkko.com/2017/07/alleviated-hell-gr20-in-corsica-part-2.html#day3";"Manganu")" data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Manganu"}" style="color: #1155cc; overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: bottom;"><a class="in-cell-link" href="http://www.jolkko.com/2017/07/alleviated-hell-gr20-in-corsica-part-2.html#day3" target="_blank">Manganu</a></td><td data-sheets-formula="=HYPERLINKKI("http://www.sports-tracker.com/workout/koomikko/5956435fc3d639467e36f755";"Castellu di Vergio")" data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Castellu di Vergio"}" style="color: #1155cc; overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: bottom;"><a class="in-cell-link" href="http://www.sports-tracker.com/workout/koomikko/5956435fc3d639467e36f755" target="_blank">Castellu di Vergio</a></td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":16.61}" style="overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">16,61</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"5:21"}" style="overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">5:21</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":560}" style="overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">560</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":747}" style="overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">747</td></tr>
<tr style="height: 21px;"><td data-sheets-formula="=HYPERLINKKI("http://www.jolkko.com/2017/07/alleviated-hell-gr20-in-corsica-part-2.html#day4";"Castellu di Vergio")" data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Castellu di Vergio"}" style="color: #1155cc; overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: bottom;"><a class="in-cell-link" href="http://www.jolkko.com/2017/07/alleviated-hell-gr20-in-corsica-part-2.html#day4" target="_blank">Castellu di Vergio</a></td><td data-sheets-formula="=HYPERLINKKI("http://www.sports-tracker.com/workout/koomikko/59564359f1757228deb540df";"Vallone")" data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Vallone"}" style="color: #1155cc; overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: bottom;"><a class="in-cell-link" href="http://www.sports-tracker.com/workout/koomikko/59564359f1757228deb540df" target="_blank">Vallone</a></td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":16.69}" style="overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">16,69</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"8:06"}" style="overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">8:06</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":829}" style="overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">829</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":826}" style="overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">826</td></tr>
<tr style="height: 21px;"><td data-sheets-formula="=HYPERLINKKI("http://www.jolkko.com/2017/08/perfect-hell-gr20-in-corsica-part-3-of-3.html#day5";"Vallone")" data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Vallone"}" style="color: #1155cc; overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: bottom;"><a class="in-cell-link" href="http://www.jolkko.com/2017/08/perfect-hell-gr20-in-corsica-part-3-of-3.html#day5" target="_blank">Vallone</a></td><td data-sheets-formula="=HYPERLINKKI("http://www.sports-tracker.com/workout/koomikko/59564382c3d639467e36f908";"Haut Asco")" data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Haut Asco"}" style="color: #1155cc; overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: bottom;"><a class="in-cell-link" href="http://www.sports-tracker.com/workout/koomikko/59564382c3d639467e36f908" target="_blank">Haut Asco</a></td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":11.46}" style="overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">11,46</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"6:56"}" style="overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">6:56</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":1168}" style="overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">1168</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":1207}" style="overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">1207</td></tr>
<tr style="height: 21px;"><td data-sheets-formula="=HYPERLINKKI("http://www.jolkko.com/2017/08/perfect-hell-gr20-in-corsica-part-3-of-3.html#day6";"Haut Asco")" data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Haut Asco"}" style="color: #1155cc; overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: bottom;"><a class="in-cell-link" href="http://www.jolkko.com/2017/08/perfect-hell-gr20-in-corsica-part-3-of-3.html#day6" target="_blank">Haut Asco</a></td><td data-sheets-formula="=HYPERLINKKI("http://www.sports-tracker.com/workout/koomikko/59587b20c3d639467e5627ab";"Bonifatu")" data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Bonifatu"}" style="color: #1155cc; overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: bottom;"><a class="in-cell-link" href="http://www.sports-tracker.com/workout/koomikko/59587b20c3d639467e5627ab" target="_blank">Bonifatu</a></td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":14.46}" style="overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">14,46</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"7:10"}" style="overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">7:10</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":844}" style="overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">844</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":1733}" style="overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">1733</td></tr>
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<h3>
Generic take-aways</h3>
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Some internet sources introduced GR20 as exceptionally stoic hike. Perhaps it has been like that in the past, but now (in 2017) it needs to be clarified that at every camp there is a possibility for a (cold) shower, the tents and huts are generally in very good condition and that there is access to beer. The choice limits to either Pietra Blonde or Pietra Ambrée. No hipster grade craft beers. So perhaps it is still barbarically stoic after all. <br />
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Internet rumours on paths not existing were often true. The route zig zagged through rugged terrain with hikers jumping from one loose boulder to another. In any case the way marks were very clear and frequent -- to the extent that it is difficult to get lost. <br />
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Our timing towards end of June worked well. The weather was not overly hot and the trail not overly crowded. Interestingly during each morning hours we met few people running (!) the opposite direction. These folks were typically doing 2 legs or even 3 legs on a same day.<br />
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Finally a shared observation in our little group was that by the end of day number 3 our bodies were properly accustomed to walking long distances, ascending and descending and carrying our backpacks. Even though we did only half of the official GR20, I have little doubt whether we could have continued for another 6 days if we had wanted to. <br />
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<h3>
Top six issues faced </h3>
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By popular vote in our group of three people these were the top issues that surfaced during the hike in random order:<br />
<ul>
<li>Knees hurting especially when descending over uneven loose rock</li>
<li>Nasty bedbugs biting in one the camp sites </li>
<li>"Muscular" shoulders and collarbones aching under heavy backpack </li>
<li> Sun burning neck and wrists</li>
<li>Not sleeping well in hot tents </li>
<li>Waking up way too early during vacation </li>
</ul>
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<h3>
Few lessons learned for future trips</h3>
There were few shared mental notes for our upcoming hikes. Again in no particular order: <br />
<ul>
<li>Take along some kind of pillow. I had an inflatable model which served the purpose better than using clothes as a pillow</li>
<li>Ensure there is a possibility to make the belt tighter. All three of us suffered from a mild wardrobe malfunction as we were missing extra holes in our belts. </li>
<li>Invest into improved ear plugs. The semi-finals in international snoring competition does not make it easier to fall asleep in a hot tent.</li>
<li>Pack a good pair of gloves to provide cover from the elements and to make scrambling slightly easier on hands.</li>
</ul>
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<h3>
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<h3>
<b>Dramatis personae </b></h3>
Hiking in the wilderness is not a lonely affair. Especially when hiking along the common famous paths there are plenty of other people sharing the trail with you. During all those hours spend trotting along the route it is easy to start speculating and extrapolating stories regarding the fellow hikers. Here are some of the memorable individuals we had the pleasure of encountering during our GR20: <br />
<ul>
<li>River Girl (Jokityttö) leading tourist train (turrejuna) # 1</li>
<li>Hairy Mask (Karvanaamari) leading tourist train # 2</li>
<li>General Snore (Kenraali Kuorsu) (a passanger in train # 1) - a formidable foe in the nightly snoring competition</li>
<li>Bush Guide (Puskaopas), who ended up leading her team after the silly Finns, who took a wrong turn </li>
<li>Girl with a nice bottom (Pyllis)</li>
<li>Girl with a lot of tattoos (Tatskatyttö)</li>
<li>Father and two sons from Australia </li>
<li>Father and one son from Belgium </li>
<li>Underwear Hippie (Kalsarihippi) from Holland</li>
</ul>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhme0AKuucEZ1bh5obyEMrXm98pLS7JEqwd9hjN9lj1XMi9EiPpe5kVT5eMjErinMCz2qrJE0PLDhgfVthSKgnzuQCq56NL1mmaFQa8ZRyKZ53J2SKs3SjSSHt_y69WZIZ2xv1UYrC53YZV/s1600/IMG_20170701_172904.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1343" data-original-width="1600" height="536" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhme0AKuucEZ1bh5obyEMrXm98pLS7JEqwd9hjN9lj1XMi9EiPpe5kVT5eMjErinMCz2qrJE0PLDhgfVthSKgnzuQCq56NL1mmaFQa8ZRyKZ53J2SKs3SjSSHt_y69WZIZ2xv1UYrC53YZV/s640/IMG_20170701_172904.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Well earned relaxation in Algajola after six days of hiking</td></tr>
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koomikkohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02063626989042540385noreply@blogger.com0Algajola, Corsica, France42.608158499999988 8.86104520000003542.584783999999985 8.8207047000000358 42.63153299999999 8.9013857000000343tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3932134693797407216.post-30109249534316274522017-08-03T23:56:00.001+03:002018-01-05T16:13:14.511+02:00Perfect Hell - GR20 in Corsica - Part 3 of 3 <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxNm-2NSDdroRupsV1PIXJiht4nWddxknlPR6pZni_cQCGK5efHdxCFnGknfICtdtjonDSTm-sGLMQ85eFAXqhOijZ5rOUI1lsjpHNm2iu1HsmBOuZysRSVSYoNt4o4E81YD110_8firYk/s1600/IMG_20170630_071140.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxNm-2NSDdroRupsV1PIXJiht4nWddxknlPR6pZni_cQCGK5efHdxCFnGknfICtdtjonDSTm-sGLMQ85eFAXqhOijZ5rOUI1lsjpHNm2iu1HsmBOuZysRSVSYoNt4o4E81YD110_8firYk/s400/IMG_20170630_071140.jpg" width="300" /></a>Australians to the rescue! I was struggling to explain in my broken French that we would appreciate to have at least some breakfast even before the sun is up, so that we could continue to enjoy rising very early during my holiday hell that they call GR20. It was in fact a team of father and two sons all the way from Australia who managed to get my point across to the guardian of the mountain hut that we didn't necessarily need warm milk in our morning coffee at 4:45 in the morning. This is part three of my blog series covering 6-day hike across Corsica.<br />
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<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="day5">Day 5 - Vallone to Haut Asco</a></h3>
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Since we were walking opposite to standard GR20 direction, for us the high alpine section of the trip was on the penultimate day of our journey. The trail from the rock pools of Vallone ascent right next to shoulder of Monte Cinto, which is the highest mountain in Corsica at 2706 m, before descending into the valley below on a path covered in loose scree. Our guidebook was quite stern about the level of challenge for this leg of the trail. It was estimated that the walk may take up to 10 hours with about 1000 m ascent and 1200 m descent and warning that we shouldn't even try it in a bad weather. <br />
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One member of our fellowship had been quite concerned before the start of the trip regarding rumours that there can pretty nasty bed bug infestations in some of the mountain huts and the rented tents. Scared by <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2mWxpL03_nU">this rather lovely video</a>, he had stocked up with a serious insecticide called <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Permethrin" target="_blank">Permethrin</a>. To add insult to the injury, he was eventually the only one of us whose succulent blood ended up getting sucked from all of the body parts which were not covered in the sleeping bag trenched in that agriculture-grade poison of his. Since he had opted to join the nightly international snoring competition he had the tent all for himself -- and for his little company of bed bugs.<br />
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Therefore with only cold milk in our <i>cafe au lait</i> (how barbaric!) and little less blood in our veins we set out for the most challenging day of the hike just when the first rays of sun started painting the mountain peaks with gold. There were no signs of rain clouds in the horizon. The seemingly never ending ascent from the hut to Bocca Cruccetta was quite taxing for me. I was getting dizzy either from the arduous exercise or from the smelly cheese we had received for lunch. My secret weapon were these convenient <a href="http://www.clifbar.com/products/clif/bloks-energy-chews" target="_blank">energy blocks</a>.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTDiaSujEzqdHXWMUWamlwVP5qozsHRbOS4AA9sti5gRkJfh58VGJKLH4hTnhl8vlITcDDGkLHhicn_MYG7iD17cXS00V42_gfrZrwIKn0FknAbL7XDrm7mjbKyv52AbnKszakfe5PzfPf/s1600/IMG_20170630_112759.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTDiaSujEzqdHXWMUWamlwVP5qozsHRbOS4AA9sti5gRkJfh58VGJKLH4hTnhl8vlITcDDGkLHhicn_MYG7iD17cXS00V42_gfrZrwIKn0FknAbL7XDrm7mjbKyv52AbnKszakfe5PzfPf/s400/IMG_20170630_112759.jpg" width="300" /></a></div>
Finally at Pointe des Eboulis we were at the highest point on our hike at 2607 m and it was time to start heading down. While our guide book had been in a cheery poetic mood when describing the bucolic (in active vocabulary now, I told you!) pastures on day number 3, at this point the narrator had run out of creative juices. "Continue downhill following the trail" -- this was the only thing mentioned for the next 3,5 hour descent. The few sequences which required scrambling sometimes with bolted chains, were not overly tricky to negotiate. The way down was again rather spectacular. Little human felt particularly small against the massive backdrop of mountains all around us.<br />
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Eventually we made it safe and sound to Haut Asco. I can attest that this part would have been particularly miserable in a bad weather. There is indeed loose scree and those scrambling bits would have turned out to be quite dangerous when wet. There would not have been any place to look for shelter if the weather would have turned sour. The expected thunderstorm came upon us only in the evening when we were already enjoying our dinner indoors – and didn't have to take out our <i>parapluis</i>. I can only imagine what it must feel like walking GR20 from North to South. During the first days there is constant ascent for more than 1k each day. Having the climactic alpine section towards the end of the hike felt more appropriate – at least as part of a beautiful story arc.<br />
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<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="day6">Day 6 - Haut Asco to Bonifatu</a></h3>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSuIxjs4l2TT0UbIZh3Ir9znGZsPOfieyd-RBig60hhHeH-_fpW25O8h1S_aa4MHLwgiKsYMRc4VE_v08ez_A1fsIB1hRp7_Ax2cRa2q1mJJ6UMUyGtbgfZEpGLBC_ilwGEpcvZRzQZYzO/s1600/IMG_20170701_085032.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSuIxjs4l2TT0UbIZh3Ir9znGZsPOfieyd-RBig60hhHeH-_fpW25O8h1S_aa4MHLwgiKsYMRc4VE_v08ez_A1fsIB1hRp7_Ax2cRa2q1mJJ6UMUyGtbgfZEpGLBC_ilwGEpcvZRzQZYzO/s400/IMG_20170701_085032.jpg" width="300" /></a>The precaution for our last day was not to underestimate the challenge. Having completed the previous days successfully – especially day number 5 – I think we ended up doing exactly that. There was still relatively onerous ascent and a long descent ahead of us. The weather was absolutely beautiful though.<br />
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With the first glimpse of the sea and the northern coast line from the top of the first ridge, we felt like we had our final goal directly in sight. This was merely a distraction as the trail zigzagged into yet another ridge before the final ascent from the mountains towards the sea began. There were once again few bits requiring some slightly exposed scrambling and once again I was thinking how very difficult these parts would be if it was raining. <br />
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The descent seemed to go on for ages. The scenery around us continued to be impressive. As an interesting observation by this point in time we realised that we all felt that we could continue like this forever. None of us had anymore any issues with our knees, backpacks didn't feel too heavy, sun had already burned few patches of my skin so it couldn't burn any more and so on. I have had some bad experiences with my knees dying on me (once <a href="http://www.jolkko.com/2017/05/a-visit-to-highest-toilet-in-south-east.html">in Borneo</a> and before that in the Alps) and I was somewhat concerned prior to the trip that what if by day number 3 my knees stop serving me and turn against me. How am I going to keep on going for another 3 days then. However this risk never realized. Somehow the body was acclimatised to continuous walking even with little sleep, mediocre food and nasty bed bugs sucking our blood (at least for some of us).<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCWDwEAPWVEL0p5R2liP05JaWZUahOHWxa38jyzsE5prZXcC5IaUu5kC0pULakSVghdx4y6Ntl85FY-J7NZ_aCRm3FG1c0Jy0IzOpIlJhtqU3cMRmq3n3H2aiy5QmTd-jnrGqIyvlYOLQO/s1600/IMG_20170701_132111.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCWDwEAPWVEL0p5R2liP05JaWZUahOHWxa38jyzsE5prZXcC5IaUu5kC0pULakSVghdx4y6Ntl85FY-J7NZ_aCRm3FG1c0Jy0IzOpIlJhtqU3cMRmq3n3H2aiy5QmTd-jnrGqIyvlYOLQO/s640/IMG_20170701_132111.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">May this picture serve as an incentive for someone else to do a re-enactment pose!</td></tr>
