Thursday, May 1, 2014

Is the conjunction of the mind

I walked today for 2 1/2 hours in the forests and swamps at Sipoonkorpi National Park. This was the first time ever to visit the place, and I had some trouble finding it, as there are no signs by the roadside pointing to Sipoonkorpi.

In fact, I drove all the way to Nikkilä until I realized I had missed the turn. Then I switched on the navigator, and it instructed my to drive on a road which had a "no motor vehicles" sign. Well, I circled back, and finally the navigator found the right road for me, and finally there was the Byabäcken parking place I was looking for, with five other cars already there.

I walked from Byabäcken up Bisapottsberget hill, and then south to lake Fallträsk. At this point I was rather careless, not looking at the map or compass. When I finally noticed that the landscape seemed oddly familiar, I realized I was walking towards west instead of east as I had planned.

After getting lost I used the compass more carefully, and walked southeast to Mordmossarna swamp, and to the edge of the fields at Gladersåker. From Gladersåker I walked north to Mariendal, and then I followed the river northwest back to the parking place, walking on the south side of the river.

There were a lot of small paths to follow, but they were often blocked by recently fallen trees. It seems that the National Park is changing towards wilderness, which is great.

Visiting Sipoonkorpi was one of the best things to happen this year. In fact I was almost overwhelmed by the feeling of being in a place never before visited, far enough from roads. Getting lost made me giddy. I have written before that when walking I like to get lost, and this happened today. Nowadays I seldom get lost as I know the forests and swamps nearby all too well. It is a pity.

There were some minor inconveniences, such as the fact that it was raining and I got wet. In addition it was cold, +4 °C. There had been a little snow and hail earlier today, and little pockets of the white stuff still remained. But the wet and the cold didn't bother me any, I was blissed out.

The photographs of blue anemone flowers were taken on April 26th at Tremanskärr.

(Posting title is from the poem The Definition of Love by Andrew Marvell.)

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