Maardu village

Geodashing Dashpoint Log
2016-12-31 18:50:36 UTC
GDDI-NATA

Player: Haraldpoiss
Team:   FinEst Dashers

GDDI-NATA is near Maardu, Estonia.

> Date, Points, TeamPoints, Dashpoint, Country, State, Lat, Lon, Distance
2016-12-26, 3, 3, GDDI-NATA, Estonia, , 59.4397, 25.0390, 0

New extreme north visit this year for Estonia: GDDI-NATA
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Number of previous hunts by Haraldpoiss: 87

Bus dropped me off 1.6km from the destination, from where I walked over the meadows and through the Maardu Southern open-pit mining area of limestone and phosphorite. It was sunny and +7C, but very windy. Due to the recent warm weeks, catkins were ALREADY blooming on willows on the edge of a ditch. Come on, it's not even the end of December yet and such things should actually not happen before spring!!! The point had fallen into forest next to the mining area.

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"lake in the mountains"

View to the old mining area from top of a pile of residual material. If someone still claims that there's no hills in Estonia and everything is absolutely flat especially around the coastline, then these people must take back their words now. There's plenty of marks of Soviet time terraforming, some of which are quite breathtakingly impressive. At top left corner there can be seen (from the left) the cooling tower and chimney of Iru power plant and the TV tower of Tallinn.

an old engine left to the forest

Rassiotsa

Geodashing Dashpoint Log
2016-12-18 14:36:22 UTC
GDDI-NAAM

Player: Haraldpoiss
Team:   FinEst Dashers

GDDI-NAAM is near Orgita, Estonia.

> Date, Points, TeamPoints, Dashpoint, Country, State, Lat, Lon, Distance
2016-12-09, 3, 3, GDDI-NAAM, Estonia, , 58.9228, 24.5269, 0

Number of previous hunts by Haraldpoiss: 86

It was a moist and cloudy day with occasional rain. I parked 1.4km from the point and walked from there through the forest. The point had fallen into Pühatu swamp. There was a lot of wetness and water everywhere, but as we'd had a lot of days with minus temperature beforehand, the soil was frozen from underneath and it was quite easy to walk around.

http://geodashing.gpsgames.org/cgi-bin/dp.pl?dp=GDDI-NAAM

mushrooms on a tree

forest plants

part of a skull

Kohatu

Geodashing Dashpoint Log
2016-11-12 20:14:54 UTC
GDDH-MYUP

Player: Haraldpoiss
Team:   FinEst Dashers

GDDH-MYUP is near Sipa, Estonia.

> Date, Points, TeamPoints, Dashpoint, Country, State, Lat, Lon, Distance
2016-11-05, 3, 3, GDDH-MYUP, Estonia, , 58.9828, 24.3242, 0

Number of previous hunts by Haraldpoiss: 85

It was possible to drive to 450m, from where the trail continued through the forest to a snow-covered meadow. The evening was blindingly sunny and there was freshly fallen snow everywhere. As the soil under the snow was not frozen yet, there was fog floating above the meadow due to the steaming moist, that was condensing in the cold air. All this together looked just amazingly peaceful and beautiful. The point had fallen on the edge of a ditch on the edge of the meadow and the forest. I took a long walk out there. When I reached back to my car in darkness, I noticed it already from far, because I had forgotten the lights on. Luckily this car switches from headlights to parking lights when engine is turned off, so it was no problem to start the engine.

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snow-mobile

descending sun above the meadow

snow, fog, sunset and the moon

Mälivere

Geodashing Dashpoint Log
2016-10-15 10:14:37 UTC
GDDG-NAJY

Player: Haraldpoiss
Team:   FinEst Dashers

GDDG-NAJY is near Koigi, Estonia.

> Date, Points, TeamPoints, Dashpoint, Country, State, Lat, Lon, Distance
2016-10-08, 3, 3, GDDG-NAJY, Estonia, , 59.1056, 24.7557, 0

Number of previous hunts by Haraldpoiss: 84

I went there by train, but because of the renovation works on the railway, the train line was partially serviced by buses. So I had to get off from the train before reaching to the destination and change over to bus, which took me to 2.3km from the dashpoint. The point had fallen into a swamp, which is part of Rabivere nature reserve. It was cold and windy and cloudy, but not raining. At least not in the beginning. At least not heavily. I spent there 8 hours outside in nature.