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The icy cold mountain water felt truly refreshing when we stopped for lunch and quick midday skinny dipping next to a suspension bridge across the mountain stream. There was clearly a sense of achievement in the air as we were getting closer and closer to the end of the hike. Our customized hike did indeed come to an end in a small town of Bonifatu exactly at the border of Corsica National Park. The official GR20 would have continued slightly further down still to town of Calenzana, but for us this was The End.<br />
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Like when completing the hike I feel I don't want to stop here quite yet. Therefore I will write <a href="http://www.jolkko.com/2018/01/gr20-reprise.html">one more blog entry</a> regarding GR20 where I will share detailed tracking data of our day trips (for all the statistic nerds out there), hopefully offer some valuable tips for folks possibly planning for GR20 and probably some further musings regarding the smelly island of Corsica.koomikkohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02063626989042540385noreply@blogger.com0Vallone, GR20, Corsica42.352928 8.907851599999958125.773557 -32.400742400000041 58.932299 50.216445599999957tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3932134693797407216.post-86084209388337794602017-07-24T23:05:00.000+03:002018-01-05T14:24:50.219+02:00Enjoyable Hell - GR20 in Corsica - Part 2 of 3 This is part two of the GR20 expedition in the summer of 2017. I would kindly advise you to read <a href="http://jolkko.blogspot.fi/2017/07/alleviated-hell-gr20-in-corsica-part-1.html">part one</a> first unless already done so and you still need to wait a little for part three to be published. Is this finally the episode where the tingling sensation is upon us and we need to assume a brace position with our walking poles as an extra lightning rods? At least a proper storm was expected in the afternoon of day number three. Well beyond midnight, when I was answering the call of the nature the sky was still cloudless and littered with millions of stars. Night sky is always truly spectacular when hiking in the mountains.<br />
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<h3>
<a name="day3">Day 3 - Manganu to Castellu di Vergio</h3></a>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDbUvoowlWkpMS92DUeG7CZxLpZU58fxBH7IU0x7MMUzLgU8Hu9E9ykYSH26oWsJecsx5RQkUgoligAFzFX0UJbgqJyFM75WYcbECNmtVfMrZH-S3kWhhNtNPYfylAIZFqiMIgSjYM8Cy0/s1600/IMG_20170628_073523.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDbUvoowlWkpMS92DUeG7CZxLpZU58fxBH7IU0x7MMUzLgU8Hu9E9ykYSH26oWsJecsx5RQkUgoligAFzFX0UJbgqJyFM75WYcbECNmtVfMrZH-S3kWhhNtNPYfylAIZFqiMIgSjYM8Cy0/s320/IMG_20170628_073523.jpg" width="240" /></a>My enjoyable vacation day started at around 5 AM and we set out for a brisk little walk already at 5:45 in order to make it to the next <i>gite d'etape</i> before facing the possible storm. Our guide book was evolving to be particularly poetic describing the various sceneries we were travelling through. "The air is fresh, tinged with the scent of alder and the fragrance of high mountains". I learned two new English words into my active vocabulary: runnels (narrow channels of water) and bucolic (relating to idyllic rural life).<br />
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The beginning of the day was quite easy hike across bucolic fields with grazing horses and little runnels leading from Lac de Nino. Only once we ascended from the freshly scented lake to a nearby ridge we started hearing the menacing sound of a thunder. There were some nasty looking clouds in the horizon and all of a sudden it was way too cold to sport t-shirts and shorts anymore. Walking on a ridge with drops on both sides is once again one of those places, where you probably should not end up loitering when there is a risk of a lighting strike. We chose to accelerate our pace.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-WPO6P4WXe4KY05knSrZ-QQbKPYyak0Te_fkXeKUTMea-5eQ_98A5T9lUBahR2dYbT90JglP3xk0Roy5z0jE3Kpc1mvGGAGdEDKU0x9p8RSR_9_KkRa4Tp5Wf9VKMIHPi-vgcFJXERz5V/s1600/IMG_20170628_101020.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-WPO6P4WXe4KY05knSrZ-QQbKPYyak0Te_fkXeKUTMea-5eQ_98A5T9lUBahR2dYbT90JglP3xk0Roy5z0jE3Kpc1mvGGAGdEDKU0x9p8RSR_9_KkRa4Tp5Wf9VKMIHPi-vgcFJXERz5V/s640/IMG_20170628_101020.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Guess which way the wind is blowing.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPCv02yTzQxsQfE6E6AmW-_SnFK21-GcPWlJVMwmxwyejvC5BLIm9AYiB5qZiVX6BkYtpspzaXu4lMH0lCHybH_Fnum1KKIOVSrsSt0L05RiYZxU-ew9-k2K3IXdQLVXLvVEtv3eD9S8Qu/s1600/IMG_20170629_075948.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPCv02yTzQxsQfE6E6AmW-_SnFK21-GcPWlJVMwmxwyejvC5BLIm9AYiB5qZiVX6BkYtpspzaXu4lMH0lCHybH_Fnum1KKIOVSrsSt0L05RiYZxU-ew9-k2K3IXdQLVXLvVEtv3eD9S8Qu/s320/IMG_20170629_075948.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pigs ahoy!</td></tr>
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Once we started properly descending from the very windy ridge line it was clear that the storm clouds stayed on the other side of the mountains. The trail crossed through a pine tree forest where we encountered a sounder (a special word for a group -- not in my active vocabulary) of feral pigs. Guide book mentioned that during GR20 it is possible to face wild boars (the ones Obelix eats), which might be even aggressive, but these animals looked like the typical domesticated pigs, but apparently living in the wild.<br />
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Given that we had started our day so early and also because the sound of thunder made our feet fly across the ridge, we were team number one to arrive at the pit stop for this leg of the race. This was one of those locations where we stayed in a hotel, an old now defunct downhill ski center, and our room was #101. <br />
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At this point the route started to take it's toll: knees were hurting, I had sun burn in my neck and wrists even with the sunscreen applied and my sturdy pencil-neck-geekish shoulders were aching because of carrying the backpack for three days straight. There were absolutely no possibilities for any star gazing this night as I was fast asleep already way before 10 PM.<br />
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<h3>
<a name="day4">Day 4 - Castellu di Vergio to Vallone</h3></a>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hole in the mountain saved for the next trip.</td></tr>
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A good night's sleep in a proper bed did wonders. From day number four onwards body seemingly started to be used to the stress it was being put through and hiking started to feel quite pleasant. One of the motivators for our expedition was one particular picture from <a href="https://www.sallyinnorfolk.com/2007/07/23/day-4-haut-asco-to-auberge-u-vallone/" target="_blank">a hiking blog</a> that we had ventured upon when googling on information on GR20. There is a hiker enjoying clearly well earned skinny dip into a fresh mountain pool. One of the goals we had set for ourselves was to do a re-enactment ideally in the very same rock pool at our destination for day number 4: Bergerie de Vallone. <br />
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The day broke with dull clouds hovering over the mountains, but once we reached yet another windy ridge, the clouds gave away for impressive scenes all the way to Mediterranean in the distance and revealing majestic mountain peaks around us. We quickly refuelled with a cold Pietra beer in the highest located refuge (at 2000 m) called Ciottolu (can it be only a coincidence that it sounds a bit like Cthulhu?!). There are two peaks looming over Cthulhu's cabin: third highest Paglia Orba and Capu Tafunatu. The latter has quite an interesting hole pierced through the mountain and it looks a little bit like a massive eye that observes the hikers walking past. <br />
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After crossing Bocca di Foggiale and starting the descent towards Vallone, there are once again magnificent views far away across the valley floor below. Life was particularly peachy when inhaling the scenery, enjoying a baguette with Corsican cheese on top and getting rid of the boots (which started smelling a little bit like the cheese) and dropping the backpack even if only for a moment. As a special cherry on top, the internet reception was impeccable at our selected lunch spot.<br />
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We set out to search for our earmarked rock pool immediately after having arrived at refuge Vallone. There is indeed a mountain stream nearby that gathers into numerous pools before tumbling further downstream into the valley. With a bit of perseverance we were indeed able to find the very same pool and complete a series of re-enactment poses sitting on the very same rock. Mission accomplished!<br />
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The only thing shadowing our enjoyment was rumoured possibility of a thunderstorm for the following day, which our guide book was specifically warning to be by far the lengthiest and the most difficult as it crosses on the shoulder of Monte Cinto, the highest peak in Corsica. This route was introduced in 2016 as the new official alpine part of GR20 after the dreaded Cirque de la Solitude section was closed due to a fatal accident in 2015. The guidebook was particular in warning not to attempt this section in poor weather which was apparently being predicted for the following day. During our lunch break we obviously hadn't used the internet connection to such trivialities as to study the weather forecast and the guardian of the refuge was merely shrugging his shoulders and repeating the word <i>parapluie </i>(an umbrella). A level of anxiety was evident in the camp as each party was wondering whether it is going to be safe to continue the next day.<br />
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Find out if I finally end up getting hit by a lightning in <a href="http://www.jolkko.com/2017/08/perfect-hell-gr20-in-corsica-part-3-of-3.html">part three</a> of my GR20 experience. <br />
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<br />koomikkohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02063626989042540385noreply@blogger.com0Castellu di Vergio, Corsica42.2866402 8.892814899999962125.7049542 -32.415779100000037 58.8683262 50.201408899999961tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3932134693797407216.post-79599982356657435282017-07-19T22:59:00.001+03:002018-01-05T14:20:36.113+02:00Alleviated Hell - GR20 in Corsica - Part 1 of 3 Instead of reading this three part blog entry, you may want to directly google the words <a href="http://lmgtfy.com/?q=my+holiday+hell" target="_blank">"my holiday hell"</a> and find relatively accurate description of just how enjoyable of an experience it is to hike through <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GR_20" target="_blank">GR20-footpath across island of Corsica</a>. I can only share half of the fun in my blog as we decided against the whole 180 kilometer coast to coast trek, but opted for the alpine northern half of what has been dubbed as the toughest trail in Europe.<br />
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The decision to walk "only" 90 kilometers from Vizzavona (in
the middle of the island) to Bonifatu at the northern border of the
Corsica National Park was dictated by the finite number of available
vacation days, but also by the desire to experience the more mountainous
part of the trail. Don't tell anyone, but we also selected few
additional alleviations: 1) we had prebooked accommodation in the
refuges, so that we didn't have to carry our own tent, 2) in addition to
breakfast and dinner at the camps we also got a little lunch box for each day, 3) we had access to our main luggage few times along the
route and therefore we were able to optimize with carrying only the bare
necessities and finally 4) we had an upgrade to a hotel room (!) for two nights during the 6 day hike. Therefore GR20 was going to be a walk in the (national) park for us, right?<br />
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Me & my companions flew into Pisa, Italy, took a train to Livorno and from there a ferry to Bastia, Corsica. During the ferry ride we were comparing notes on what was possibly waiting for us on that <a href="http://www.fleurdecorse.com/Corse_Plants.html" target="_blank">maquis scented island</a>. Possibility of facing a thunderstorm in one of the numerous mountain valleys was probably the top shared worry for us. I have once tried to outrun a lightning and I would prefer not to relive that experience again. According to ever trustworthy <a href="http://www.wildbackpacker.com/wilderness-survival/articles/surviving-a-lightning-storm/" target="_blank">Internet</a>, once a hiker feels a tingling sensation of a lightning targeting him/her, a crouching position should be quickly assumed. We decided to be extra alert to any tingling sensations throughout the trip.<br />
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Our dirty little secret of walking only a half of the true distance started to unfold on the very first day as we arrived with a train to Vizzavona. For most GR20 walkers whether north- or southbound this is the half way point of the journey. We failed to mimic the weary stride of the exhausted hikers, while we ventured out for a beer in our city clothes and enjoyed a steak in our accommodation.<br />
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<h3>
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="day1">Day 1 - Vizzavona to Petra Piena</a></h3>
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Given that we had chosen slightly different approach to the standard north to south trail, we took a variant route that feeds into the proper GR20 after a traveling a few hours through a forest and gecko infested rocky hills. We ended up bypassing L'Onda refuge completely and aimed directly at the refuge called Petra Piena.<br />
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Although it was a hot day the initial part of the walk felt relatively easy. We started questioning whether the route lives up to it's title. There are a number of water sources along the route where it is possible to fill in the water bottles, which were heavily being utilized under the scorching sun. Just to be safe during the first day we treated the water with purification tablets. The tablets apparently kill bacteria and viruses after first 30 minutes, but certain types of parasites can live up to 2 hours even after the tablet has been put into the water. I felt that even extra parasites would add to the total load I was carrying and therefore I was counting minutes before I felt safe to drink slightly weird tasting water. Weird water goes nicely with smelly chunk of Corsican cheese, which we had for lunch. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">We had two guide books: one by Paddy Dillon and one by Goscinny & Uderzo </td></tr>
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The final ascent to the Petra Piena camping site was relatively taxing and when the first tents appeared I was overly glad to get rid of my boots. Based on the managed expectations of facing very basic accommodation and food options, I was in fact positively surprised to find the huts and the provided tents in good condition. Food was indeed basic, but like they say: hunger is the best seasoning. It should be noted that in Petra Piena, like every other camp, there are (cold) showers, toilets and possibility to wash clothes. As mentioned my expectations were set low by the horror stories in the Internet.<br />
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<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="day2">Day 2 - Petra Piena to Manganu </a></h3>
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GR20 is very well marked route. There are familiar red and white markers within regular intervals. They are so regular that the guidance is that if you don't spot the next marker in few minutes you are possibly off trail and should retrace your steps. We probably should have listened to this advice. We ended getting off track in a man height shrubbery early morning when leaving the camp. In fact we ended up misleading also a Belgian father-son combo and a French tourist group (or turrejuna as we were calling them) who were sheepishly following right in our footsteps. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sunrise at Petra Piena</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Breche de Capitello</td></tr>
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After navigating through the shrubbery and cows (!) we reached the first proper col, which is the lowest point between two nearby mountain peaks. Only at this point we started to appreciate the fact that we were indeed in the mountains. There were absolutely beautiful scenery on both side of the ridge with a number of mountain lakes locked at the bottom of deep valleys.<br />
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During day 2 when we were walking from one col to another, from Breche de Capitello to Bocca a le Porte, we encountered the first steep scrambling with chains bolted into the rock. I still <a href="http://jolkko.blogspot.fi/2016/05/feeling-well-in-tatras.html">vividly remembered my chains of death experience in Slovakia</a> and I was slightly concerned on how well I will be able to perform through this somewhat exposed section. It turned out that the scrambling wasn't really that difficult after all. <br />
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By the time we started seemingly never ending descent from the Bocca a le Porte, we unanimously understood what constituted to the label of the toughest route. Once again it was 1) hot, (by this time my sunblock started failing in my neck and wrists), during this leg of the trail there were 2) no possibilities to fill the water bottles, 3) there were hardly any level terrain to walk on, but rather it was either quite steep ascent or descent which started to take it's toll on our knees, 4) there is no or limited Internet connectivity for a nerd to enjoy life (!) and finally 5) there isn't much of a trail to begin with, it is mainly just jumping from a rock to the next at the risk of breaking ankles at every step. Another guiding principle for GR20 is that a hiker should stop before doing anything else than concentrating on walking. We did spot our first (but not last) helicopter rescue squad on day 2, so probably someone had made the amateur mistake of enjoying the scenery while walking at the same time.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Laborious descent from Bocca a le Porte</td></tr>
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"Life is good again", stated a fellow Belgian hiker once we finally reached the Manganu hut. Perhaps he had also heard that there is some possibility to get a few bits of internet traffic when standing on a special rock few hundred meters north west from the hut.<br />
