The forest does not mind that you are late.
A blog about Finnish nature: long walks, short seasons, and the ordinary things worth writing down.
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Ruska in a poor year
The autumn colour was supposed to be dull this year — a wet August, an early frost. It was not dull. It was simply shorter, and it arrived on a Tuesday, and by the weekend half the birches were bare.
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First frost on the bog
The bog holds cold differently from the forest. You feel it through the boots before you see it, and then every cotton-grass head is wearing a white cap that will be gone by ten.
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The mushroom rule that keeps me alive
Nine species in the basket, one left in the forest because I was not certain. The rule is not romantic and it is not interesting, which is exactly why it works.
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By season
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March – May
Spring
The snow goes from the south first, and the first proper day is not warm — it is simply loud, with water everywhere.
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June – August
Summer
Light until midnight and nobody sleeps properly. Berry season overlaps with the mosquitoes, as always.
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September – November
Autumn
Two weeks of colour, then a long grey stretch that is honestly the best time to walk.
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December – February
Winter
Short days, real cold, and the only season where the forest is quiet enough to hear a bird land.
Places I keep returning to
- Nuuksio — an hour from Helsinki, and it still feels like forestUusimaa
- Oulanka — the river, the fells, and the best two days of walking I knowLapland
- Koli — the view everybody photographs, worth it anywayNorth Karelia
- Hossa — the oldest rock paintings in the region, on a lake you have to walk toKainuu