Island Sauna, Tue, 7 Jul

This morning Leena Finér told us about her research program. Her area of study coincides more with Deb’s work than mine, so lots of time was spent talking about soil, organic matter, soil disturbance, harvesting impacts on future forest growth…. At noon we met some other METLA researchers (Tapani Repo, Marja Roitto) as well as a soils professor (Tarja Lehto)from the University of Juensuu for lunch at a cafeteria on campus. We then spent most of the afternoon looking at various laboratories and growth rooms. They have really nice growth chambers. I was drooling most of the time. And, the METLA building with all its wood is impressive. After freshening up at our FinnHostel, Leena, Lasse, and Mizue the researcher from Japan) picked us up and we drove about an hour north to the Finér cottage. We sent Lasse over by row boat to start the sauna and dinner, and the rest of us went to the nearby Koli National Park. It is a small park, but has very ancient bedrock formations. It’s a high point in Finland, literally, all 300 meters (1000 feet) of it. From the parking lot we took a short tram up the mountain. It starts out going nearly vertical, then switches over to near horizontal. Kinda like a self-leveling Palouse combine. The views from the top were great. We then headed back to the cottage. The Finérs own an island, about 1 hectare (2.2 acres). We took the row boat across. They have a nice rustic, wooden cabin that sits about in the middle of the island, and on the north end is the sauna.

Lasse said the sauna was ready so the women went. We men folk toured the island, looked for the loons, and listened to the Mew Gulls that nest on the nearby rocks. Once the women were done, it was our turn for the traditional sauna. It was wood-heated, and in the spirit of learning the culture, we did the traditional naked thing, which for us Americans is a bit weird at first. After getting a good sweat going, we walked down to the lake and plunged into the 15 C water. What is that in Fahrenheit? Dang cold! After a brief dip, it was back to the sauna, a swig of beer on the way. We repeated the process three times. Lasse showed us that you could drink the water out of the lake direct, but we weren’t that game.

By the time we walked back to the cottage, dinner was ready. More good fish! On the way out, I stepped on a rock next to the dock. Too bad it was loose; I found myself knee-deep in the lake. We got back to the hostel at midnight. I put my boot in the oven.