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The story continues in <a href="http://jolkko.blogspot.fi/2017/07/alleviated-hell-gr20-in-corsica-part-2.html">part 2</a>... <br />
<br />koomikkohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02063626989042540385noreply@blogger.com0GR20, Corsica42.5071735 8.852984699999979125.0805195 -32.45560930000002 59.9338275 50.161578699999978tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3932134693797407216.post-45359611909540807342017-06-18T17:39:00.004+03:002017-06-18T17:46:11.769+03:00Gearing up for Mountains of PainSuper excited. That's how I feel right about now. 5 days and counting before I embark on my next adventure. <a href="http://jolkko.blogspot.com/2016/08/rotten-eggs-for-four-days.html">Finally</a> I will be experiencing the famous <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GR_20" target="_blank">GR20</a> or <i>fra li monti </i>which takes me across island of Corsica - at least across the more mountaneous northern part of the route.<br />
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I have been daydreaming of this particular hike ever since I came across a wonderfully written <a href="https://suomenkuvalehti.fi/jutut/kotimaa/gr20/" target="_blank">article on GR20</a>, which was published in one local magazine (sadly available only in Finnish). The story tells about an author and his son who decide to attempt GR20 as their first longer hike. It goes on length describing the agony, fear and sweat they had to go through on this particular hike, which has been dubbed as the toughest long distance trail in Europe. The title of the article refers to "mountains of pain".<br />
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I remember thinking already back then when I first read this article, that it is funny how I feel tempted to attempt the same even though the article does describe the journey as truly onerous and partly life threathingly perilous. Why would I be intriqued to spend my finite vacation days in such an ordeal. I just re-read the article yesterday and again the same paradox left me clueless. I hope I am loaded with answers to this question once I'm back.<br />
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Having completed a test packing with my planned equipment yesterday, 6.0 kilograms seems to be the weight of my backpack -- without food and water at this point. That seems to be quite ideal. Additionally I am also happily patting on my own back for feeling to be more in shape than I have ever been in my life. I'm ready. Bring it on!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Laptop is not going into the backpack - even if a proper self respecting nerd would not leave home without it. </td></tr>
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<br />koomikkohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02063626989042540385noreply@blogger.com0Kamppi, Helsinki, Suomi60.1691569 24.93322769999997543.5891964 -16.375366300000024 76.749117399999989 66.241821699999974tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3932134693797407216.post-7407023794745693952017-05-27T12:56:00.002+03:002017-05-27T12:58:15.676+03:00Mountain as a birthday presentWhat would you give to a close friend who already has everything? The friend, who also happens to be your next door neighbor, is reaching an esteemed age of full 100 years later this year. She already has plenty of material goods, so she doesn't need any more stuff to put on top of the mantelpiece. She has also accumulated a wealth of immaterial possessions over the years. One thing that she doesn't have yet though is a proper mountain.<br />
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Country of Finland is celebrating it's centennial year this coming December. Finland declared independence in 1917 after having being a Grand Duchy of Russia since 1809. Before that Finland was part of the Swedish Empire. The modern Finland is very much part of the Nordic countries and shares a similar set of values, political stability, education system and relatively comparable GDP among other things with Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Iceland. I often need to point out though that Finland is not part of geographical Scandinavia, which formally consists only of Sweden, Norway and Denmark.<br />
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While Finland appears on multiple lists of Top 10 countries in the world, countries with highest mountains is not one of those. The glaciers during Ice Age were thicker and lasted longer around Finland than they did further south. (Some may still believe that the Ice Age never ended in Finland.) These glaciers eroded the land mass to be relatively flat. The few higher hills and mountains are mostly in the northern parts of Finland. The mountains in Lapland are called tunturi or <a href="https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/fell#Etymology_3" target="_blank">fell</a> as opposed to using the word for a mountain.<br />
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The highest point in Finland is Halti fell, which reaches the elevation of impressive 1324 meters above sea level. Halti is located way up north at the very border of Finland and Norway. The sad reality though is that the actual summit called Haldičohkka<span style="font-size: 12.8px; text-align: center;"> </span>is just 150 meters on Norway side of the border. So therefore the highest "mountain" of Finland doesn't even have a summit!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/56/Haldicohkka.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="300" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/56/Haldicohkka.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Haldičohkka viewed from East. The highest point of Finland seen in the middle of the picture.<br />
Picture credit: Ari Mure. Picture used under Creative Commons license</td></tr>
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Norwegians to the rescue! A retired geophysicist and a surveyor for the Norwegian government, Bjørn Geirr Harsson, came up with an idea to redraw the border between Norway and Finland ever so slightly, so that the summit of the mountain would be actually on the Finland side. The change would be practically unnoticeable in terms of Norwegian total land area (at about 0,015 sq km) and having a ridiculous amount of mountains, tip of Halti doesn't make it to any lists in Norway.<br />
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Mr Harsson sent his proposal to the government of Norway and a supporting facebook page was set up: <a href="https://www.facebook.com/Haltijubileum/" target="_blank">Halti som jubileumsgave</a>. The whole idea was mainly meant as a symbolic gesture between the countries. Apparently the current border line has been drawn as a straight line way back in 1750s and is "geographically illogical" according to Mr Harsson.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBAyqi8D8q6F3mwpZlO61DryDIdmeZjz95uGtVahwarBXI7kb1u-xXSk73mZ3WItSw7O6SukIEeRqPT1xk7_xYaA4fdWljBFhSu6xpbihsD7sOx4yVXBoHKbZcVQ7tGeFETd9kKwggT5HC/s1600/halti.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1045" data-original-width="1600" height="260" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBAyqi8D8q6F3mwpZlO61DryDIdmeZjz95uGtVahwarBXI7kb1u-xXSk73mZ3WItSw7O6SukIEeRqPT1xk7_xYaA4fdWljBFhSu6xpbihsD7sOx4yVXBoHKbZcVQ7tGeFETd9kKwggT5HC/s400/halti.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Map of Halti with triangle of the border change proposition by the Halti som jubileumsgave movement</td></tr>
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The suggestion has caught the attention of global press and has been acknowledged as yet another prime example of the friendly relations between the Nordic countries. Think about all the border related disputes continuing around the world, and here we have a country that is considering to give willingly a piece of it's area just as a bit silly birthday present!<br />
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But alas! While the suggestion has been indeed formally acknowledged and considered upon by the Norwegian government, it seems that there are insurmountable obstacles blocking the way. The very first article of the Norwegian constitution stipulates very specifically that the kingdom of Norway is "indivisible and inalienable". Overcoming this level of complex legal hurdle, seems to be a complete show stopper.<br />
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In fact the prime minister of Norway has sadly officially informed that the process has been now halted and that Norway will think of another way to join the centennial celebration of Finland. All hope is not yet lost (it never is!) and the movement continues to push the brilliant idea worth of a Nobel peace prize (which is awarded yearly by a Norwegian Nobel committee) in itself.<br />
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Check out this impressive short documentary on this topic called <a href="https://vimeo.com/198705876" target="_blank">Battle for Birthday Mountain</a> and show your kind support by liking the facebook page linked above.<br />
<br />koomikkohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02063626989042540385noreply@blogger.com0Halti, Finland69.2833333 21.29999999999995552.714996299999996 -20.008594000000045 85.8516703 62.608593999999954tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3932134693797407216.post-13563629936144784922017-05-14T11:50:00.000+03:002017-05-14T11:58:14.670+03:00A visit to highest toilet in South East Asia - Reprise of Mount Kinabalu hike in BorneoDo I hear the crowd asking for an encore? At least one avid reader was missing a recount of my visit to the highest toilet in South East Asia. This particular blog post was originally featured in my other blog - <a href="http://frostythelion.blogspot.fi/" target="_blank">Frosty the Lion</a> - which captures expatriate experience of living in Singapore. As the only hiking related entry in that particular blog, it is appropriate to be duplicated on this hiking blog as well. The text has been slightly edited to fit this purpose and there are few new pictures even for old readers. Without further ado here is the reprise of my trek to Mount Kinabalu due to overwhelming public demand.<br />
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<b>Pre-mortem of the excursion</b><b> </b></h3>
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I had my eye set on the Mount Kinabalu in Malaysian part of Borneo from the very first weeks I had arrived to Singapore back in 2012. It is by far the highest mountain in the neighbouring region and when openly admitting to be hooked on mountain hiking it made an obvious choice of destination to be conquered while stationed in Singapore. To be fair, I did consider also picturesque <a href="http://rinjaninationalpark.com/" target="_blank">Mount Rinjani</a> on the island of Lombok for quite some time. However, I ended up booking a trip to Kinabalu on few days notice. The two year work assignment was coming to an end eventually, so I had to make some drastic moves especially after a plan to go diving had to be discarded (*shaking first angrily at MILF-guerillas (yes, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moro_Islamic_Liberation_Front" target="_blank">seriously</a> :) and/or Abu Sayyaf organization, whoever it is the reason for the unrest around Sipadan national park).<br />
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I have to admit feeling pretty stupid (there is no proper English translation for daiju is there?) to be procuring warm clothes and new hiking paraphernalia at the probably most expensive place on Singapore's Orchard Road, while I would have had plenty of equipment stashed back in Finland. I seriously did not expect that I would be needing any thermal underwear while living on equator. I tried to make a justified compromise on the amount and quality of the clothing and equipment. Just for comparison sake, walking poles started from 250 SGD upwards. I decided that I really didn't need a pole that much.<br />
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I packed my stuff and hopped on a 2,5 hour flight to Kota Kinabalu directly after work on Thursday evening. The flight time was long enough to watch one episode of True Detective (warm recommendation). How convenient is that? I stayed in an excuse of a hotel right next to the airport and aimed to get some Zs as early as possible...<br />
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<b>Day 1 - Ever upwards</b></h3>
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...because the wake up call was at 5 am. I picked up some Mee Goreng to go and met with David the chauffeur. It takes couple of hours from the city of Kota Kinabalu to drive to the Mount Kinabalu National Park. I got first glimpses of the Kinabalu massif already far away. I could not help to think how amazing it is that a small human being with the help of two insignificant feet (<a href="https://www.google.fi/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwjoqbnx6-7TAhUrOJoKHR8fBzgQyCkIJzAA&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3D2_5edxArGT8&usg=AFQjCNE2JRS7hyE_1vE_gFROR60oHPJ1uw&sig2=EoTsnP-uHocoVseeZnr3pg" target="_blank">Come of feet, cruise for me</a>!) can find his way up a massive mountain all the way the very top. I had this discussion with few fellow trekkers, family of father and a son from Singapore. They made the accurate observation that there has been plenty of small human beings preparing a proper paths and even mountain huts for us to do our little controlled adventure. A fair point.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgr75tOtfhEITeCJ5u4F5nsbOejPBoy4SBRPG8SjIkcBdJDDKfwQioGa99hByXhfABdNO0II-jqW-cBZB0GiY-S8WAh8LmBgom0BzY5g9mFD23xh8xJ9mzB3ORQi9g7LK1ghIXu71W9pek/s1600/20140815_074648_1.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="251" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgr75tOtfhEITeCJ5u4F5nsbOejPBoy4SBRPG8SjIkcBdJDDKfwQioGa99hByXhfABdNO0II-jqW-cBZB0GiY-S8WAh8LmBgom0BzY5g9mFD23xh8xJ9mzB3ORQi9g7LK1ghIXu71W9pek/s1600/20140815_074648_1.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">So near, so far</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Thus we arrived at Mount Kinabalu headquarters. Beautiful sunny morning provided unobstructed views all the way to the top of the mountain. Very often mountains are covered in clouds, so it was specifically nice to see the end goal so very clearly ahead of me. David kindly offered to borrow his personal walking pole (I believe it to be the very same Black Diamond pole that I was eyeing in that Outdoor sports store back in Singapore).<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhV7INMFOKGy0ORYSBo5sIvMJKlCd-7T7DT-8kx4SMTra4AWybevNkrLvNltcVRHlAC4FYrCoC8nrlt7OmokZ2AzuT-nXvUW4ldwkd8uXbn0Xtyh8Mj8HRvnLJ77aYyMk1DzvgJJZC4g4D/s1600/20140815_075216.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhV7INMFOKGy0ORYSBo5sIvMJKlCd-7T7DT-8kx4SMTra4AWybevNkrLvNltcVRHlAC4FYrCoC8nrlt7OmokZ2AzuT-nXvUW4ldwkd8uXbn0Xtyh8Mj8HRvnLJ77aYyMk1DzvgJJZC4g4D/s320/20140815_075216.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The route ahead of me</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpo5NvY4n4S71OiefuYpC61NTENG-7Y97xDpTrUHiIrO5dDtQyvY7Ffv-uA-Up5PD3fh0xLJc8IOuGssuRjGIbiYxLFLHudCwyfQMA6hdrOz5Il03vEb9hF61FQ2UptxeetgWgqge6eDZb/s1600/20140815_094601.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpo5NvY4n4S71OiefuYpC61NTENG-7Y97xDpTrUHiIrO5dDtQyvY7Ffv-uA-Up5PD3fh0xLJc8IOuGssuRjGIbiYxLFLHudCwyfQMA6hdrOz5Il03vEb9hF61FQ2UptxeetgWgqge6eDZb/s320/20140815_094601.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Is this a jungle or a rain forest?</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
After a short mini van trip to the Timphon gate (at 1866 meters), the walk actually started with my guide, Jiro. He is a young Malaysian lad of few words from the village next door (Kundusang, I believe). He was equipped with T-shirt, shorts, very light white sneakers and exposed ankles. And then there was me fully equipped in technical gear. Kinda sad sight really. Journey started in a rain forest (or a jungle - what's the difference really?) with a properly constructed foot path through the vegetation.<br />
<br />
The very start of the route is relatively easy, but pretty fast starts the climb of endless set of stairs (either man made or natural) but all this happened under nice weather. I kept on counting percentages completed with the help of way markers in every 0,5 kilometer intervals. Also I was trying to optimize the water supply so that I would avoid feeling particularly dummy with having carried for example 1 extra kilo of weight of water if I had not drunk it all.<br />
<br />
I hastily consumed my packed lunch at Layang Layang hut after hiking first 4 kilometers. Hastily due to mischievous squirrels licking their lips at the bountiful treasure soon theirs. I kept on getting some extra energy from nuts and chocolate along the way. After this hut the vegetation starts changing gradually. There started to be more and more conifer trees and bushes rather than ferns and jungly trees.<br />
<br />
There were number of porters who overtook me on my way up carrying very bulky packages and often using their heads as a support. One guy was huffing and puffing up the hill in his flip flops. Once again the tourist with his gore tex hiking boots was made to look plain funny. The porters are dragging all the food supplies to the Laban Rata hut every single day to feed the hikers.<br />
<br />
Finally as joy for sore eyes (and especially for sore legs, but do legs see?) the Laban Rata hut appeared hovering not so far distance away. Ascending the final set of stairs to Pedant hut (at 3289 meters), where I was to lay my aching bones, seemed amazingly hard. I reached the hut around 1 PM. Pendant hut is pretty basic mountain hut accommodation, but absolutely serves it's purpose. I had planned to take a quick shower, but the freezing cold water in a hut which has no heating didn't feel as such an inviting option. The outside temperature was around 10 degrees. I ended up washing my face and adding one extra layer of clothing.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZ9GihDGVXQl56ZICr0vmL_d34m8t1SkWF8bXaquLNODw0b2nLAsbYxTKZWi7tMoSkADlcRXtemEVWJ8dQezcvejLaC6y4CkuaAt-lcQpf9Nw35z9qXb4ulgTTWkEnW5CVQOVGK7zxjsA/s1600/20140815_175505_1.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="185" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZ9GihDGVXQl56ZICr0vmL_d34m8t1SkWF8bXaquLNODw0b2nLAsbYxTKZWi7tMoSkADlcRXtemEVWJ8dQezcvejLaC6y4CkuaAt-lcQpf9Nw35z9qXb4ulgTTWkEnW5CVQOVGK7zxjsA/s1600/20140815_175505_1.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px; text-align: center;">Pendant hut in the clouds and that awful final staircase</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Water started pouring almost right after I had reached the hut. And then it poured very heavily. There were some thoroughly miserable looking, fully soaked individuals limping those final set of stairs to the hut. Me and the other folks in dry clothes enjoying our warm cuppas of Sabah tea at the hut considered ourselves pretty lucky with the weather we had had.<br />
