Day #2

After a very good sleep I woke up again early, when it was still pitch-dark. I did my morning procedures with a peaceful mind and lazier than normally, because I had plenty of time before sun would rise. First I checked the weather forecast which was just like it had already been a few days, cloudy and light snowfall. In spite of the weather the previous day was fine and birds were so active that I excitedly waited the my upcoming photographing session. At these Finlands north eastern backwoods it is also always possible to see a fox or even a wolverine. In a good mood I packed my gears and took heading to the hide hoping that the protection of the darkness would encourage animals to come to the carcass. I wasn´t lucky with the wolverine this time although I recognised some paw prints only a hundred meters away from the hide. But after I had waited a couple of hours and listened to the nature I saw the Golden Eagle gliding behind the trees over the meadow and then it went around behind the hide. What an impressive vision to see this king of the wilderness so close! And that was only the beginning. What a great day again with a lot of action with Eagles and other birds too. I drived back to the cottage with a smile on my face, although the weather again was dark and cloudy, it had been a memorable day!

Magpies were annoying the eagles!

And so were the ravens!

But they also had their own activities.

Olli

In the hide, day #1

The depth of the snow, that had fallen and remained on the ground this autumn was more than ten centimeters. The winter had already tried to start five times in Kuusamo but every time a warm period of weather had melted the snow. When the first snow fell all the leafy trees were still holding their autumn coloured leaves and the scenery was incredible with yellow and orange colours surrounded with white snow. Now when I arrived to Kuusamo area the trees were already without leaves. I came to my friends cottage late in the evening and they hadn´t been there for a while so I had to shovel the snow before I drived to the courtyard. Quite a sweaty job but I loved it after ten hours of driving. I had lot of gears with me because I planned to photoshoot at least few days, both landscape and eagles from the hides. I unloaded my car and settled down,  set fire to the stove and enjoyed a nice and quiet evening in Lämsänkylä,  only five kilometers from  the Russian border. In the evening I had plenty of time to check batteries, memory cards and other equipments, also checked the weather forecast for the next day. It wasn´t too encouraging with cloudy skies and light snowfalls. The reason why I was in northern Finland at this time of the year, was that I had this certain picture in my mind that I have already been chasing for a couple of years. In this picture a Golden Eagle is landing on a pine tree top with its wings wide open in backlight of the midwinter sun which lightens the wing feathers. Chances for this kind of picture are only slight because the weather is mostly cloudy and daylight is so short in December. Sun rises at 10am and sets at 2pm, so the operation time is only four hours. 

As usual I woke up early in the morning and spent hours reading and writing and listening the sound of the fire in the stove. The cracking of the fire is so relaxing and pacifying and I really enjoyed it much. I wasn´t in a hurry to go to the hide but after my slow morning I was still there well before sunrise at eight o´clock. Slowly and peacefully I adjusted my camera gears and set my lunch box at hand and then just started to wait. First in the dark came ravens with swooshing wings, I didn´t see them  but I heard them well in this otherwise still sleepy and silent morning. 

The day was really active but dark, thick cloud cover and some light snow falling, but at its best there were tens of ravens, two Golden Eagles and two White-tailed Eagles. Lots of photographing, on the edge of my cameras performance, in these dark conditions. I can´t complain, a few nice pictures and lots of watching, considering this was just day number one. More to come, I could hardly wait.

At the day dawn the ravens were already there.

Golden Eagles came and went during the day.

So did the White-tailed Eagles.

Gorgeous creature.

Kind of a rush hour.

Olli

In the Archipelago

I spent a weekend in Finnish archipelago at Kökar island which is 64 square kilometres or 24 square miles of size. It is a quite big island in Finnish archipelago situated in the most eastern part of Åland, which is located between Finnish mainland and Sweden. There are all together 6757 islands in the whole Åland county. 

In the year 2010 happened a very interesting event in Åland. Divers found from 55 meters (180 feet ) depth a shipwreck which was loaded with 170 bottles of champagne. The ship was from 1820s and all the bottles were unbroken and they were sold in an auction with prices as high as 15000-30000€ per bottle!

