Finland. Iso-Korppi

 

 The island of Iso Korppi, located on Lake Pielinen within Koli National Park, is situated four kilometers from the shore. It features a designated camping area. Upon reaching the secluded island around noon, we had plenty of time to swim, gather mushrooms, prepare a delicious dinner, and fly our drone photographer...

  Map of the route...

  Unloading our belongings on the lakeshore, we parked the car at a free parking lot just five hundred meters away. After inflating our kayak and donning life vests, we headed towards the island...  

  

  In less than an hour, we reached the island...

  The island boasts a sandy beach, a shed stocked with firewood, a campfire area, and a toilet...   

 

 We had the entire island to ourselves. The entire beach was at our disposal, as well as the forest where we could gather bolete mushrooms, making it a perfect spot for camping with unlimited firewood...   

  Sunset on the island was breathtaking...

  Dawn broke beautifully...

  In the morning, we returned to the shore, dried off the kayak, and went in search of a sauna...

   Not far from the lake, we found a restaurant where we could also book a private sauna. The small rooms with private saunas were located on the lower floor of the restaurant. Inside each small room was a couch, a toilet, and beyond another door, a shower and entrance to the steam room. We waited for about half an hour until the sauna heated up and we were invited to steam. The sauna's maximum temperature was 140 degrees Celsius, and it was truly exhilarating. While Finnish saunas are common in Ukraine and Lithuania, I cannot recall them reaching temperatures as high as 140 degrees Celsius. And I have been a regular visitor to such establishments for over ten years. 

  Another unique feature of this sauna, which I had not seen before, was the glass doors that did not reach the floor by 15 centimeters, with ventilation holes inside the steam room. Initially, I thought it was a design flaw and a waste of money. However, when the temperature jumped from 90 to 140 degrees in just ten minutes, I was amazed. It felt like magic. At such temperatures, very little water is needed to pour on the stones...

   To cool down, we could use a very cold shower or the lake...

  With this luxurious experience, we concluded our exploration of Koli National Park and around noon headed towards the capital of Finland...