2014-03-28 62 27

Location

In Antikkala, Kuopio. The point is in a slalom slope.

Participants

Tilley
Tilley's daughter

Expedition

What a perfect expedition we had today! But maybe I should start from the beginning..

My view when riding. Note the mirror for observing the sleep/awake state of the passenger.

Checking for hashpoints yesterday evening, my excitement immediately rose, when the needle pointed straight towards Kuopio. Then I checked more carefully from better map, and noticed that the point was on the slalom slope of Antikkala, right in the middle of the slope. (For those of you from the Alps or the Rocky Mountains, this is a very small slope, only 170 meters of vertical descent.) This could be a problem. I checked from the 'net, that the slope was already closed for the season, the winter in Finland having been unsually warm. I had, however, no information of the current condition of the slope. As that was northwestern slope, there could still be lots of snow and ice there, or alternatively it could be very muddy. As this was a rare opportunity to visit a hashpoint that isn't dull forest or swamp, I had to give it a go, no matter what.

As I'm still a full-time dad to my 1,35-year old daughter, I had to plan the logistics of the expedition accordingly. I could go in the afternoon naptime, as I've done in many expeditions before. Only problem is that this time there would be too long distance from the nearest bicycle-ridable path to the hashpoint to leave her on the bike to sleep. Therefore I decided to go in the morning and bring her all the way to the hashpoint.

At the down station.

The day looked absolutely perfect right from the morning. Blue sky, a little night frost lingered in the air but the temperature should reach about 8°C during the day. After the breakfast and some playtime, we packed some field lunch, spare clothes and hashing equipment. Nice thing with a cargo bike is that you can bring almost anything you want with you, I for example packed my hiking boots along just in case the slope would be very muddy and I would need them.

The sleeping Beauty has awakened!

The distance was 10 km to the vicinity of the hashpoint. Let's go! Along the way, it turned out that when a 1,35-year old awakens at 6 o'clock, she can already sleep again at 9:30.. At least when sitting in the comfortable chair aboard a bike. So I reached the slalom slope down station with the toddler soundly asleep. Slope seemed quite fine. The downmost part was free from snow and already a little bit dried up. On the middle section, where the hashpoint was, I could see snow. So near but so far, 360 meters horizontal and 80 meters vertical to the hashpoint. What should I do? Only one option remained. I started pushing the bike up the hill. A meter by meter, I advanced. Fortunately the downmost section of the slope is overall not very steep, and wasn't very muddy, either, so my footing held even in my regular shoes.

Banana is good!

Quite soon we were on the edge of the snowy section, only 60 meters from the hashpoint. There I left the sleeping Beauty and the bike and climbed to the point. The view was really nice! You could even see a glimpse of the lake Kallavesi. After struggling to take some proof photos in the difficult light conditions, I returned to the bike. The sleeping Beauty had apparently just awoken. So it was time for a little picnic! We unloaded our provisions and sat on the edge of the forest to consume them. Banana, apple and mango-oatmeal-childfood-thingie were very yummy.

Going down. Hashpoint can be seen at the background.

After eating and taking a little stroll on the forest in search of cats, dogs and birds, we started downwards. The toddler wanted to walk herself. Very persistently she also did, a little fall now and then was no obstacle. Almost at the end there was a steeper section where I convinced her that it would be better to come aboard daddy's bike. She did, and we rode down. Mission accomplished!

On the return journey we also did some shopping and ate a lunch, and then returned home. On the last leg she again fell asleep. A fun, but exhausting trip, I take it.