2021-06-01 63 30

Location

Next to a tractor track near Kuora, Lieksa.

The point on a topographic map: [19]

Participants

Kripakko

Expedition

This location was quite convenient to cycle to and in a new graticule for me. I planned my schedule so that I could cycle to the hashpoint and get back to Uimaharju by 17:00, where I would be able to catch a train to Joensuu at 17:08. The weather would be perfect: partly cloudy and about 20 °C, warm but not too hot.

I started from my home at about 10:50 and cycled towards the hashpoint, stopping at a few geocaches and a few beautiful places that I wanted to photograph. I felt good enough and confident that I could cycle all the way back home, so I ended up spending excessive time at some points. I saw many beautiful landscapes along the way: fields, the Pielisjoki river, streams, ponds, hills, forests and open logging areas. The roads got progressively smaller from the main road 73 to a narrower connecting road, an unpaved gravel road, a single-track forest road and finally a tractor track. I also had to climb from 80 metres above sea level in Joensuu to 100 m in Uimaharju and 235 m at the geohash. The last climbs on the forest road were especially steep and tiring, but I made it.

I reached the hashpoint at about 15:45. It was almost at the top of a hill that had been cleared recently, probably during the past year. After taking a some photos, I began the return trip. I would have some significant descent ahead of me and enough time to get back to Uimaharju before the train departure, but again I decided that I could spend some time photographing and geocaching and did not need to use the train. So then, I made my way to Uimaharju, had a large Finnish meat pie with sausage and an ice cream at the summer café at the rivershore, and cycled back home at a calm pace.

I was back at home at about 20:50, ten hours after leaving. According to my GPS receiver, the length of my trip was 143.2 kilometres long, of which I cycled 142.7 km and walked 0.5 km. This was my yet longest Bicycle Geohash and just barely longer than the distance I cycled on 2020-06-26 62 28. My skin was surprisingly not burned despite spending ten hours in more or less direct sunshine.

Tracklog

I visited a Wherigo cache and two multicaches on the way, and in order to not reveal the final locations, I removed small parts of the tracklog.

Photos

I know, some of the panoramas are terrible in the borders between individual images... They were the best I could get without too much effort.

A field of dandelions near Jakokoski. [1]
A view to the Pielisjoki river near Louhioja. [2]
A view to Rahkeenvesi near Uimaharju. [3]
This does not spark joy... Rasputitsa for the next 34 km. It was not so bad though this late in the summer. [4]
On the border of Lieksa and Ilomantsi. [5]
A view from an unnamed hill on the way to the hashpoint. [6]
Proof of location. [7]
Proof of date and time. [8]
Selfie at the hashpoint. [9]
A view from the top of the geohash hill. [10]
The bog-based Pieni-Hoikka pond. [11]
Blossoming cloudberry (Rubus chamaemorus). [12]
Blossoming bilberry (Vaccinium myrtillus). [13]
A pair of whooper swans (Cygnus cygnus), the national bird of Finland. [14]
A small marsh near the road. [15]
The summer café in Uimaharju and the surroundings. [16]
The delicious cone of ice cream. [17]
The Kuusoja stream. [18]

Video

I filmed a part of my way back to Uimaharju and uploaded the video. The audio consists mostly of bicycle sounds and the noise of the wind and nothing interesting – you can mute it if you do not want to listen to it. Watching at double speed might be a good idea.