Monday, May 24, 2010

Reitti Satakunta Pirkanmaa


I just uploaded in OSM my record of the Reitti (trail) Satakunta Pirkanmaa which is supposedly a trail going from Pori to Tampere.
Weather was extremely hot for a beginning of spring, resulting in an unbearable amount of mosquitoes. Appart from mosquitoes, I ended up suffering from mycosis on my feet. I decided not to push it until Tampere but rather stop 35km far from Ylöjärvi, the end point.
It was a good hike anyway.

Altough the trail is relatively well marked, the path is quite often invisible and results in navigation difficulties. Some parts of the trail are complete bushwhacking. Not super easy but rather restless.

I still managed to complete an average 37km/day for the 5 days I was on the trail.

I saw a lot of wildlife during these 5 days, (including an adder, a deer, a beaver, a badger and an elk). I think the animals were a bit confused by the sudden rush of Spring and I often surprised them from very close (which was sometimes very scary).


Wednesday, May 12, 2010

Online topographic maps

Here is a list of online topographic maps which I happened to find interesting for planning some hiking routes but they might also be useful for other outdoors purposes:

- France: http://www.geoportail.fr (very good)
- Finland: http://www.excursionmap.fi (very good)
- Norway: http://www.atlas.no/ (good)
- UK/Scotland: http://www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/oswebsite/opendata/viewer/ (not super detailed: equivalent to 1/100 000)
- Poland: http://maps.geoportal.gov.pl/webclient/ (good) If you're looking for hiking maps from the High Tatras (Poland and Slovakia), here are your links:
I will update this list as soon as I find other interesting links.