My swim at the Träskbyträsket yielded an unexpected benefit: a boulder cave. A huge piece of rock standing on four other rocks, as if by design.
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July 2020, Träskbyträsketin lohkareluola, Långvik, Kirkkonummi, Finland
Caving (Rock, Rock-Granite, Morphology-Boulders)
Tomorrow I'm going for a caver's association meeting in Rokokallio, Vihti. I've been there before. Actually several times, and I have an unfinished mapping project to complete...
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July 2020, Pääluola, Rokokallio, Vihti, Finland; Hiotun kiven luola, Rokokallio, Vihti, Finland; Päällysluola, Rokokallio, Vihti, Finland; Päänuotiopaikan luola, Rokokallio, Vihti, Finland; Kallionkololuola, Rokokallio, Vihti, Finland; Kivenalusluola, Rokokallio, Vihti, Finland; Syvä halkeamaluola, Rokokallio, Vihti, Finland; Toinen nuotiopaikan luola, Rokokallio, Vihti, Finland; Kivenalusluola, Rokokallio, Vihti, Finland; Halkeamaluola, Rokokallio, Vihti, Finland; Kahden kolon luola, Rokokallio, Vihti, Finland; Lippaluola, Rokokallio, Vihti, Finland
Caving (Rock, Rock-Granite, Morphology-Crack, Morphology-Boulders, Basic)
As I was driving back from Ylläs, I came across an odd sign about Pakasaivo, which translates roughly to "Frozen Brain". What was it? I had to stop and look it up. Soon I was driving the tiny 11-kilometer road to go see it.
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June 2020, Pakasaivon pieni kivenkolo, Pakasaivo, Muonio, Finland
Caving (Rock, Rock-Granite, Morphology-Boulders, Basic); Hiking
Onkalonperä means "the backside of a hole". Fortunately, not "hole in the backside"! I saw this as I was driving towards Ylläs. I don't know anything about it, but are there are any holes or caves in that village? Maybe worth investigating...
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June 2020, Onkalonperän risteys, Simo, Finland
Caving (None)
Yay, a delivery! I got the third book in the series of cave, canyon, and boulder books from Tuomo Kesäläinen and Aimo Kejonen! Very excited to read this as well!
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June 2020, House Arkko, Kauniainen, Finland
Caving (None, Media, Research)
My earlier post was about data sources for finding new caves. I've now been reading the Suomen Lohkareet (the book of boulders in Finland) book, and it is great.
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June 2020, House Arkko, Kauniainen, Finland
Caving (None, Research)
I'm looking for caves... not for bears. But heard some growling and saw some big piles of sh*t, so decided to do a roundabout tour to return to the car.
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May 2020, Ryömittävä lippaluola, Mustikkamäki, Nilsiä, Finland; Kololuolanen, Mustikkamäki, Nilsiä, Finland; Korkea lippaluola, Mustikkamäki, Nilsiä, Finland; Pieni kulmalippaluolanen, Mustikkamäki, Nilsiä, Finland; Pieni lippaluolanen 1, Mustikkamäki, Nilsiä, Finland; Pieni lippaluolanen 2, Mustikkamäki, Nilsiä, Finland
Caving (Rock, Rock-Granite, Morphology-Crack, Basic); Hiking
Tiny cavelets on my evening walk again.
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May 2020, Högabergetin siirtolohkare, Espoo, Finland; Högabergetin lohkareluolanen, Espoo, Finland; Högabergetin kalliolippaluolanen, Espoo, Finland
Hiking; Caving (Rock, Rock-Granite, Morphology-Boulders, Basic); Caving (Rock, Rock-Granite, Basic)
Today's exercise was an excursion to Kattilajärvi, which was reported to have interesting cliffs. There were a couple of small caves and two interesting roof caves.
