Journey: Koli National Park – Joensuu – Salpa Asema
Despite being only 5 minutes from Koli National Park it was still 10am before we made it. I’m just useless in the morning; I’ve got to have my doggy cuddles, meditate, lots of coffee, potter about…it takes me ages lol. The other morning I had made porridge and was wondering why it was taking so long to thicken only to realise I’d forgotten the oats 😂
Anyway once I’d got my arse in gear we had a wonderful 8km walk with breathtaking views from Ukko Koli over the islands. This is one of the busiest most popular national parks, but despite that you hardly bump into anyone. The pups got their first time on an outdoor lift which they were very brave about. Conscious I was yet to do my run, the parks visitor center was at the top of a big hill which meant an obvious easy run all the way back down…and so Mark met me at the bottom with the van – a good way of getting a PB in your average running speed 🏃😜
After a late lunch we drove on to to see a cool sculpture called The Courting Wolf and potter around the international food market (there was British fudge and tea 😋). By a miracle I resisted the delicious Austrian apple strudel…Mark devoured it…and reported it was devine. I’m sure to have cake tomorrow.
The rest of the day we have been driving a beautiful scenic route. There are masses of lakes, forests and long views but we are seemingly too far south to see reindeer anymore. It’s noticable all the town’s and villages are much bigger. We have camped up at a forest fort which we can find in the morning.
SofaWolves 