<br />
I started having a terrible headache pretty soon after having reached the hut and kicked back my legs for a while. I started popping panadol to keep brewing <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Altitude_sickness" target="_blank">Acute Mountain Sickness</a> at bay. I have climbed <a href="http://jolkko.blogspot.fi/2015/08/snows-of-kilimanjaro.html">Mount Kilimanjaro before</a> and while I had some minor discomfort at 4k, the real symptoms started to be a bother only at 5k and finally at the summit I was officially dizzy. Since then I have snickered arrogantly on people complaining about "mountain sickness" and thin air when hiking in the Alps at 2k. I apparently had to learn the lesson the hard way that AMS is mainly dependent on pace of the ascent. I had left Kota Kinabalu, effectively at sea level, at 6 AM and by mid day I had reached 3k. Understanding the severeness of the disease, I was contemplating that if I still have the headache in the morning I need to tell my guide and ask for advice whether it is safe to continue the journey.<br />
<br />
With this dull headache pounding my temples I participated in the mandatory <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Via_ferrata" target="_blank">via ferrata</a> training. Pendant hut is catering exclusively for the people who have opted to perform the extra curriculum activity of traveling part of the journey being hooked on metal cables in the vertical rock face. Who in their right mind would want to up the ante at this point? A buffet style dinner was served at heated Laban Rata. I kept on sipping little more of that Sabah tea mainly to keep myself warm.<br />
<br />
Lights went out at wee hours known as 8 PM. I tried hard to get some sleep at this awkwardly early time of the evening. I came prepared with noise cancelling headphones to fight the potential snorers in the dormitory, but luckily there was no need. The physical exercise apparently helped so that some of the "night" hours did disappear while in half slumber, but not unfortunately all. I found myself constantly running to bathroom. I never ever go to bathroom during night time. Well technically this was not yet night time for me, but I blame that damn Sabah tea and its effect on my metabolism. Hopefully the others had their ANC headphones turned on to avoid getting disturbed by my constant nature calls.<br />
<br />
<h3>
Day 2 - Summiting</h3>
<br />
And then the lights went back on at 1.50 AM. Nice. I put all remaining layers of clothing on and dragged my behind to have a bit of a bite as a very early breakfast. A cup of coffee (no more Sabah tea for me!) and few toasts. No sign of headache. None whatsoever. I placed only few things like a water bottle into my backpack and left the rest of my belongings on the bunk bed.<br />
<br />
Jiro (with not much more clothes than the day before) met me at the front porch and off into the darkness and back into the thin air we went. I had been hoping for clear skies to be blown away by the clarity of overhanging stars and being able to see Milky Way unobstructed. However there was enough shrouds of clouds to show only a glimpse of the moon above us.<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIKrLF_AykYXmLRfwsck3FT-02XVI6hTGUgqdrn473reQyzF_vpaonwSwmUo6O1fmVQB3KCmtbKV_Nf-8TtL8dWACzy6RqW5C2HVynWEL7DiS6SjOAb5y8TobV2t5WJsSBslgAG1Pvt5hF/s1600/20140816_044241.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIKrLF_AykYXmLRfwsck3FT-02XVI6hTGUgqdrn473reQyzF_vpaonwSwmUo6O1fmVQB3KCmtbKV_Nf-8TtL8dWACzy6RqW5C2HVynWEL7DiS6SjOAb5y8TobV2t5WJsSBslgAG1Pvt5hF/s320/20140816_044241.jpg" width="182" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">There aren't many decent pictures <br />
from this leg of the hike <br />
for obvious reasons</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
My headlight lit the way. I had bought a midrange head torch, but it guided my steps beautifully. It was actually pretty nice to see the small lights from other hikers as little glow worms inching higher both above and below me. I was told that there were as many as around 150 people attempting the summit this very day. That seems to be the maximum number of daily climbing permits that they are allowing.<br />
<br />
Yet another set of stairs. My legs were actually doing pretty OK after having rested for a while. The only thing was that I continued to get exhausted quickly. There were few people who overtook me and and few people whose pit stop tactics worked to their disadvantage. Meaning that I overtook them.<br />
<br />
After the stairs started the so called danger zone (Kinabalu equivalent of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khumbu_Icefall" target="_blank">Khumbu icefall</a> :), which I had been warned about during the briefing in previous evening. There is no overtaking anyone during this part of the climb. Attached to the rock face there is a white nylon rope, which can and need to be used as an additional help on ascending upwards. I started thinking that it is probably a good thing that we were doing this in the total darkness. The few meters of coverage my head torch revealed, gave me enough evidence (along with the obvious steep incline) that I don't probably want to let go of the rope at any point in time. I remember hoping that the rope part ends soon and already then a little bit concerned on how much fun this will be going downwards.<br />
<br />
Before long however I had reached the final shelter before the summit where I actually had to show my badge to a park official going in and coming out. This is actually a job for someone to make the excruciating journey each day to come up here to ensure that the tourists are properly badged. There is also a toilet (pretty much a hole in the ground), which is considered to be the highest located toilet in all of South-East Asia. There were number of people resting at this stop, but I felt like pushing forward.<br />
<br />
The journey got considerably easier in terms of steepness of the climb, but the mixture of fatigue, exhaustion and thin air started catching on me. I started taking even shorter steps and needed to have a breather ever more frequently. Probably a pause at every 30-40 steps. The rockface was completely barren at this point. There was no more any vegetation to be seen in that small arc of light.<br />
<br />
Eventually I spotted a cone of the summit against the slightly lighter night sky. I recognized that as Low's Peak, my ultimate destination. Seeing the end goal in front of me gave me much needed boost and also injected additional confidence that I can indeed pull this off. I was counting about 10-20 light sources on its way to the summit ahead of me. Thus that would mean that there were some 130-140 climbers behind me. I seemed to be well on time on reaching the summit before the scheduled sunrise.<br />
<br />
Final summit is probably one final 100 meters upwards but significantly steeper uphill than what I had been slowly dragging myself through for the past few hours. I started to hear the chatter of people who had already reached the summit and I knew that the distance was definitely doable by now.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCljucFiVAC5gAWi9FAShsTyqWeApaCTKCfMkdkzoEEq9BHsqk8674y83q0_r-BvCgEKjQ3V8nVvOCbXJgMBiCiUg6RWnQ2xKyyYCS2CrbKdLfDOQPeqDy4nYxR_M2H62MN5F3Xb1gptI/s1600/20140816_053135.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCljucFiVAC5gAWi9FAShsTyqWeApaCTKCfMkdkzoEEq9BHsqk8674y83q0_r-BvCgEKjQ3V8nVvOCbXJgMBiCiUg6RWnQ2xKyyYCS2CrbKdLfDOQPeqDy4nYxR_M2H62MN5F3Xb1gptI/s1600/20140816_053135.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px; text-align: center;">A pic and it did happen!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Then there I was at 4095 meters. Standing at the highest point of South East Asia (if you conveniently exclude Myanmar from that geographical area) with 10+ minutes to spare before the time for sunrise. The rush of accomplishment is truly overwhelming. This is the sole reason why I would want to put myself through this type of a grind. Jiro kindly offered to take the mandatory photo in front of the sign. As there were only limited number of people at the summit still at that time, I took the liberty of sitting on top of the piece of rock that was seemingly even little bit higher than all the other rocks and started gnawing on an energy bar without much of an appetite and waiting for the sun to come up. I congratulated myself on exactly appropriate level of layered clothing. I was not cold, I was not hot while sitting there. For the record there is no vending machine selling beer and warm cup noodles on the summit of Mount Kinabalu like there is one <a href="http://jolkko.blogspot.fi/2015/09/boiling-in-onsen.html">on top of Mount Fuji</a>.<br />
<br />
I had met British guy named Nick at the Pendant hut. He had been optimizing the timing to reach the peak at ideal time without having to freeze while waiting there for too long. He apparently left much later than I did but he actually overtook me on the final ascent to the summit. So at the end he had to suffer the cold weather for longer than I! Ha!<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2MqH5mHI7VlWefhu5WoF3txQkklCcDT0T2UTTnZvMsly9Ft3H9y3l1s8016Qo6AfO8VfxKWNTipK3QE4rJUOyF1m0poCU5wKYixGvZ_eiENnRMLrNRFyKaCWxCP9qjljwPsIE9dbN3IhC/s1600/20140816_054229_LLS.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="135" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2MqH5mHI7VlWefhu5WoF3txQkklCcDT0T2UTTnZvMsly9Ft3H9y3l1s8016Qo6AfO8VfxKWNTipK3QE4rJUOyF1m0poCU5wKYixGvZ_eiENnRMLrNRFyKaCWxCP9qjljwPsIE9dbN3IhC/s400/20140816_054229_LLS.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Good morning sunshine</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
More and more exhausted people started dragging themselves towards the summit as the first streaks of sun light through the clouds in the horizon started to paint the world blue. The views East are truly magnificent from the summit. The other hues started to increase with every passing moment. I smiled looking at distant lights of Kota Kinabalu, from where I had been eyeballing the same peak on the morning before. After enjoying the scenery for a while I thought that now that I had <i>been there & done that</i>, it was time for me to give room to others still climbing up and initiate my journey downwards. The total time I spent on the summit was probably 20 minutes or so.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAuqqOIBcvjrmT7CSSCtc06H4cdbSReRlmCOD9gmqVSMFYPzSSsbAQ2n_3FVqTELf0N6DNfg7J2PsP3NJbAdgN-guWZITJDFqaUczwAYIWXEwUldimgBbGcUdPzmLY8kagp2o9Z2ADy48/s1600/20140816_055844.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAuqqOIBcvjrmT7CSSCtc06H4cdbSReRlmCOD9gmqVSMFYPzSSsbAQ2n_3FVqTELf0N6DNfg7J2PsP3NJbAdgN-guWZITJDFqaUczwAYIWXEwUldimgBbGcUdPzmLY8kagp2o9Z2ADy48/s1600/20140816_055844.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;">Traffic jam at the summit (Ruuhkahuippu in Finnish)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
The whole journey across the solid rock face felt pretty comfortable even if the length of the step was getting ever shorter and shorter. The granite slab even when wet was surprisingly not slippery. I didn't have much of an advise to people still climbing up hill, but felt good that gravity was now on my side dragging me into the correct direction. This was actually my first summiting performed alone. Walking down I realized how limited chuckles can be conjured from various penile rock formations when not traveling with my standard fellowship of likeminded friends. While I still prefer to travel with friends, there are some benefits of hiking alone: Primarily I get to set my own pace. Not too slow, not too fast. I have all the time in the world for some self exploration and contemplation of various things in life. I have the opportunity of winding down in a hut and being anti-social by reading a book if and when I choose to do so.<br />
<h3>
<br /><b>Day 2 - Via ferrata & journey down</b></h3>
<br />
When I reached again the highest toilet in this corner of the world (at about 3800 meters), I decided to pay a visit just to tick that particular box away from my ultimate things-to-do-during-this-life-time list. Toilet is located next to a meeting place for the people to whom this amount of excitement and exercise is not clearly enough, but they insist on torturing themselves with additional fun. Thus I find myself putting on climbing harness with carabiniers, orange helmet (daiju as well!) and sunglasses and diverting from the path into the bushes following a via ferrata guide.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1OVn6YIOE5kIFGm0TF-qWGyiyF3uQFmUsz9KYyryGoTIhROUOUAJCgkRDoUYlfGw50JdcpKilt-_4laroVOaP-lEhe_d43MbXEMROOezRjjw6knudXIU-5xHJRQ0eqbmYjEYLRmQVhrFQ/s1600/20140816_072140.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1OVn6YIOE5kIFGm0TF-qWGyiyF3uQFmUsz9KYyryGoTIhROUOUAJCgkRDoUYlfGw50JdcpKilt-_4laroVOaP-lEhe_d43MbXEMROOezRjjw6knudXIU-5xHJRQ0eqbmYjEYLRmQVhrFQ/s400/20140816_072140.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Taking a short cut</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
I was able to see Laban Rata hut directly below us and apparently we had decided to take the most direct route to get there. There are two via ferrata options at Mount Kinabalu. Longer Low's Peak Circuit and the shorter Walk the Torq, which was my selection. And man I was glad I chose exactly that option. Hanging on near vertical rock wall while moving the rope and fixing the carabiniers one at the time on the metal cable my legs started shaking not so much from vertigo but overall exhaustion. At this point in time I had been going through pretty hard exercise for about 6 hours straight with very limited sleep time. The views were magnificent though. The weather was great and visibility far away into foothills of Kinabalu was absolutely excellent. Just seeing some small fluffs of clouds rolling below me is a sight in itself.<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRiPI5GvYqD-KagSJ-KxMKUS7Irj16AAGVv65RXQTL-Gyp5ADUlSFmYWm3pkT0K-WNOtNE9Ra8wGTQZDiDSzM8AIkzn6HVF6_2ZY0kucFMhXEt1DSfXUPAvZDsRXTRKEnZUPxl9f65Tkk/s1600/DSC_7695_1.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRiPI5GvYqD-KagSJ-KxMKUS7Irj16AAGVv65RXQTL-Gyp5ADUlSFmYWm3pkT0K-WNOtNE9Ra8wGTQZDiDSzM8AIkzn6HVF6_2ZY0kucFMhXEt1DSfXUPAvZDsRXTRKEnZUPxl9f65Tkk/s1600/DSC_7695_1.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px; text-align: center;">Look mom, no hands! Well maybe just one.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Rope. First carabinier. Second carabinier. Ten, fifteen steps either directly downwards or traversing same distance sideways. Rinse and repeat. For couple of hours. I do have a sensible fear of heights, but for some reason I did not really have any issues with that while walking the torq. Perhaps I have a blind fate on advances of modern science and being hooked by 4 different cables (one cable being my muscular arm) into the via ferrata itself, I didn't really have any worries about falling off. I am definitely glad I did the via ferrata option with the rope bridges and all, but by the time I saw the end point around the next corner and my companions already removing their harnesses, I have to say I was relieved. Shakily I walked one more time back to the Pendant hut for well earned second breakfast (those Hobbits may be on to something!).<br />
<br />
I probably would not have minded stretching my legs for a little bit longer, but there was Jiro again prompting me to get my stuff together and finish the final stretch. I started the voyage with Japanese guy and Swiss girl, but pretty soon realized that my both of my knees started giving me so hard time that my pace was getting way too slow for any company on the way down. The walking pole was my true saviour especially on the way down. I was able to prevent the worst impacts on my knees by leaning heavily on the pole.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px; text-align: center;">Wet rock (märkä Kallio in Finnish)</td></tr>
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One hour into the descend it started raining. A little, pathetic trickle at the beginning but it started getting heavier all the time. Eventually the tropical rain forest started living up to it's title (now I know why this is not called a jungle) and there was as much water coming out of the sky as is naturally possible. There is a saying in Finnish which refers to amount of rain and some unknown lady named Esther. I leave that explanation and etymology to some other blogger. My technical gear started to be not so technical any more. The pants I had bought were not even supposed to be waterproof, but of some magical textile that supposedly dries fast, which did not console me much at the time. The jacket was some kind application of Dry-Max technology which was neither Dry nor Max. My faithful goretex boots stayed dry enough for a surprisingly long time, until they also failed. Once the water was inside the shoe the goretex magic started to work again and the water did not come out, but moved back and forth inside the shoe with every step. I was specifically worried about the excuse of a rain cover over my backpack. I had stashed my phone and book into yet another watertight bag, but all my potential change clothing was there.<br />
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For a longish while I did feel quite miserable inching each step and grinding teeth with pain in my soaked knees. One of my Singaporean colleagues had asked prior to my trip, that why would I be taking one day of my vacation to intentionally put myself through pain and stress and ending up paying a hefty sum of money for that. During those lonely wet steps downhill this question came to my mind. I could have added life threatening risks to that list as well. I am not sure if I was able to come up with a proper answer to the fair enough question. I tried to relive the endorphin rush when reaching my goal at the summit, but I was not sure if that was the ultimate answer either. At least I was not as miserable as the folks treading uphill in the downpour.<br />
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With one final kilometer to go the rain finally ceased and the path ahead was not as steep anymore. The pace was still ridiculously slow at this point whenever descending a step. Both knees were hurting pretty bad, but I knew that I would be able to finish this. I reached Timphon gate again at around 1.30 PM. Almost 11 hours since I had started my journey. Sitting down, waiting for the van to take me away, I realized that I had not stopped to drink so often on the way down and thus I had ended up carrying all that extra weight eventually.<br />
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<b>Post-mortem of the excursion</b></h3>
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Finally couple of additional random afterthoughts:<br />
