the great outdoors

I was super pumped the morning of, but had a slight clothing crisis. I don’t have real hiking clothes. The closest thing I have is running pants and tennis shoes. So that’s exactly what I wore. When we got to the bus that was going to take us to Koli, I tried asking one of the leaders about the trip (since we didn’t sign up in advance). We were having some communication issues, due to his lack of English and my lack of Finnish, so another lady going on the trip tried to help. This was how it went. Lady: “We are going on a hiking trip.” Me: “Yes, I know, I was wondering if it would be okay if we joined.” Lady: “Do you have clothes to wear?” Me: “Um…what I’m wearing…” She didn’t have to say any words after that, her face said it all. It said, “You’ve got to be kidding me, what are those pants you’re wearing??” Then the panic set in. After Scott convinced me that I would be ok and wouldn’t be shunned from the group, we found a guy who spoke English and made our way onto the bus. (Side note: I will be buying real hiking pants soon. Gotta fit in with the locals.)

The hike was amazing. We went 16 kilometers (whatever that means) through Koli, stopping for a delicious sausage and kahvi lunch (everything tastes delicious after 10 km of hiking). It felt like we were in a fairy tale. I don’t know how to best describe it, but I’m going to try. So in this fairy tale the characters are traveling though the forest. Everything is green. Like a really bright green. There is soft moss everywhere. When you walk over a patch of moss it feels like you’re on a trampoline. The trees are so tall they look like they could touch the clouds. There is dew on the ground. That’s where we were. In a movie. Minus the fact that when you do walk over this luscious green moss, you may slip and try to play it off as a curtsy.

We ended the day with a traditional Finnish dinner of potato, carrot and ground beef soup. There was also a sauna (of course), but unfortunately we forgot to bring our towels so we didn’t get to partake. Overall, it was a pretty successful day with new friends.