It’s time to go for a walk with Ice Swimmer in the latest chapter of his series.
Chapter 1 – Rocks in the South on Saturday
The Path on the Rocks in the South. ©Ice Swimmer, all rights reserved
On Harakka, humans are supposed to be restricted to the roads, paths and other designated areas. On the rocks, stones or painted triangles mark the paths.
Spruce and the Windmill. ©Ice Swimmer, all rights reserved
The spruce and the windmill are the same ones that were featured in the summer pictures, but this time we see them from east/southeast, from lower elevation.
Birch and Pine on the Rocks. ©Ice Swimmer, all rights reserved
The soil and water cracks on the rocks can support trees.
Low Sun and Shore. ©Ice Swimmer, all rights reserved
The buildings in the horizon are on Hernesaari (Pea Island), which used to be an island, but the strait between the island and mainland + other island was filled in the early 20th century and the place has been a port and industrial area, but it will be redeveloped as a residential area soon.
Insect Trap in Aspen Woods. ©Ice Swimmer, all rights reserved
For research on the insect populations on the island there are these insect traps hanging from the trees. This one is in the patch of aspen forest between the rocks and the southeastern shore.
Bunker. ©Ice Swimmer, all rights reserved
The bunker is nowadays used as an art exhibition space.
Bird Watching Shelter. ©Ice Swimmer, all rights reserved
There is a bird watching shelter (Lintupiilo = Bird Hideout) on the shoreline next to the border of the closed area in the southern tip of Harakka.
Plaque in the Bird Watching Shelter. ©Ice Swimmer, all rights reserved
The plaque states: “June 5th 1995 on the World Environment Day and the Year for Conservation in Europe, the nature preserves of the island of Harakka were protected by the power of the law.”
Rocks in the Closed Part. ©Ice Swimmer, all rights reserved
These kinds of rocks are quite common in Helsinki Peninsula.
Skerries and Suomenlinna. ©Ice Swimmer, all rights reserved
The Suomelinna Sea Fortress is in the distance, blurred by the fog. There is a lot of “fine structure” in the archipelago, rocks, skerries, islet, islands and the shorelines can be quite twisty.
The light conditions were quite difficult on Saturday, so there aren’t many pictures taken that day. In the next part, we’ll revisit the top of the island.
You captured some magical light despite the difficult light conditions. The last 2 photos especially…the colours in those rocks with that rosy light are gorgeous, but then again, so are the first 4 photos in a more golden light. I cannot pick a favourite, too many good shots catch my eye.
The light, yes. But it’s the rocks that make me think of the Canadian Shield. So beautiful.
rq -- IIRC, the Fennoscandian shield covers Norway, Sweden, Finland and some of northwest Russia.
The trees would’ve gone partly yellow/red/brown by the end of this hot dry summer, though in October they again look more seasonally normal. Herb vegetation had almost no time for recovery between summer drought and autumn cold.
Thank you, voyager and rq!
lumipuna @ 3
Wikipedia states that Trans-Hudson orogeny and Svecofennian orogeny happened roughly at the same time. Also, the last ice age must have eroded both Fennoscandian and Canadian Shield.
There were indeed birches with brown leaves in July in Harakka.
This first picture is simply amazing.
avalus @ 5
Thank you!