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I had set Sports Tracker app to measure my progress for the full hike. It is possible to set the GPS tracking to be operational only at a certain pace (thus eliminating breaks and pauses along the way and measuring only the true travel time). The lowest setting is 1.2 km/h. I considered using that option, but I am glad I didn't. There are not many stretches along the whole voyage when I would have progressed faster than that. Whether up or downhill apparently. The going is not apparently very fast when there is even a bit of an inclination either way. But the stats of the whole trip were: ~18 kilometers of walking, about 15 hours, 2229 meters upwards and the same amount downwards.<br />
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There was once again a reminder for me how very different countries Singapore and Malaysia are, even if Singapore has it's roots in Malaysia. In Kota Kinabalu there was very limited respect for traffic lights, whether for pedestrians or cars. It felt pretty chaotic after the law-abiding order of Singapore. Also have to give minus points for the fact that there was no toilet paper in a smelly, non air conditioned public bathrooms at the airport. I understand that I had to carry personal tissues while hiking in the wilderness, but come on. Perhaps I had just forgotten how the real Asia works.<br />
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I opted for foot reflexology and body massage for a nominal fee on Saturday evening once I was back in Kota Kinabalu. Easily one of the best massages I have ever had even if I was whining and screaming (in a low manly voice of course) throughout the both procedures. It was pretty funny to see the town filled with fellow hiking tourists, who were all walking the streets at the dashing pace of senior citizens.<br />
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I wrote the original blog post 6 days after the hike and some of the so called leg muscles (my left calf and right thigh remaining) were still a bit sore from past weekends activities. Walking was finally OK, but for a good part of the week I preferred to avoid any set of stairs into either direction. My colleagues gave me kindly a head start when we had to go to the next meeting. I had been running on a regular basis before the hiking trip, but I realized that for the past 2 years I hadn't really climbed so much as a hill. Singapore is very flat country to begin with and the area where I used to live is practically reclaimed from the sea.<br />
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Now coming back to the question on why did I do this. Why did I want to spend my limited vacation days putting myself through pain and misery? I probably need to explore that question and possible answers more in another blog entry, but now that I am re-reading my original blog post, I am truly grateful that I did this trip -- and that I took the time to document my feelings afterwards. These are truly the types of experiences which remind us being alive while we are often so busy just living (rephrasing a quote from Neil Gaiman's wonderful graphic novel Death: The Time of your Life).<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Good evening sunshine</td></tr>
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<br />koomikkohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02063626989042540385noreply@blogger.com7Mount Kinabalu, Ranau, Sabah, Malaysia6.0753131 116.55882369999995-10.5040579 75.250229699999949 22.654684099999997 157.86741769999995tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3932134693797407216.post-53246196614941246762016-12-11T20:03:00.004+02:002020-12-01T13:25:58.035+02:00Quest through Middle Zealand - Tongariro Alpine Crossing, Abel Tasman Coast Track, Hooker Valley Trail<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Every self respecting geek is supposed to perform at least once in their lifetime a holy pilgrimage to the land of hobbits, elves and orcs. While at it, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to do some hiking as well. Our very own fellowship (retkue in Finnish) ventured through couple of designated hikes in New Zealand while trying to soak it all in from both north and south islands within two measly weeks back in January 2012.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Visited locations with red star on those covered in this blog entry</td></tr>
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New Zealand is probably the only place on my list of visited countries (45 and counting!) where I have had to declare my hiking boots on the embarkation card in the plane. There was no classic “have you been organizing a genocide lately” type of questions in the form, but they are actually diligently screening that no foreign organisms are threatening their fragile ecosystem. For example there are no wild snakes in the country at all. Therefore we needed to have our boots xrayed just in case there were little snake seeds hidden in the soles.<br />
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One does simply walk on top of Mount Doom</h3>
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<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tongariro_Alpine_Crossing" style="text-decoration: none;">Tongariro Alpine Crossing</a> is one of the most famous hikes in New Zealand. This tramping track is located in Tongariro National park in central part of North Island. The more common direction is going northward starting from Mangatepopo and heading to Ketetahi. This direction requires less climbing and perhaps feels slightly less crowded as most of the other hikers are going into same direction. We stayed in Chateau Tongariro Hotel, which provided very easy access to the start of the trail in the morning.
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The full distance of the trek is 19,4 kilometers and there is an option for extra scrambling detour to the crater rim of Mount Ngauruhoe and back. This particular active volcano along with its neighbour Mount Ruapehu were cast in the role of Mount Doom in the Lord of the Rings trilogy.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mount Doom in evening light (photo courtesy of fellow member of the same ship)</td></tr>
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The trek is truly otherworldly due to the volcanic terrain it passes through. There are solidified lava flows, active fumaroles exhausting steam and mineral coloured lakes throughout the day trip. I have considered this as one of the most enjoyable hikes ever. Perhaps there is just a tiny bit of Mordor-bonus though in the evaluation. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Maori name for the three emerald coloured lakes is Ngarotopounamu meaning greenstone-hued lakes (same photo credit)</td></tr>
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Following the foot steps of Dutch explorer</h3>
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Next stop during our quest was in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abel_Tasman">Abel Tasman</a> national park, which is located in the north tip of the South Island. In this NP there is yet another popular hike called <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abel_Tasman_Coast_Track">Abel Tasman Coast Track</a>. In totality it is a 60 kilometer long multi day hike. Due to our approach of conquering the whole country in 2 weeks (so called juosten kustu or run while urinating style <a href="https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Appendix:Finnish_idioms#J">as per Finnish idiom</a>) we decided to experience only 1 day part of the journey. <br />
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This remote path is relatively tricky to access and requires a boat trip either at the beginning or at the end. The path journeys into forests covered in endemic type of fern called <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyathea_dealbata">silver tree fern</a> and occasionally lands on a strikingly yellow sand coloured beaches. There are some sections along the path which are navigatable only during the low tide. Honorable mention goes out to seals (which we didn’t see during the hike itself, but in other parts of Abel Tasman NP).<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Less honorable mention goes out to little irritating mosquitos at the otherwise paradise beaches</td></tr>
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Hike with a happy ending </h3>
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The geek within was completely satisfied with a <a href="http://lordoftheringstour.com/" target="_blank">Lord of the Rings tour</a> starting from the town of Twizel. The surrounding area was featured as the Pelennor fields in the final battle of the trilogy. The backdrop is against Ben Ohau mountain range to the west and further up north to famous Mount Cook or Aoraki in the original Māori language.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mount Cook seen from the other side of Lake Pukaki which gets its distinct colour from glacial flour</td></tr>
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There are a number of hikes around the Mount Cook area. We decided to choose a walk from the tiny Mount Cook village to the nearby Hooker lake (*snicker* I don’t think I will ever grow up) at the base of Mountain. The Southern Alps are breathtakingly magnificent. The walk itself is leisurely but the valley in between the snow covered mountain peaks is simply marvelous. The Hooker (lake, valley and glacier) awaits weary travelers at the end of the hike.<br />
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It is being said that the Mackenzie Basin (the whole region south of Mount Cook) would be a spectacular place for stargazing. Apparently I would still have something to go back to New Zealand for. The NZ bucket list doesn’t stop at star gazing though: I wish I could go back to Milford Sound among other locations missed during this trip. </div>
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Extra curriculum activities </h3>
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Within two weeks our fellowship managed to accomplish much in addition to the hikes mentioned. <br />
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<li>Cathedral cove and hot water beach on the Coromandel peninsula were both worth visiting. </li>
<li>The ultimate geek experience at the Hobbiton location was a defining moment of the pilgrimage. </li>
<li>There are limited amount of geysers around the world. Therefore the ones at Rotorua are among the few. </li>
<li>Glaciers on western side of the Southern Alps (Fox and Franz Joserf) are magnificent. Although it was raining the pretty much the whole time while there. Apparently not that uncommon phenomenon. </li>
<li>The final stop for our travels was Akaroa. It is a small town on the Banks peninsula, which is formed of old volcanos. The area is once again absolutely beautiful. Penguins are a true bonus.</li>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Beautiful landscape around Akaroa</td></tr>
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<br />koomikkohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02063626989042540385noreply@blogger.com0New Zealand-40.900557 174.88597100000004-65.2754965 133.57737700000004 -16.5256175 -143.805435tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3932134693797407216.post-11200973102440506842016-08-28T14:44:00.000+03:002016-12-12T16:55:57.227+02:00Rotten Eggs for Four Days - Laugevegur trail in Iceland<br />
GR20 is a footpath that crosses the island of Corsica. It has been dubbed as the most challenging multi day hike in Europe. GR20 has secured its place high up on my bucket list of hikes. Back in 2015 me & group of my friends were eyeing keenly on the possibility to complete if not the full 15 day hike, but at least the reportedly more scenic northern half of the journey. This blog entry is NOT a narration of GR20. Instead of Corsica we went to Iceland! <br />
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<a name='more'></a>Our fellowship got bit of shared set of cold feet (mainly due to onerous reputation of GR20) and unanimously decided that a trial run with a slightly shorter hike would be probably an appropriate first step. I have once before visited Iceland. The country captivates with its Moon-like scenery. It is otherworldly. The most famous hiking trail in Iceland passes through various different types of volcanic areas: from rainbow coloured mountains through snow fields, hot springs, icy cold rivers and eventually into a forest. The Laugavegur trail has it all -- including good opportunties to get a proper set of cold feet while crossing rivers. <br />
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Day 1 - Landmannalaugar to Hrafntinnusker (10,5 km - 3 hours 50 mins)</h3>
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We chose the clearly more common southward direction for the trail: it starts from <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Landmannalaugar">Landmannalaugar</a> and goes towards south eventually leading to glacial valley of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%9E%C3%B3rsm%C3%B6rk">Þórsmörk</a> (that little weird looking character there in the beginning is essentially a Th-sound, therefore the name of place at the end of the hike is Thor’s wood in English). There are buses operating from Reykjavík to both locations, so it is very easy to get started on the hike. <br />
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What was not as easily arranged were the reservations at the mountain huts. Laugavegur is one of the most famous hikes in Iceland and during the limited season from late June to mid August there will be plenty of other hikers enjoying the rancid smell of volcanic gases. Therefore it is advisable to book the huts as early as possible. Obviously tenting is possible, but especially the first hut at the end of first day hike is pretty high up in the mountains and it can be quite cold outdoors due to wind factor. Guess which hut was fully booked during the week we were performing the hike?<br />
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The trail starts from tent city of Landmannalaugar and quite quickly enters into colorful <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhyolite">rhyolite</a> mountains. Volcanic activity is apparent right from the start as there are hot pools around Landmannalaugar -- well then again the bus crosses over lava fields on the way to get there. The smell of rotten eggs intensifies during the day as more and more <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fumarole">fumaroles</a> open up both sides of the trail. <br />
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Seemingly the longest stretch during day 1 is spent on traversing snow covered side of a mountain. There is apparently snow throughout the year. Continuous uphill hike starts to become laborious especially when the fog sets in and it’s no longer possible to distinguish ground from sky. While the trail is clearly enough marked, there was a story being told of an Israeli hiker who got lost in a summer blizzard and succumbed just 1 kilometer before the Hrafntinnusker hut. With these cheery thoughts we pressed on already mentally trying to prepare what was bound to be one cold night up ahead. Even us <a href="https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/564x/84/a0/f0/84a0f0ac00de2135e686e0fbb6b9c85e.jpg">Finns</a> do not enjoy sleeping in the cold exposed to the elements. <br />
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Luck was eventually on our side. There had been some last minute cancellations and we did get ourselves into the warmth of the hut for the night!<br />
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<br />Day 2 - From Hrafntinnusker to Álftavatn (11,5 km - 4 hours)</h3>
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With sympathy we looked at the fellow hikers freezing in their tents around the hut as we continued on the trail on the morning of day 2. The second day hike was more relaxed because we knew we had survived the coldest night. Also the trail was going more downhill than uphill. There were some impressive glaciers right next to the trail, but the most magnificient sight during this day was the first view into verdant Álftavatn valley from the rim of Jökultungur. The lake (Álftavatn itself) which was to be our destination for this leg of the hike was seen down in the valley. It looked relatively close, but still took quite a bit of treading. <br />
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There was yet another pleasant surprise waiting for us at the hut right next to the lake. There is an infrequent bus connection to Reykjavík from the hut, which meant that we were able to send our camping gear to wait for us when we had finished the hike. Therefore our backpacks just became so much lighter for the remainder of the trek. <br />
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Given that the hike itself did not feel overly tedious, we decided to do a little side trip to the nearby mountain of Battháls (4,1 km - 1 hour 45 min). At the summit of the mountain there are interesting spires of lava protruding from the ground. I had invested into a Laugavegur hiking guide book which had been written by a volcanologist and therefore I was able to shine with my recently acquired body of knowledge on the different viscosities of magma and varieties of gobs of molten lava.<br />
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Day 3 - From Álftavatn to Emstrur-Botnar (16,3 km - 4 hours 37 minutes)</h3>
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The enjoyment of lifting half empty backpack in the morning of day 3 was quickly replaced by the fact that we had to do our first wading through an icy cold mountain stream. The sun was blessing our first fording of the first river. It is a good idea to have a pair of “river shoes” given that the currents can be pretty strong and the river bed is uneven due to rounded, mobile pebbles. You probably prefer not to fall and not to have your backpack floating into North Atlantic. The water is cold. Truly cold. But not impassable.<br />
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We had exceptionally nice weather during this leg of the journey as we crossed the valley surrounded by velvety green and black mountains around us. Geologically most interesting thing on day 3 was crossing a fairly empty desert littered with bombs, molten lava shot out of a vent. We kept wondering that if one of the surrounding volcanos decided to start bombarding the nearby area with bombs, there would be absolutely no place to hide. <br />
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Once again the day hike was relatively easy, thus we decided to do an extra side trip after short stretching of legs at Emstrur-Botnar hut. There is an impressive canyon called Markarfljótgljúfur nearby (4,5 km - 2 hours) which is absolutely worth checking out. All the nearby streams that we also waded through feed into Markarfljót river and over time it has eaten its path through the layers of lava. The steep cliffs of the canyon are truly majestic against the backdrop of glacial mountains.<br />
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<h3>
