A Safe Return From The Forest

I am in the process of writing something longer about my excursion soon but I wanted to let you know that I’m back, I’m safe, and I’m looking forward to planning another trip like this. The distance of two to three hours walking from place to place was great, short enough that I could manage it with the backpack (at least, once I dumped some of my stuff) and after checking in I was happy to go exploring again without the extra weight and see a bit more. It was very interesting to see the Kurtna Lake District and I’d love to work out more excursions like this where I can walk to the next place with a bed and a roof.

Some stats for you for the five-day trip:

• Total distance walked: 77 kilometers

• Average km per day: 15

• Lakes visited: 9

• Swims: 2

• Intentional swims: 1

• Zombie Dwarves seen: 0

• Falls: 3

• Of which landed in bog: 1

• Mosquito bites: >50

• Horse Fly Bites: 3

There were some rough moments but over all the sheer beauty of the area won me over.

But wow, horse flies! What even are these things and why are they allowed to exist? They draw blood! One took a big chunk out of my palm and my hand swelled up like someone was making an animal balloon out of a glove. Another one managed to bite through my leggings and leave a charlie horse on my calf. These things are vicious.