Estonian nature: bogs

In an earlier post, I already claimed my fondness for bogs (Summertime in Estonia). So, when a friend raised the idea to go racket walking in a bog, there was no possible hesitation. Yes, even if there is a chance of rain. It does not harm to get wet in wetlands. 

Therefore, on this August Sunday, off we go to Kõrvemaa for a day trip to the bogs. 

A bog lake at the border between the bogs and the forest. Beautiful, isn't it?

Estonian trains

This was also the opportunity for me to try the Estonian railway. I had heard much talk about it, not so much about the railway itself, but more about the high amount of accidents between the trains and trucks, cars and bicycles. 

In Estonia, contrarily to Western Europe, you still have many railroad crossings. I have to get back to my childhood to remember railroad crossings in Livorno, where my grandparents live. Building a bridge or an underground passage is costly and is not justified by the relatively small amount of trains in Estonia. All railroad crossings have a warning signal but not all of them have a barrier. The warning signal is usually a combined light and sound, but it seems that one accident happened in a village where the noise signal was lowered because it was considered too loud by the nearby habitants... It seems also that people ignoring the barriers (you can often slalom between the half road-width barriers) are many, cars, people and bikes. The last victim was a cyclist with headphones. Headphones or not, the trains are super silent. But they are bright orange. Now, I have to confess that I felt strange at the moment of crossing the railway in a rural station yesterday: the train came in silence, with no warning, no horn, no light. So, in Estonia, pay attention to trains!

From inside, now, these brand new trains financed by the EU feel great. They are spacious and comfortable, with plenty of sitting places, they have bike-dedicated areas with hangers to minimise the occupied space, and everything is orange and grey, from the seats to the clothes of the train controllers. 

The beauty of the bogs: isolation and colours

So we took the train to Aegviidu, a town 45 minutes away. It is the last stop of the electric trains. Beyond that, the line is not electrified and trains run with diesel. We meet our guide and we are brought by minibus to a bog located 30 minutes Northwards.

A perfect bog: a long boardwalk installed by RMK, surrounded by forests, an observation tower in the middle and beautiful colours all around.

Again, we land in a place which feels isolated from the rest of the world, despite the proximity to Tallinn. It is Sunday, so you meet other nature lovers and a few people coming to pick mushrooms. And here too, RMK (the Estonian State Forest management company) has done a great job, creating hiking trails, camp sites, barbecues and toilets, all free. But as you progress in the forest and reach the bog, you hear nothing but the wind in the trees, and as you climb the observation tower, you see nothing around you but bogs, lakes and forests. Bogs tend to appear in extended, flat, lower grounds. And even if their moss thickens with time, they remain low and the shortage in soil nutrients does not allow trees to grow very big. At the periphery of the bogs, you often have a hill circling the bog where trees grow normal size. This gives a very distinct landscape and a sensation of immensity, away from any human impact. 

Even after having visited a dozen of them, bogs still amaze me by their colours. They are all similar, with lots of green ; traces of blue from the lakes, yellow and red (among others, the carnivorous plant sundew). I think these colours have an appeasing effect on me. 

If you want to know more about bogs, you can start by reading http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bog. 

The forest there has a history. It used to be home to several villages until the Soviet army decided to turn it into a military polygon. The villages are gone and the military facility is still there, now used by the Estonian army. Even though there are not land mines (I asked, just in case), we were recommended not to touch any metallic item we would see in the forest. 

Racket walking

Many people are familiar with racket walking in the snow. Even if you didn't try it yourself, you have seen it on tv, and you can imagine how important it is for people living in snowy areas to be able to walk around with relative ease. The rackets used in bogs are exactly the same. 

On top: what happens if you don't have rackets in the bogs, you sink. With rackets, you have more chances of staying dry.

The dangers are also similar: the snow might hide a piece of ice covering frozen pieces of water, in bogs you usually step on a layer of moss which is simply floating and sometimes it is too think to be able to support your weight, even with rackets. The guide warned us to avoid dark spots, as they are usually a sign of very thin (or nearly none) moss. Another danger is quicksand (in French, sables mouvants). Some lakes are not deep but if you fall in them you will be sucked in. Apparently, the technique to get out is to avoid any fast or brusk movement and to slowly roll out... I'll keep it in mind, hoping to stay at the theory stage.

"Now it is your turn: walk at a steady pace, keep balance between both feet and avoid the black spots"

This guided tour was also some sort of initiation. You may rent rackets and go by yourself. The recommendation she gave was to start from a hill or observation tower and identify your way in advance. Indeed, there are times where you will be surrounded by lakes, and the flat ground will not allow you to find a way through. Moreover, to the contrary of snow, the moss will not clearly keep record of your track and you might not be able to walk back the same way (of course, the repetitive passing of racket walkers also creates trails). So, you better plan your full itinerary from the tower and take note of some landmarks to orient yourself. And always keep the tower in sight. 

Selecting your track from the observation tower: where are you going and how are you going to get through these lakes?

I thought of racket walking in bogs as an activity you would practice only for fun. But it might have been useful back in time, and still a bit today, to nearby villages. You find lots of very nice cranberries and some mushrooms in the bogs. 

And here is the swimming spot