Day 4 - From Emstrur-Botnar to Þórsmörk (16,8 km - 5 hours 6 minutes) </h3>
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The final hiking day is greeted with danger signs and evacuation protocols in case the nearby Katla volcano starts to erupt all of a sudden. Katla is one the most active volcanos in Iceland and it has erupted violently 20 times over the past 1000 years. Typically the eruptions happen within 40-80 year intervals. The last eruption was in 1918. You can do the math. Furthermore, history tells us that Katla typically has become active shortly after there has been an eruption at Eyjafjallajökull glacier, which happened in 2010 the last time. Remember the ash clouds over most of Europe? <br />
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The real danger here is that the trail descends into valleys and drainages which would be flash flooded by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J%C3%B6kulhlaup">Jökullhaup</a> when tons of ice from Mýrdalsjökull glacier were to be melted by the subglacial Katla. Suffice to say Katla decided not to erupt on us while we were at the bottom of the valley. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Darth Wader -- less famous sith lord</td></tr>
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There is still one more river, rather strong at that, to wade through before emerging into the forest. By this time we felt we were already masters at crossing cold rivers. According to my guide book, hikers are supposed to yell “mörk!” in celebration for seeing the first trees during the trip. We all bellowed obediently. Apparently other hikers did not have the same guide book. <br />
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Having reached the end of the trail at the Húsadalur, we rewarded ourselves with a pint of Gull and a decent meal in the restaurant before taking the bus back to civilization.<br />
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<br />Extra curriculum activities while in Iceland</h3>
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A brief mention is in order to recommend warmly (pun intended) the hot pools in Reykjadalur area. The site requires bit of a hike uphill, but the secret of this particular place is that a river flowing from the mountains joins various hot pools during its way down. Therefore you can optimize your perfect spot by changing your place in the river. The stream is hotter uphill and gradually gets cooler downhill. An awesome experience. <br />
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Another recommendation worthy of a tip is to go out to see puffins and other seabirds in their natural habitat <span class="st">at Látrabjarg bird cliff in the Westfjords of Iceland</span>. There are scenic steep cliffs up to 440 meters descending directly into the sea.<br />
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Honorable mention also goes out to a possibility of witnessing a pair of ever stylish <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/N%C3%A1br%C3%B3k">Nábrók</a> or Necropants at the Museum of Icelandic Sorcery and Witchcraft.<br />
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And finally we all enjoyed a day trip to Vidgelmir lava cave. I bet you didn’t know that “lava tube caves are formed when a low-viscosity lava flow develops a continuous and hard crust which then thickens and forms a roof above the molten lava stream.”<br />
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Perhaps we go to Corsica already next year!! <br />
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<br />koomikkohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02063626989042540385noreply@blogger.com0Landmannalaugar, Iceland63.983 -19.06700000000000747.4018645 -60.375594000000007 80.564135499999992 22.241593999999992tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3932134693797407216.post-33016330897990749432016-05-24T21:12:00.000+03:002016-05-24T21:13:28.877+03:00Feeling Well in Tatras<div style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;">
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One of the hidden mountaineering gems within Europe is the High Tatras in Slovakia. I was lead on this little secret during one particularly warm summer night in charming Budapest, Hungary of all the places. I was trading hiking experiences with a Slovakian colleague of mine and during late night spur of enthusiasm I committed to one day come over and witness the mountains myself. I am so glad I lived true to my word on to what turned out to be one of the most memorable mountain hikes ever.<br />
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Tatras is a mountain range on the border of Poland and Slovakia and they are the highest mountain range as part of Carpathian Mountains which extend all the way to Romania. And true enough, after the Alps especially the High Tatras (<i>Vysoké Tatry </i>in Slovakian) is truly a spectacular mountain range, which I didn't even realize to exist before this trip.<br />
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<h3>
First round of Wellness </h3>
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There was a high possibility that I would never have seen the mountains -- at least not during this particular trip. The weather forecast was not promising particularly welcoming weather for us. There was a likelihood of thunder storms rolling in for Saturday, which wasn't something to look forward to while hiking in the narrow valleys between the peaks. However depending on the forecast source and the level of optimism applied interpreting the possibility of rain there was also a real chance for some splendid weather. Thus only at around 3 PM on Friday in the office my friend from work and her two friends finally agreed to give it a go.<br />
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It's a 3,5 hour drive from Bratislava to High Tatras. We were trying to ensure that we would make it to our first accommodation at <i>Sliezky Dom</i> before they would be closing their Wellness department -- essentially a spa with bubble baths, swimming pool and sauna. Most of the drive was spent on discussing either about Wellness or the possibility of rain. Or on the fact that it's mostly Czech tourists who get into accidents in Slovakian side of Tatras.<br />
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It turned out that the Wellness had indeed closed by the time we eventually got into the hotel which originated initially as a standard mountain hut. With a little bit of sweet convincing the staff was kind enough to allow us access nevertheless. A little did I know waking up on the day before in Finland that I would found myself soaking in a bubble bath with not one but three lovely Slovakian girls.<br />
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An additional round of sweet talking secured a beer supply even though the bar had been already closed. The bubble path experience was only surpassed by relaxing outside in the darkness, breathing chilly mountain air, marveling at the truly spectacular starry night sky with a beer in hand. I had a good feeling about this trip.<br />
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Through Thunder and Lightning</h3>
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The optimist side won with the weather forecast. It was absolutely a lovely day to start hiking in the morning. We quickly ascended to the first pass between the mountain peaks and the hidden secret started to dawn on me. The views were spectacular. We quickly summited nearby <i>Východná Vysoká</i> (2429 m) and continued our journey.<br />
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We traveled towards <i><a href="http://zbojnickachata.sk/" target="_blank">Zbojnicka chata</a></i>, where we were planning on having lunch. There are some sequences in this leg of the hike with a slight exposure, but always with sturdy metal bars fixed into to the rock face to help with climbing. We even met an Irish bloke who was hiking with bare feet, so how hard can it be. Surprisingly it was not a Czech. While enjoying yet another round of goulash and beer on the terrace outside the hut, the weather forecast continued to warn that the sunshine still could turn into thunder showers in the afternoon. A local elderly hiker was sharing stories how he had once witnessed a man hit by a lightning in the mountains - with only a hole left in where the man's face had previously been.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Chains of Death don't seem that <br />
intimidating in pictures</td></tr>
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The decision was eventually made to push our luck to reach the next hut where we would be sleeping. The distance between these two huts wasn't that much, but it does require a bit of scrambling both up and down in between. The downwards scrambling part was the true challenge for me during this hike. Once again there were metal bars with a chain attached throughout the whole length of the wall, but nevertheless steep vertical descent with a moderately heavy backpack was not fun. To add to the challenge I started hearing thunder rolling in into the valley when I was still clinging to my dear life on what I dubbed merrily as the Chains of Death. <br />
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The downpour started the minute I had managed to remember to start breathing again and realized that I was still alive after the descent from the pass. The fear of falling quickly dissolved into fear of getting hit by a lightning. The hut wasn't far anymore, but treading through the thunderstorm seemed like the longest stretch of the hike. The old man's guidance was to keep a distance to fellow hikers so that the lightning would only take one of us.<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span><br />
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Completely soaked we made it to <i><a href="http://ww.teryhochata.sk/">Teryho Chata</a></i>. With no additional lightning holes in any of our heads, I might add. We had not been able to secure a bed at the overcrowded hut, but we were prepared roll our sleeping mats to the hut floor. There was a particularly fun staff operating the hut. After some <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halu%C5%A1ky" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">halušky</a></i>, maybe just a few rounds of beer supplemented by local herb liqueur called <i>Tatranský čaj</i>, which is originated at these mountains, we found ourselves continuing the party with the staff in the kitchen while the other hikers went to sleep. As it turned out, we were eventually kindly granted a bed at the <i>Chatár's</i> (hut warden's) own personal room. How lovely is that?<br />
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Secret Sauna Experience</h3>
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On the next morning the hike continued, but not before being served a special personalized egg! I felt overly bad for the staff who had to wake up early in the morning to make and serve breakfast after the late night party on the previous evening. We had ended up making some new friends, who had implied that there might be a yet another surprise waiting for us in the next hut.<br />
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We ventured downhill between the looming peaks of <i>Lominický štít</i> and <i>Slavkovský štít</i>. There was indeed a surprise in store for us. The key theme of wellness continued with us four being escorted into a hidden private sauna in the middle of the forest right next to a mountain stream with a waterfall. The stream turned out to be hideously cold (yet truly refreshing) and the self made sauna received a formal seal of approval from a Finn. Once again not exactly what I would have expected from this particular hike. Thus thoroughly pampered we made the final stretch to little picturesque town of Vysoké Tatry, where we took a train back to our car. <br />
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I have been quite torn on whether I should be contributing with this blog entry to leaking this secret. Let alone mentioning anything in public about the sleeping in Chatár's bed or bathing in a hidden sauna. This gem of a scenic mountain range with clearly marked routes and well equipped huts are so much enjoyable without hordes of tourists (Czech or otherwise) to be making traffic jams at the Chains of Death. Then again I stumbled upon<a href="http://www.latimes.com/travel/la-tr-d-slovakia-main-20150628-story.html"> this article</a> published in US newspaper spilling almost all the secrets of the mountain to the masses of people. I guess the secret is already out.<br />
<br />koomikkohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02063626989042540385noreply@blogger.com0High Tatras, Slovakia49.166512 20.13167479999992832.5853755 -21.176919200000071 65.7476485 61.440268799999927tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3932134693797407216.post-31162161011503529982016-03-05T12:01:00.000+02:002016-05-22T18:55:21.447+03:00Before, during and after skiAllowing good ol' Isaac Newton to do all the work while sliding gently downhill from mountains with skiis is pretty much the exact opposite for hiking uphill with hurting knees. I recently visited the Alps for the first time ever during Winter and even if the lifts take me up the mountain and gravity takes me down, I have to admit that I was completely exhausted by evening time, so I would argue that also this trip warrants it's place in this hiking blog. <br />
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Me and my brother took a long weekend trip to <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_Anton_am_Arlberg" target="_blank">Sankt Anton am Arlberg</a> in Austria. We flew through Munich, but I wanted to ensure that we drove deep enough into the proper Alps to be surrounded by truly majestic mountains while skiing. It was pitch black when we arrived and the the only giveaway that we were heading for the mountains was the winding road. One of the first skiing centers along the way had lights on for their final slope into the village. At first sight the slope could have been mistaken as one of the so called mountains in Finland, but then we spotted faint lights of snow grooming machines further way up into the massive mountains. Clearly we were not in Finland anymore.<br />
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I'm glad that we did venture further into the Alps instead of stopping at the centers closer to Munich as the scenery around St. Anton is absolutely mesmerising. It was actually hard to concentrate on snowboarding on the first morning while I had to stop constantly just to let the spectacular mountain views sink in. Then again I didn't mind stopping into various open bars along the slopes.<br />
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The thing that blew me away (in addition to the scenery) was the length of the slopes. There was effectively 4-5 Finnish slopes back to back without a need to keep on churning the same slope back and forth. The slopes were not particularly steeper than what I have used to, but just covered much more distance. During the last day we travelled with the lift/skiing combo from the village of St. Anton to St. Christoph to Stuben and then back again for a total distance of 31 kilometers. Snowboard might not be the optimal weapon of choice always though as there are occasional flat stretches between slopes which require either dragging the board or relying on other people to drag you.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Panoramic view from the top of mount Valluga</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Take notice of the pretty full tray -- both of them -- <br />
carried by a waiter through the crowd dancing to Tiroler music</td></tr>
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One thing that perplexes me is the integral connection of partying to this particular form of sport. First <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apr%C3%A8s-ski" target="_blank">Aprés ski</a> resorts are already midway in the mountains and start to fill up around 4 PM. By 5 PM in the afternoon during apparently any day the party looks like something that you would typically expect in a night club at 3 AM on a weekend -- except that people are still wearing all their ski gear. Luckily our hotel was one of those convenient ski in - ski out -type of places in the slope itself right next to what is easily <a href="http://www.mooserwirt.at/en/apres-ski.html" target="_blank">the liveliest after ski bars</a> in town. Thus we were able to walk back to our hotel room whereas others still had to somehow stumble into their skiis or snowboards for the final 500 meters into the village. Pretty scary sight, I can tell you! <br />
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One of my friends had visited the same region just a few weeks before and he shared a set of pro tips with me, which I'm happy to share with all of you now. Without somebody telling me, I would have never realized to pack my climbing shoes with me into a skiing trip. There is a decent climbing gym in town next to the railway station. The slopes are closed at 4.30 PM so there is time in the evenings to do other activities -- as if I would have had enough energy to climb after a day of skiing though. Another useful tip was to pack also my swimwear with me. There is a nice swimming hall with outdoor pools in town to help mend aching bones. koomikkohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02063626989042540385noreply@blogger.com0St. Anton, Austria47.1296346 10.26817860000005646.9566061 9.9454551000000553 47.302663100000004 10.590902100000056tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3932134693797407216.post-65859096345686563832016-01-04T19:51:00.000+02:002016-08-29T10:30:24.144+03:00Cave with no gold - Hiking in the isle of Skye in ScotlandMe & two of my mates were all expecting to have additional members joining our respective families around the same time in 2010. Given the upcoming miracle of triple birth, what would have been more appropriate than to arrange a pilgrimage to the famous distilleries on the Isle of Islay in Scotland. And to do some hiking on Isle of Skye while in the neighbourhood.<br />
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Stunnigly beautiful Isle of Skye is on the west coast of Scotland and is a part of Inner Hebrides. The pastures are velvety green with dramatic mountain scenery all over the island. I could so easily picture my White West Highland Terrier running through moorland covered with purple heather. We decided to do three different hikes during our short stay in Scotland.<br />
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<b>Hike # 1: The Old Man of Storr</b> </h3>
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Among my companions there is a shared fascination with massive phallic rock pinnacles, so famous Old Man of Storr was clear starting place for the hikes. The Storr is a rocky hill on the Trotternish peninsula and the Old Man is one specific massive rock formation not far from the main road leading to picturesque Portree. The biggest town in whole Skye provided a good base of operations and an opportunity to get acquiented with enigmatic Talisker, Skye's response to peaty products of Islay.<br />