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May 2020, Kattilajärven iso lippaluola, Nuuksio, Espoo, Finland; Kattilajärven kallion lippaluola, Nuuksio, Espoo, Finland; Kattilajärven kalliokolo, Nuuksio, Espoo, Finland; Kattilajärven pieni lippaluola 1, Nuuksio, Espoo, Finland; Kattilajärven pieni lippaluola 2, Nuuksio, Espoo, Finland; Kattilajärven pieni lippaluola 3, Nuuksio, Espoo, Finland
Caving (Rock, Rock-Granite, Basic)
Haavikkolehto - a protected site with many boulders left by the ice age - is also very interesting from caving perspective. Likely not everything here has been found. But the most spectacular cave is known from this Retkipaikka article.
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May 2020, Haavikkolehdon karhukiven luola, Suonenjoki, Finland; Haavikkolehdon karhukiven luolan sivulohkareluola, Suonenjoki, Finland
Caving (Rock, Rock-Granite, Morphology-Boulders, Basic, Surveying)
During the quarantine, I've taken up trying to hike almost every day. It turns out that I can go within just a few kilometers from home and still end up in areas that I've not been to before. The forests not marketed as the hottest hiking areas, etc. And almost every time, there are some tiny rock holes that one could call "cavelets".
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May 2020, Gåskärrin lohkareluola, Gåskär, Espoo, Finland; Gåskärrin lippaluolanen, Gåskär, Espoo, Finland
Caving (Rock, Rock-Granite, Morphology-Boulders, Basic); Caving (Rock, Rock-Granite, Basic)
For May 1st, I also wanted to see if I could add Kauniainen to the map with regards to having mapped caves.
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May 2020, Kauniaisten koululuola 1, Kauniainen, Finland; Kauniaisten koululuola 2, Kauniainen, Finland; Siirtolohkareluola 1, Kauniainen, Finland
Caving (Rock, Rock-Granite, Morphology-Boulders, Basic, Surveying); Caving (Rock, Rock-Granite, Basic, Surveying)
Research pays off! I wanted to explore more boulder caves, but where to find boulders? I kept looking for data, and it turns out the geologic research institute had made a listing of the most valuable boulder fields in Finland. One of them was nearby, in Nuuksio, so I headed out to investigate on Sunday. No caves had been listed at that spot, but the report already made some promises about cave-like holes between the rocks. And a 50 meters wide and 10 meters deep field! I was hooked. Although it turned out the location was listed after all in the book of cave in Finland (albeit with a different name).
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May 2020, Katajasuon kivikon pääluola, Nuuksio, Espoo, Finland; Katajasuon kivikon luola 1, Nuuksio, Espoo, Finland; Katajasuon kivikon luola 2, Nuuksio, Espoo, Finland; Katajasuon kivikon sivuluola 1, Nuuksio, Espoo, Finland; Katajasuon kivikon sivuluola 2, Nuuksio, Espoo, Finland
Caving (Rock, Rock-Granite, Morphology-Boulders, Basic, Surveying)
I go hiking on a different spot on most days, as my evening exercise. This time in Kaupunginkallio, Espoo.
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May 2020, Kaupunginkallion halkeamakolo, Espoo, Finland
Caving (Rock, Rock-Granite, Morphology-Crack, Basic)
Röylä. A place with an ugly name and no one with interest to visit there? Not so. The forests are quite big, and full of cliffs, and indeed, no one goes there so one gets to hike alone :-)
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May 2020, Röylän halkeamaluolanen, Röylä, Espoo, Finland; Röylän lippakolonen, Röylä, Espoo, Finland; Röylän siirtolohkareluolanen, Röylä, Espoo, Finland
Hiking; Caving (Rock, Rock-Granite, Basic, Surveying); Caving (Rock, Rock-Granite, Morphology-Boulders, Basic, Surveying)
What a wonderful experience - forced to not not have in-person meetings, all kinds of organizations are realising that their meetings *can* be done over network connections, and that the results are often better. We just had a caver's meet-up in Finland, and we chatted longer -- six hours -- than we ever have and had many more people participate than before.
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April 2020, House Arkko, Kauniainen, Finland
Caving (None, Social)