My ferry from mainland to Kökar departed at 10 am and I had to drive 235 kilometres from home to Galtby harbour. There were two twenty minutes ferry trips before my destination so I reserved four hours for driving and I started my journey at 6 am. The previous day the weather was terrible with heavy snowfall and gusty winds, temperatures just below freezing point. On my departure morning it was raining and the roads were only wet so the driving wasn´t too bad.

I parked my car near the Galtby pier, took my gears and boarded the ship. The sailing was very pleasant with mild winds and easygoing atmosphere on board. I spent time enjoying a cup of coffee with a tasty sandwich and magnificent archipelago scenery. We arrived at half past noon to Kökar and I had a short break before packing all the necessary photo gears and made a long walk along the shore. The terrain was heavy with lots of ups and downs and dense bushes which were hard to go through. At about 3 pm I found a nice spot to photoshoot the shore and open see in twilight. At 4.20 pm when the sun set, it was cloudy so the darkness fell fast and I focused to use long exposure times. That kind of technique makes pictures look atmospheric with blurry water surface and extra softness.

Next morning I was up well before sunrise and had a good breakfast before I went to find a new spot to take more landscape photos in slight light. The weather was still cloudy but the cloud base had various colours, lighter and darker, which made a threatening impression to the pictures.

 

And finally in the afternoon the weather was partly cloudy which gave wanted change into photographing. At sun set in the horizon there was a narrow, almost clear zone. I tried to capture the feeling and light of that particular moment.  

Next day the ferry departed at noon so I had plenty of time to make a hike in the neighbourhood. I found some very lively birds, siskins and one robin to photoshoot. A flock of siskins had occupied an old alder and the robin was jigging in the bushes around me. I was enjoying watching them and that morning they all were very thankful objects to photoshoot.

Olli

Fall Foliage

I was visiting New York when I got an opportunity to spend two days in Killington, Vermont. We were there with my wife some five years a go and we have excellent memories of that journey. The surroundings and the whole area are perfect for hiking. The hills are not too high and in spite of dense forests every now and then you can find places to enjoy beautiful sceneries. So I didn´t  hesitate to call the car rental and book accommodation. I got a room from Inn at Long Trail just where I wanted. It is a very cosy and traditional mountain lodge located in the junction of two very traditional long hikes, the Long Trail and the Appalachian Trail. The building was built 1938 and 1977 renewed and enlarged by the McGrath family  who has been running it since. It is an exceptionally homelike with warm atmosphere and friendly personnel. 

The location of the inn is perfect for one day hikes. There are lot of tracks around and I picked up the hike from the inn to  the Thundering falls some nine kilometres (5,5 miles) away downhill. This hike was a short clip of the Appalachian trail which weaves from Maine to Georgia altogether more than two thousand miles.

 

The hike started with a quite steep climb along the Sherburne Pass which is part of the Long Trail. It was so steep that I wish that I hadn´t eaten such a heavy breakfast but it was so delicious that I couldn´t leave any of it but as I said, I wish I had.  After the first climb the hike was nice walk via beautiful Kent Pond down to the waterfalls.

 

 

 

  

The trip back was sweaty with some seven houndred meters (2200 feet) climb via Deer Leap which is a great cliff just above the inn with magnificent views.

I was back at the  lodge in the afternoon and felt that I deserved a beer. There is an Irish Pub at the Inn, it was Saturday night and the place was packed with people and the feeling was gooood. I had such a good time that I ended up having a few more beers.

 

  

 

The second day´s hike was much easier with almost no elevation gain although the length was still some seven kilometres (4 miles), but I am afraid that I accidentally walked some extra kilometres. I made this hike in Chittenden in Leffert´s Pond´s surroundings, where I spent a few hours enjoying views and the beautiful autumn colours, fall foliage.

 

Really a relaxing and superb trip with lot of exercise, good food with few cold beers and perfect lodging where you feel like home far away from home.

Olli