On Saturday morning we catch the bus from Tallinn to Rakvere, getting off at Viitna.
The Viitna–Tapa hiking trail has been on my mind ever since April 2021, when we went to Ohepalu to watch the sunrise over the Udriku bog pools and happened to stumble across it. It's a trail created on local initiative, overlapping for a while with the Viitna Lakes trail at one end and the RMK long-distance hiking trail at the other.
Our first stop is the Viitna Inn. The sun is shining. A group of Latvians are having a great time on the village swing.
After pancakes, the trail slips into a beautiful spruce forest straight from the edge of the car park. Vitamin C is growing right beside the path. We stop to look at wood-rush and beard lichens, then climb over a couple of fallen trunks. Lake Linajärv flashes between the trees as we continue along a higher ridge. An esker. Once the bed of a river. A kilometre above our heads, a glacier used to tower over this very spot.
People are sunbathing on the sandy beach at Lake Pikkjärv. We have no business there. The trail continues through deciduous woodland, where thick old birches with rugged bark line the path. Shafts of sunlight fill the spaces between the trees. Our first wildlife sightings are a dor beetle, a longhorn beetle (I think), and a slow worm. More bugs follow later. The resinous scent of pines gives way to the mysterious fragrance of bog rosemary, and later to yellow archangel, which seems to be everywhere, along with stitchwort and spring vetchling. Here and there wood anemones and wood sorrel are still in bloom. We find old boundary stones and resin-tapped pines. After leaving the Viitna trail, there are still hiking signs at several junctions. The forest is glowing with fresh spring green, wood warblers and pied flycatchers are singing, and somewhere in the distance a lone cuckoo calls. By the Loobu River we find signs of beavers, both paw prints and tooth marks.
We cross the famous Tapa–Loobu road (the names in Estonian can be interpreted as "kill" and "give up"). Instead we hurry back into the forest. Here we find sealwort, lily of the valley, and herb Paris. Monocots, all of them.
Our first proper break is by Lake Kõverjärv, where two very lightly dressed people are lounging among the ground elder. Hikers, of course, are not easily distracted, and it's not the first time we've seen people wearing very little. The water is teeming with tadpoles, probably common toads. We eat an apple and look out over the lake. Dandelions sway in the breeze, sunlight sparkles on the ripples of the water. There's no need to hurry anywhere. A cyclist rides past, and a click beetle launches itself from a grass stem. We can't spot any trees in a suitable hammock configuration, and the scantily clad couple are probably impatient for us to leave anyway, so we continue towards the Katku campsite.
The changes in elevation are impressive in places. It's obvious this is one of Estonia's most dramatic eskers. At one point there's even a rope to help you scramble up the slope. We come across more magnificent old birches. And a treasure, actually offerings of some kind. In a couple of places we also find wolf territorial markers: neat piles of droppings.
The shelter at the Katku campsite is lying flat on its back. The outhouse is usable if you're feeling optimistic. We find a suitable pair of trees a little way off the trail and spend some time rearranging branches. Our limited experience with hammock camping means quite a lot of tinkering. Not that we're in any rush. We make coffee, then lie in our hammocks reading. One of us even dozes off. Our neighbours are blackbirds and a robin. Later comes dinner.
Our first stop is the Viitna Inn. The sun is shining. A group of Latvians are having a great time on the village swing.
After pancakes, the trail slips into a beautiful spruce forest straight from the edge of the car park. Vitamin C is growing right beside the path. We stop to look at wood-rush and beard lichens, then climb over a couple of fallen trunks. Lake Linajärv flashes between the trees as we continue along a higher ridge. An esker. Once the bed of a river. A kilometre above our heads, a glacier used to tower over this very spot.
People are sunbathing on the sandy beach at Lake Pikkjärv. We have no business there. The trail continues through deciduous woodland, where thick old birches with rugged bark line the path. Shafts of sunlight fill the spaces between the trees. Our first wildlife sightings are a dor beetle, a longhorn beetle (I think), and a slow worm. More bugs follow later. The resinous scent of pines gives way to the mysterious fragrance of bog rosemary, and later to yellow archangel, which seems to be everywhere, along with stitchwort and spring vetchling. Here and there wood anemones and wood sorrel are still in bloom. We find old boundary stones and resin-tapped pines. After leaving the Viitna trail, there are still hiking signs at several junctions. The forest is glowing with fresh spring green, wood warblers and pied flycatchers are singing, and somewhere in the distance a lone cuckoo calls. By the Loobu River we find signs of beavers, both paw prints and tooth marks.
We cross the famous Tapa–Loobu road (the names in Estonian can be interpreted as "kill" and "give up"). Instead we hurry back into the forest. Here we find sealwort, lily of the valley, and herb Paris. Monocots, all of them.
Our first proper break is by Lake Kõverjärv, where two very lightly dressed people are lounging among the ground elder. Hikers, of course, are not easily distracted, and it's not the first time we've seen people wearing very little. The water is teeming with tadpoles, probably common toads. We eat an apple and look out over the lake. Dandelions sway in the breeze, sunlight sparkles on the ripples of the water. There's no need to hurry anywhere. A cyclist rides past, and a click beetle launches itself from a grass stem. We can't spot any trees in a suitable hammock configuration, and the scantily clad couple are probably impatient for us to leave anyway, so we continue towards the Katku campsite.
The changes in elevation are impressive in places. It's obvious this is one of Estonia's most dramatic eskers. At one point there's even a rope to help you scramble up the slope. We come across more magnificent old birches. And a treasure, actually offerings of some kind. In a couple of places we also find wolf territorial markers: neat piles of droppings.
The shelter at the Katku campsite is lying flat on its back. The outhouse is usable if you're feeling optimistic. We find a suitable pair of trees a little way off the trail and spend some time rearranging branches. Our limited experience with hammock camping means quite a lot of tinkering. Not that we're in any rush. We make coffee, then lie in our hammocks reading. One of us even dozes off. Our neighbours are blackbirds and a robin. Later comes dinner.
We're still in no hurry. Cyclists roll past. We don't emerge from our pea-pod-shaped sleeping arrangements until around eleven. Breakfast takes its time too. So we don't start much earlier than yesterday. Almost immediately we find another large wolf scent mark, this one is being investigated by two red-backed carrion beetles.
More old trees, more views down from the esker. I find the stump where there was a cigarette butt last time. No new one has appeared. Around Ohepalu the signs marking the expanded danger zone of the military training area begin, and near an information board a young soldier in camouflage approaches us with some news. They're planning to use up all the ammunition they've got. Yes, that's more or less how it sounds.
We follow the edge of the training area's danger zone and rejoin the RMK hiking trail. Soon there are views down over the bogs. Once upon a time a huge block of dead ice sat down there while a river flowed up here. Or something like that. It's a lovely winding trail. Some people apparently find it boring. To me it twists and turns straight into summer. High above us the treetops wrestle with the wind. We stop for coffee. Two runners go past. The ammunition must have run out. We cross the Valgejõgi River, the bridge looks a little tired, and leave the RMK trail.
From there the path is grassy and a little muddy, although at today's water level the mud is dry. Here one of Estonia's few remaining populations of globeflowers is hiding out.
We enter Tapa by the wastewater treatment plant. The smell hangs in the air. Sewage, unmistakably. At the railway station, August Restaurant is full of soldiers.
Distance walked: 13 km on the first day, 16 km on the second.
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