It was raining last Sunday afternoon, but I decided to go for a walk in the Nuuksio forests, to lake Hauklampi south of lake Saarijärvi in the north parts of Nuuksio. While driving there I realized I had left the compass home, and debated whether I should go somewhere else, to a place known beforehand. But then I decided that getting lost wouldn't be a big risk, as I had the map with me in any case.
However, there were thick clouds above and it was raining, occasionally heavily, which meant that there was no reliable information of the compass direction, and the map I had with me wasn't really an orienteering map, showing only the coarse features of the landscape.
I started walking anyway, trying to locate myself via the big features, such as hills and rocky cliffs. But the landscape in this part of Nuuksio is rather intricate, and finally I got confused, thinking that a particular cliff was another, and the path going below it was another one shown on the map. In addition, part of the cloud cover thinned a bit, and I thought that sun must be in that direction, even though in reality I was 180° in error of the direction. And after a half-an-hour walk I found myself near where I started walking, rather embarrased.
However, at this point the cloud cover started thinning in earnest, and sun became visible, so I decided to try to go to lake Hauklampi once again, using the sun in orienteering. And this time I managed quite well, going up and down hills, directly to a hill where the lake was visible.
I didn't linger long by the lake, as it started to rain again, and the map was getting soaked even though I tried to protect it inside the jacket. Getting back was easier than finding the lake, so I didn't get lost again.
These photographs are from the farm at Yli-Takkula where I left the car at the parking place. I'll post some more photographs later today.
(Posting title is from the poem The Lost Land by Eavan Boland.)
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