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The Old Man hike is very easy walk starting from parking place, doing a little roundabout around the Storr and coming back to the car. The weather in August was misty, which only added to the mystic atmosphere. Walkhighlands.co.uk provided good details and maps for all our hikes including <a href="http://www.walkhighlands.co.uk/skye/thestorr.shtml">the Old Man hike</a>. By the way the Old Man himself has recently been made famous at least in the nerdy circles when being shown in Ridley Scott's Alien prequel Prometheus. <br />
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Hike # 2: Quiraing</h3>
The Quiraing is a landslip further up north from the Storr area. Here we did similar few hour round trip around the Trotternish ridge. Once again <a href="http://www.walkhighlands.co.uk/skye/quiraing.shtml">very clear guidance for the route</a> provided by the Walkhighlands website. This area has also been used as a location for a movie called Stardust, penned by one of my favourite authors of all time Neil Gaiman. I can easily relate to the fantasy setting of this area.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Picture credit goes out to my fellow hiker. </td></tr>
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Hike # 3: The Black Cuillin</h3>
The third and final hike was slightly more onerous. Cuillin is the mountain ridge on the south end of Skye and is labeled as one of the most dramatic mountain scenery in the country according to ever trustworthy wikipedia. The Black Cuillin (as a distinction to less rugged hilly Red Cuillin) hosts 12 <i>munros </i>(Scottish mountains of 3000 feet (~914 meters for us scientifically literate) or above).<br />
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While the height of the mountain doesn't sound too intimidating, the rocky slopes are quite steep in places and Cuillins are regarded as some of the most challenging areas to hike in Skye. We set out to <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Munro#Bagging_the_Munros" target="_blank">bag at least one of the munros</a> while in Scotland. Squrr nan Eag seemed to be reasonably achievable target for us. <br />
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<a href="http://www.walkhighlands.co.uk/skye/sgurrnaneag.shtml" target="_blank">The route description</a> talked about moderate scramble required, which didn't put us off. It also talked about impressive glaciated slabs, which might be somewhat challenging to negotiate. And challenging it proved out to be. For the first time ever during my hikes I went under an illogical spell of vertigo right between two of these slabs. For the world of it, I couldn't move forward or backward, but clung to strands of heather for my dear life. Now with hindsight, the bare slabs weren't even that steep, it was more the case of possibility of them being potentially slippery. Eventually a solution was offered to me by my companions who didn't seem to have any major trouble crossing the slabs. There was a small crevice under the rocky surface which could be crawled through to circumvent the slabby area. The catch though -- there is always a catch isn't there -- was that the crevice was filled with guano. So the price I had to pay was to crawl on all my fours on 10 centimeters of bat shit to get past the slabs. To add to the insult while I was knee deep in fudge nuggets, there was a family of two adults and two young children navigating a similar slab further down. <br />
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The promised moderate scrambling wasn't bad at all after the slab experience. We reached Coire Ghrunnda (little lake carved into the mountain most likely by same glacier which also polished the slabs below for me). At this point we lost final rays of sunshine which had been gracing us since the morning and heavy mist started to roll upon us. From the Coire there would have been still bit of a scrambling required to reach Sgurr nan Eag. We figured that we could still make our way up in the mist, but we might have hard time coming back down if the mist got any thicker. Thus we unianimously voted to make our way down and accepting the defeat in front of the munro this time. I think this is one of the most important lessons in hiking in the mountains: appreciating the fact that you still need to come down after reaching the summit. <br />
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Interestingly aforementioned Gaiman has a <a href="http://journal.neilgaiman.com/2014/05/what-are-you-doing-on-june-27th-and.html" target="_blank">special connection to this part of Skye</a> as well. While Gaiman writes about a cave in the Black Mountains where you can find endless source of gold, I found a cave alright, but it was most certainly not gold what I had in my hands and knees when I resurfaced. On the way down we realised that there would have been a totally safe passage around the slabs slightly higher on the ridge.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Move mouse over the picture to get a pro tip!</td></tr>
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<h3>
Final musings on Scotland</h3>
Isle of Islay which is not far away from Skye did not win absolutely any mountains on the geo lottery. It is a barren windy island with peaty fields. I can understand perfectly well why people of Islay had to resort to other means of enjoyment instead of bagging munros.<br />
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We did not catch a glimpse of old Nessie even though we tried. I thought this would be an important piece of news to share in case you were wondering. <br />
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While enjoying haggis for breakfast in an utterly <a href="http://www.southcliffe.com/" target="_blank">lovely B&B</a> in Tarbert, our host and some other visitors were deeply engaged in a conversation with throroughly thick Scottish accent. Could not understand a word they were saying. Probably making fun of the smell of my hands and knees. koomikkohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02063626989042540385noreply@blogger.com0Skye, Scotland57.198132846778556 -6.223068237304687557.189531346778558 -6.2432382373046877 57.206734346778553 -6.2028982373046873tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3932134693797407216.post-9682958014390189812015-12-12T17:57:00.000+02:002016-12-12T15:19:05.983+02:00Bears with antlers - Karhunkierros-hike<div dir="ltr">
All the way back in 2000 my then brand new hiking boots required to be broken in prior to putting them to a real test against Africa's highest mountain. Me & my travel companions decided to test a piece of Finland's most favourite hike, <i>Karhunkierros</i>, which was right around the neighbourhood -- at least when comparing to Tanzania.<br />
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<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karhunkierros" target="_blank">Karhunkierros</a> or the circle of bear is not necessarily aptly titled. The hike is not a circle at all but goes from point A to B (or to C if you opt for the longer version). If it is not a circle, then there are surely bears aren't there? The scenery at least is exactly the type that you could not be overly surprised if a bear did indeed cross paths with you.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">No bears in sight, but plenty of reindeer</td></tr>
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Given the limited time of one weekend including the travel to and from forced us to take slightly different approach to standard hike. The full distance would have been 80 kilometers (95 km for the longer variant). We drove into the nature center within <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oulanka_National_Park" target="_blank">Oulanka national park</a>, which is pretty much right in the middle of the hike. From there we hiked northwards crossing the polar circle and sleeping in one of the provided <i>autiotupa</i> (a basic unmanned hut, which required no prior reservation). From there we retraced our steps and ventured southwards from the nature center and camped out near to the ravine. Finally in the morning we backtracked the earlier route to our car.<br />
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Autumn colours put out nature's own fireworks display while we were there. As a special feature of the hike there are some quite impressive canyons (at least for Finnish standards), suspension bridges and the aforementioned ravine, Oulankajoki, which breaks into several <i>köngäs</i>. This regional term basically means a portion of the river with so steep declines that it cannot be canoed through. Essentially a waterfall in a river, but need to remind to put the falls into context of Finnish standards here as well.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtsGheRd35c_ASvxet_FbPDLuIBllM15rMxD6G7vvCgx7ZTNxCegIrIAQ_EmbES_488OmgwLmPE30HreTr4BJbewK1jtHv4xjXSiOOObPTQThk-XGYcMnsaq6fko9nnNVjK8ue-cpe4g3Q/s1600/kuusamo21.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtsGheRd35c_ASvxet_FbPDLuIBllM15rMxD6G7vvCgx7ZTNxCegIrIAQ_EmbES_488OmgwLmPE30HreTr4BJbewK1jtHv4xjXSiOOObPTQThk-XGYcMnsaq6fko9nnNVjK8ue-cpe4g3Q/s400/kuusamo21.jpg" width="267" /></a>But all in all, very nice scenery. Making morning coffee on open fire on top of one of those canyons with forest blooming in red, orange and yellow all around you is still an experience I remember vividly after all these years. Unfortunately I also remember that my companion in charge of the food supplies had decided to bring only sausages with us. Sausages for breakfast, lunch and dinner. <br />
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Boots survived the small acid test with flying colors (autumn colors perhaps) -- ready for real action. What was not ready for real action was my brother's sleeping back. He was freezing during the night in the tent in the sub zero temperatures of early September near Polar circle. Having tested the gear for Kilimanjaro, the final activity was to prepare my own physique. If the veins on my forehead were about to explode when ascending the pitiful Finnish canyons, I clearly needed some additional exercises beyond Karhunkierros before taking on <a href="http://jolkko.blogspot.fi/2015/08/snows-of-kilimanjaro.html">6 kilometer high monster of a mountain</a>. </div>
koomikkohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02063626989042540385noreply@blogger.com0Kuusamo, Finland65.9645876 29.18866520000005964.3094546 24.025091200000059 67.619720600000008 34.352239200000056tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3932134693797407216.post-32780430474515053672015-10-18T18:24:00.001+03:002016-08-29T10:31:34.235+03:00Meeting with Twelve Gods - Summiting Mount Olympos in GreeceEver wonder where lightnings are originated from? Apparently they are coming from the Stefani peak on Mount Olympus in Greece, where great old Zeus is hurling thunderbolts during yet another of his characteristics petty scenes of anger management failure. The whole mountain is literally infested with Gods and lesser deities. Pretty much each of the steep gorges, grottoes and 52 separate peaks is littered with one of the Olympiad or their siblings or offspring. Stefani peak is not the highest point on the Olympus however. The famous <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twelve_Olympians" target="_blank">twelve Gods</a> met and had their less civil moments of discussion on the peak called Mytikas (2917 m), which is also the highest point in Greece. Guess where I was headed to back in July of 2012. <br />
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<b>Quick facts</b><br />
<ul>
<li>Days to hike: 2</li>
<li>Total ascent: ~1800 m</li>
<li>Special gear: A helmet is recommended for the final summiting </li>
<li>Number of Gods at the peak: 12 (+ great number of lesser demi-gods in the vicinity)</li>
</ul>
</div>
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Our route took us from Helsinki through Istanbul to Thessaloníki, where we hired a car and drove towards the town of Litohoro. Mount Olympus is relatively close to the Aegean Sea, so the full size directly from the sea level looks impressive. The most common route to hike the mountain is part of one of the long distance hiking trails in Europe, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E4_European_long_distance_path" target="_blank">E4</a>. The country spanning route in fact starts (or ends at depending on the way you are looking at it) from this particular town, but there is a car park called Prionia somewhat higher up the mountain (1100 m)<br />
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Given our flight schedules, slower than expected roads and wanting to eat well before the first day hike, we were slightly delayed from our planned start of the journey. We had called the Refuge Spilios Agapitos earlier on the day and they had strongly suggested us to ensure that we make it there before it gets dark. Thus we were hiking against the setting sun. The trail is clearly marked and goes through forests. The hike from Prionia to the Refuge takes about 3 hours. The twilight started to creep on us just at the moment when we first saw a beacon of light higher up in the mountain. It was indeed the Refuge, our midway goal at 2100 m. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mytikas as seen from Skala</td></tr>
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We ate, washed and slept at the Refuge and were ready to start the second day ascent early in the morning. The Refuge staff insisted on ensuring that we all had brought helmets with us before they allowed us to continue. Apparently there can occasionally be falling rock on the final summiting.<br />
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The ascent continued in a forest but started clearly giving away for more barren rocky environment. One of our companions kept others entertained by seemingly never ending interpretation of S<a href="http://image.citycdn.fi/01/38/63/65/3ba9eeee0cb871db10dd0639b8a4dffd.jpeg" target="_blank">tig Dogg</a> classics like <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8xTaWsX_VTc" target="_blank">I'm Hunting a Puma</a>. Eventually Puma song started to get slightly repetitive just by the time we reached Skala peak at 2866 m. From Skala one route takes to Stefani, which is the mythological Throne of Zeus and another to highest Mytikas, the Pantheon of the twelve Olympians.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgADzOvLAkQLckqVUdKtzEGQYiuILeqGHjl8K0wplGcKqhvsBsdA_5gU-UHP28BI4rRjDJEIXTUXRCC3vWieAhSfnh56qyYjEA7X3JopnQtiMyZAZePN7Fpuf9HpksPMuXdpom7n7O9qK4_/s1600/scaling-mytikas.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgADzOvLAkQLckqVUdKtzEGQYiuILeqGHjl8K0wplGcKqhvsBsdA_5gU-UHP28BI4rRjDJEIXTUXRCC3vWieAhSfnh56qyYjEA7X3JopnQtiMyZAZePN7Fpuf9HpksPMuXdpom7n7O9qK4_/s320/scaling-mytikas.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Scaling the steepest section of Mytikas</td></tr>
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The route from Skala towards Mytikas starts with slightly nerving vertical descend and then continues just below the ridgeline, yet quite exposed steep traverse towards the peak. Eventually the route got so steep that we decided to abandon our backpacks and continued to proceed on all fours. There is a fair bit of scrambling needed on an area with plenty of loose rock. Thus the suggestion for wearing helmets seemed justified. Just before summitting there is one more exposed section to get over which requires the use of chains bolted on to the rock face.<br />
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Finally we were standing on the highest point of Greece. Clearly the stories of great halls and stormy feasts the Twelve Gods have reportedly had on this very location seemed vastly exaggerated. The only thing the Gods had left behind was a little flag of Greece and a visitor book. Yet the overflowing feeling of achievement was once again as gratifying as ever. There would have been a more direct way back to the Refuge, but it would have taken through very steep and long descent to begin with. We unanimously decided that we will just safely backtrack our steps. The trip from Refuge to Mytikas took us about 4,5 hours. The walk back to the car park was uneventful, yet knee-hurting. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Route from Refuge to Mytikas</td></tr>
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While we had come all the way to Greece, we decided to give our little contribution to the economy. It was kind of sad to see how many areas which were clearly intended catering for masses of tourists were quite completely void of visitors -- apart from us. Which obviously meant that we got all the attention in restaurants and hotels being pretty much the only guests. After the hike we marveled more of nature's majestic beauty at <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vikos_Gorge" target="_blank">Vikos Gorge</a>, searched (without any luck) for more modern deities at the monasteries in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meteora" target="_blank">Meteora region</a> and finally landed on island of Corfu to see if it still was the European capitol of debauchery as apparently had been claimed on a British tv-show back in the 90s. It wasn't. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Vikos Gorge at sunset</td></tr>
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<br />koomikkohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02063626989042540385noreply@blogger.com0Mount Olympos, Greece40.0884128 22.35855519999995540.0762643 22.338385199999955 40.1005613 22.378725199999955tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3932134693797407216.post-45235513351943409902015-09-20T19:26:00.000+03:002016-08-29T10:31:20.615+03:00Boiling in onsen - Summiting Mount FujiSymmetrical Mount Fuji (富士山, <i>Fujisan</i>) is a distinctive image of Japan. The mountain has been prominent in many pictures and paintings of Japan ever since from 14th century. For example there is the famous series of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thirty-six_Views_of_Mount_Fuji" target="_blank">36 Views of Mount Fuji</a> by Japanese woodblock print artist Hokusai. Given that one of my friends was (and is) living in Tokyo, I had a great opportunity to visit this iconic mountain myself back in August 2008.<br />
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<b>Quick facts</b><br />
<ul>
<li>Total hike time: ~9 hours</li>
<li>Total ascent: 1471 m</li>
<li>Weirdest experience: Baffled by a user interface of a public toilet seat with 13 separate controls (!) with Japanese only label text</li>
</ul>
</div>
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Getting from Tokyo to Fuji area is relatively straight forward. There is train connection from Tokyo through Otsuki to the town of Kawakuchiko where we were staying for the duration. Kawakuchiko itself is a picturesque village on the shores of a lake by the same name -- one of the five big lakes around Mt Fuji. We had booked ourselves a room in one of the historical <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ryokan_%28inn%29" target="_blank">ryokan</a></i> style guest houses, which offered outdoor hot spring pool or <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Onsen" target="_blank">onsen</a></i> as a royal reward waiting for us after the hike. From the town there is an easy bus connection to the starting station (2305 meters above sea level) of Yoshida trail, one of the four trails leading up to the summit. The mountain is divided into 10 stations and tenth being the summit.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3U3I7UcbwsVWLjLEjhWVq5riXxQVy3qxKXQe4A_fCYfYFH4RTkNNRFp4m2fSXKsN-lkYG-QYgZDiOSidDCYeZLor4h2So73NOXNFs6rh_2kd1OD1yr2_InEvtk8wa2ewVyDCnKp3v1QYo/s1600/IMG_0900.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3U3I7UcbwsVWLjLEjhWVq5riXxQVy3qxKXQe4A_fCYfYFH4RTkNNRFp4m2fSXKsN-lkYG-QYgZDiOSidDCYeZLor4h2So73NOXNFs6rh_2kd1OD1yr2_InEvtk8wa2ewVyDCnKp3v1QYo/s400/IMG_0900.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Fuji-san as seen from the Lake Kawakuchi</td></tr>
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We started our hike in the morning. Once we were under way there was a constant incoming traffic of other hikers. The masses of people had clearly summited the mountain very early in the morning to witness the sunrise. Seemingly they were mostly locals, who had wrapped themselves completely in layers of clothes. We on the other hand were dressed in t-shirts and shorts. The weather was close to 30 degrees centigrade in the valley below the mountain, but apparently it had been cold in the night when these people had started their hike likely from the 7th or 8th station where they had stayed overnight. We kept musing ourselves with people with woolen hats, sunglasses, scarfs around their heads -- with no patch of skin exposed.<br />
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There weren't so many people going uphill in the morning with us, but the descending traffic seemed never ending. Luckily there is a different route upwards and downwards. Visiting Fuji-san is very popular activity in Japan and given the limited window of opportunity between July to August you don't have to worry about being alone on the mountain. It has been estimated that there are 300 000 visitors each year, so you can do the math on the number of visitors per each day. Hiking outside the season is strongly discouraged due to possibly very severe weather conditions. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjDrv9sqnWN5vi8W9CFavHJ9uJgqNZsIiXPAluAGeg8a2-q6X0FbOyrJGej2vNqJW0cGLr0TrWyBWT06vlhL_4E73dxfAkN26OKCqIEOpJe9JJU9GkGnlfAKk2iRWdAKA1zgl8fEOghJzF/s1600/IMG_0824.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjDrv9sqnWN5vi8W9CFavHJ9uJgqNZsIiXPAluAGeg8a2-q6X0FbOyrJGej2vNqJW0cGLr0TrWyBWT06vlhL_4E73dxfAkN26OKCqIEOpJe9JJU9GkGnlfAKk2iRWdAKA1zgl8fEOghJzF/s320/IMG_0824.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Red <i>torii </i>gate on one of the midway stations</td></tr>
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Each station has a set of basic facilities serving noodles and branding wooden walking sticks. And yes, I can confirm the stories being true that there is indeed a vending machine serving beer among other consumables at the rim of the volcano. The hike itself is not particularly demanding. The stations provide a nice set of interim targets and resting spots. <br />
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The ascent from the 5th station, where there the bus left us to the top of the mountain at 3776 meters took us about 5 hours. The circle around the rim of stratovolcano and stopping at the highest point near a weather station took us about an hour. The trotting down on the ash covered path took about 3 more hours. Thus our one day there and back again approach is clearly doable, but
possibility of altitude sickness is potentially more probable with this
approach than staying the night on the mountain.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Panorama from the rim -- summit seen on the right hand corner</td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0t0AB1FfS9P1KfzRNhoEsTzJzRxmyjDR0LRWXN7r6Ws7OAV6VHfY-UcHA95iyn1BjE5k8QxWvArgT5xyilPrGhi8b3OpNPR4V8Ee7nkVwVz8ym048UnKKXyiognzgDBAzviKHzQGhMDCg/s1600/02082008126.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0t0AB1FfS9P1KfzRNhoEsTzJzRxmyjDR0LRWXN7r6Ws7OAV6VHfY-UcHA95iyn1BjE5k8QxWvArgT5xyilPrGhi8b3OpNPR4V8Ee7nkVwVz8ym048UnKKXyiognzgDBAzviKHzQGhMDCg/s320/02082008126.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
Towards the evening it started to dawn on us why the locals had covered themselves so well. Both me & my dad had suffered pretty bad sunburns on our face, arms and legs. Once we were safely back into the village, I tried unsuccessfully to find any after-sun lotion at a local pharmacy. My little Japanese phrase book had it's limitations. Our royal reward of onsen experience after 9 hour hike turned out to be a royal punishment as the sunburned skin did not particularly enjoy the steaming hot water. Amateur mistake clearly. However the traditional evening dinner of <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaiseki" target="_blank">kaiseki</a></i> cuisine was truly wonderful way to celebrate the achievement -- if we just could have been able to bend our stiff legs on the <i>tatami </i>underneath the low tables. koomikkohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02063626989042540385noreply@blogger.com0Fuji, Kitayama, Fujinomiya, Shizuokan prefektuuri 418-0112, Japani35.3605555 138.7277776999999333.699265999999994 136.14599069999994 37.021845 141.30956469999992tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3932134693797407216.post-71005892365058768452015-08-30T18:44:00.005+03:002016-01-19T11:40:11.606+02:00Snows of KilimanjaroWhy would anyone living in Finland want to escape the first snow of winter in December to probably only place near equator where there is always snow? I had packed with me a collection of Ernest Hemingway's short stories, including the famous <i>Snows of Kilimanjaro</i>. I was determined to experience those snows myself.<br />
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<tr><td>Kilimanjaro rises near the Kenyan border in Tanzania. It is one of the highest (5895 m) self-standing mountains (not part of a mountain range) in the world and also the highest mountain on the African continent (one of the seven peaks). Hiking Kilimanjaro doesn't require special expertise nor equipment. Even a pencil neck geek such as <i>moi</i> is capable of summiting the mountain - but I have to admit that it is quite demanding feat.<br />
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The mountain has 5 distinct vegetation levels. The lowest levels are
cultivated, producing among other things coffee, corn and various
fruits. The national park begins from 2000 meters above sea level. There
we start to see proper rain forest. Each vegetation type changes as if
cut by knife. </td><td><br />
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<b>Quick facts</b><br />
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<li># of days: 6 </li>
<li>Total ascent: 3168 m</li>
<li>Summiting date: December 2nd, 2000
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<li>Personal significance: one of the first longer hikes and still the highest mountain</li>
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Jungle makes way for moor land similar to scenery up in
Lapland. After the final fresh water source at 4000 meters, there is very limited amount of any fauna and also flora is quite non-existent on this windy desert. The final stretch from 5000 meter upwards is barren rock face of the volcano and covered by snow and glaciers.<br />
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Mountain sickness steals appetite </h3>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjE-2QCicc_f-1maU8KMaTpIlQWvZjnN4S6by7EcZuGJvTDRH0QY94h4rhJZkXYhUsvhF79NsO0crTJdwxrUh1txNam1QrrKWasb3smLtnCQoxVUG6bQUcsj6LRG5jfaDZldDpDjUop1-BU/s1600/kili49.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="223" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjE-2QCicc_f-1maU8KMaTpIlQWvZjnN4S6by7EcZuGJvTDRH0QY94h4rhJZkXYhUsvhF79NsO0crTJdwxrUh1txNam1QrrKWasb3smLtnCQoxVUG6bQUcsj6LRG5jfaDZldDpDjUop1-BU/s320/kili49.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Potential quick way down if needed</td></tr>
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Our hike, following the touristy Marangu route, included quite comfortable 10 kilometer day trips with about 1 kilometer ascent each day. We had additional acclimatization day staying at Horombo hut (3807 m). It was during that point when I & my companions started experiencing some discomfort due to altitude: loss of appetite and headache. Determination was also being challenged by the motivational scribblings on the hut walls left by previous hikers: "Turn around now while you still can" & "You will not die, but you will suffer a lot".<br />
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On the fourth day of the hike we crossed a desert called the Saddle between the two peaks of the mountain: Higher Kibo and steeper Mawenzi. The heat of the equator and the rain fall of the rain forest had been replaced by biting wind and particularly harsh sun shine. Shy Kibo had hidden beneath a layer of clouds for the most of our hike on the previous days, but while lumbering across the Saddle, our final goal was right in front of us the whole day.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlOe8BNs8ylmyQmiSfUgNPL7IF_xiSPin6lQ72Mm0-eyrl35II9g6GO6sY1oLD8KPAfZ-fRVfSltHqd-2oyGp7vYg19ql3t9x07Bh4eHWcqVVJMWiIiK8Kvha5pP3ZxnphzuFvyRUID43T/s1600/saddle.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="210" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlOe8BNs8ylmyQmiSfUgNPL7IF_xiSPin6lQ72Mm0-eyrl35II9g6GO6sY1oLD8KPAfZ-fRVfSltHqd-2oyGp7vYg19ql3t9x07Bh4eHWcqVVJMWiIiK8Kvha5pP3ZxnphzuFvyRUID43T/s400/saddle.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">End is nigh</td></tr>
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On the final hut before the last stretch I was preparing for what would be the most demanding 18 hours in my life thus far. Few measly hours of nodding cannot really be considered sleeping, but at least the weariness of crossing the desert had vanished and I felt absolutely springy when preparing for the summiting at the dead of the night. Our mandatory guide, Aloyce, was explaining that there are two main reasons why the final ascent needs to take place in the dark: the frozen path is easier to travel than when the sand is loose but more importantly the incline of the cliff is so steep that many travelers would call it quits if they saw that in day light. The night sky opening above was a marvel on its own. I have never seen so many stars shine as brightly as I did on that night ascending Kibo.<br />
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The ascent started to slow down to a crawl and eventually crawl to continuous halting after each odd few steps. Our guide kept on chanting "pole, pole", which coincidentally in Finnish suggests to keep on pedaling ones bike. We had a good pace in the beginning, but our pit stop tactic started to take its toll and pretty much all of the fellow hikers kept on overtaking us -- the ones who had made it this far. When I was completely exhausted from never ending zigzagging and quite literally out of my breath, I started hearing voices right above me. We were just a final scramble away from Gillman's Point.<br />
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Apparently some might consider reaching Gillman's Point as summiting Kilimanjaro as it is located on the volcano rim, however the ultimate goal of Uhuru Peak is still some distance away. The overflowing feeling of the endorphin rush from reaching this key milestone accompanied with reluctant gnawing of a frozen candy bar gave enough power to continue the journey after just a moments rest.<br />
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There and back again (as quickly as possible)</h3>
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The Sun was rising over the Indian Ocean and giving us truly spectacular scenery everywhere we looked. On my left there were majestic glaciers which reflected the sun light in pale blue color and then beyond the unobstructed view far away into Tanzanian highlands. On my right hand side dropped the steep cliff into the dormant crater. The snow that I came seeking was squeaking beneath my boots (English language doesn't really do justice to different types of snow or the sound it makes when stepped upon. Isn't Finnish "narske" much closer to the sound itself than "squak", which is something that a mouse would say). The snows are still there as of today, however the ice cap is diminishing each year and it is expected that Kibo's white hair line has receded quite completely <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Kilimanjaro#Glaciers" target="_blank">by 2040.</a> Dragging my feet like a lazy teenager through the snow I started to be officially dizzy. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Kilimanjaro#Dangers" target="_blank">Over 70 %</a> of the hikers attempting to climb Kilimanjaro experience some symptoms of Acute Mountain Sickness (AMS) and apparently I made it into majority. <br />
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Eventually I slouched on top of a boulder. I had trouble walking straight, which is quite unnerving with serious potential of fatally tumbling either left or right when traversing the rim of the crater. Additionally I was completely out of juice and I needed to consider about the eventual way downwards as well. I was able to see Uhuru Peak relatively close by. So near, yet so far. My father, who was with me on this climb, was urging us to turn back. That seemed like the most sensible thing to do. Our guide mentioned that there was no more ascent, but just level walk for yet another 30 minutes or so. Finally, I made my mind: if I was to turn back here, I would regret it so bad afterwards. Thus one more time I mustered whatever strength there was in me and started taking one wobbly step at a time towards the goal.<br />
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The actual summiting did not offer any additional dramatics as everybody from my travel company was feeling particularly sick. Right after taking the obligatory pictures, my brother crawled on all fours and offered his breakfast into the crater as a sacrifice to the volcano. It was clearly time for us to head back to more human friendly altitudes. Our guide half carried me across the rim and started to surf down on the loose sand and ash which had been now thawed by the Sun.<br />
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The walk back through the huts in reverse order was relaxingly uneventful. We kept offering motivational words to hikers we met on our way down. One exception was a group of senior citizens from Finland. We were lost at words when they asked us if their group of "old hags" (their words, not mine) will make it to the top. With the hindsight I guess I could have offered to them that Kilimanjaro did not kill us, but we did suffer a lot. <br />
<br />koomikkohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02063626989042540385noreply@blogger.com0Mount Kilimanjaro, Tanzania-3.0674247 37.355627299999924-28.5894592 -3.9529667000000757 22.4546098 78.664221299999923tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3932134693797407216.post-58540215551398933862015-08-26T03:14:00.000+03:002015-10-18T18:32:53.874+03:00Going off on an adventureAll good things may come to an end (like the final episode of ST:TNG), yet every ending contains also a new beginning. I rather enjoyed documenting in a blog format my life and times while on an <a href="http://frostythelion.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">assignment in Singapore</a>. While it was enjoyable to actually see that my ramblings were being viewed by thousands of folks globally, the most important takeaway for myself was twofold: now with hindsight I have realized that I am thoroughly enjoyed reading the old blog posts myself -- apparently the narrative format of documenting my own feelings and initial awe is something that just plain pictures cannot convey. In addition I noticed now that the old blog has finally come to an end, something is missing from my life. I found pleasure in the process of creative writing.<br />
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Easy solution for the ache caused by the lack of writing is to establish yet another blog! Once again I am predominantly nurturing my own <a href="https://www.guexed.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/maslow_modified.jpg" target="_blank">self actualization</a>, rather than writing for the masses. One area that I believe my future self would appreciate is for me to document the experiences I have had on various mountain hikes I have completed around the world. While I obviously do have the photos still with me, a small complimentary travel journey would be nice thing to have for reminiscence purposes and posterity. If the masses find my little content contributions to Internet beneficial in the process, then even better.<br />
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This blog is going to be somewhat different time-space-continuum-wise as opposed to your average chronological blog narrative of events happening through calendar time. There are plenty of hikes I have completed in the past (in Finland, Tanzania, Alps, Japan, New Zealand…) which I now need to be catching up with. In addition there is a never ending bucket list of hikes (Annapurna circuit, Haute Route, GR20...) in the not-so-distant future for me start blogging as they happen. Thus the dates of the blog entries will not reflect the actual journey times. And also some of the retrospectives of the hikes from past will be more picture than narrative driven because I didn't always take down written notes while there.<br />
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Finally, I probably owe it to the initial readers (both Finnish and all others) to explain the rather cryptic title of the blog. I have a (bad?) habit of coming up with my own words for various of things and repeating them until the words start to stick even with others around me. One of those words for quite some time has been “jolkko” [yolk’koh,] as a reference to hikes. Origin of the word clearly comes from slightly uncommon Finnish verb “jolkottaa” which seems to mean “to run” or even more accurately “to run slowly”. Somehow at least for me there feels to be a strong connotation of this verb to the slow tedious progress that is characteristic to hiking -- especially when ascending a mountain.koomikkohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02063626989042540385noreply@blogger.com0Kamppi, Helsinki, Finland60.167457700000007 24.93107480000003360.151659200000005 24.890734300000034 60.18325620000001 24.971415300000032