On the way back, there came a young man on the train, who wanted to go to Tallinn, but didn't have any money. He told it to the ticket seller they agreed that he must get off in the next stop. But he didn't get off and then they agreed that he'll definitely have to get off in the next stop or they'll call the police. But in the next stop he still didn't want to get off and told that he doesn't care if they call him police, because he needs to get to Tallinn. Ticket seller called the train driver, who came and told that the train will not drive on before the passenger has stepped out of the door. After 3 minutes of waiting, the young man decided to leave the train.

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a small lake in the swamp

a bigger lake in the swamp

no damage to the landscape

Spithamn

Geodashing Dashpoint Log
2016-08-29 19:25:53 UTC
GDDE-MUSU

Player: Haraldpoiss
Team:   FinEst Dashers

GDDE-MUSU is near Nõva, Estonia.

> Date, Points, TeamPoints, Dashpoint, Country, State, Lat, Lon, Distance
2016-08-20, 3, 3, GDDE-MUSU, Estonia, , 59.2140, 23.5462, 0

New extreme west  visit this year for Estonia: GDDE-MUSU
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Number of previous hunts by Haraldpoiss: 83

The point had fallen to the forest near the village named Spithamn, in the most north-western corner of Estonia. It's the Coastal Swedish district, where mostly Swedish people used to live few centuries ago. Almost all of them fled back to Sweden before the end of 2nd World War, so they ain't there any more nowadays, but the names of the villages are still Swedish.

It was possible to drive to 350m, from where I continued my approach through the forest. The carpet of cowberries and blueberries had been laid down everywhere on the ground. I ate huge amount of them on the way, and it was impossible to make a step without getting them between my feet and sandals, their juice making purple spots on my socks. So if you wanna pick berries in Estonia, then that's really the place, where to go.

The point was only 100m from the coastline, so afterwards I went to the sea to take a small walk on the beach. But it was so nice and pleasant there, that I ended up walking 8km one way and then back. I went swimming 3 times on the way. I never knew that we have shrimps in Estonia, but now I know that we do have them in this place. And they are huge there, having 15cm total length from the head to the end of tail, which I've never seen before in my life. So it's no wonder that the whole beach was full of fishermen, who were fishing out shrimps.

As I actually hadn't planned to spend the whole day out there, I didn't have any food with me, so I was pretty hungry when I reached back home 11pm in the evening.

http://geodashing.gpsgames.org/cgi-bin/dp.pl?dp=GDDE-MUSU

fishermen at work

sunset between Põõsaspea peninsula (on the left) and Osmussaar, the tiny island on the right

Tuula

Geodashing Dashpoint Log
2016-08-28 18:44:41 UTC
GDDE-MYYN

Player: Haraldpoiss
Team:   FinEst Dashers

GDDE-MYYN is near Ääsmäe, Estonia.

> Date, Points, TeamPoints, Dashpoint, Country, State, Lat, Lon, Distance
2016-08-13, 3, 3, GDDE-MYYN, Estonia, , 59.2586, 24.4829, 0

Number of previous hunts by Haraldpoiss: 82

It's the first dashpoint near Tallinn this year, that's been accessible by public transport. The bus dropped me off 2km from the destination. It had been raining almost the whole day and later it started raining again. The point was in the middle of a meadow. There were some cranes on it that flew away when I approached. There was a big yellow field of rapeseed nearby. Rowans were ready on the trees. I also found some dewberries, gooseberries and wood sorrel from the forest.

http://geodashing.gpsgames.org/cgi-bin/dp.pl?dp=GDDE-MYYN

a couple of cranes as seen from the dashpoint

swimming?

say hello to a snail!

Kolu

Geodashing Dashpoint Log
2016-06-30 19:00:03 UTC
GDDC-NASH

Player: Haraldpoiss
Team:   FinEst Dashers

GDDC-NASH is near Lõmmelu, Estonia.

> Date, Points, TeamPoints, Dashpoint, Country, State, Lat, Lon, Distance
2016-06-25, 3, 3, GDDC-NASH, Estonia, , 58.7928, 25.2038, 0

New extreme south visit this year for Estonia: GDDC-NASH
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Number of previous hunts by Haraldpoiss: 81

The point was actually quite close to a bus stop. Unfortunately, as I checked, there's never any bus stopping in this bus stop!!! So I decided to drive instead. It was possible to drive to 700m, where the road became impassable. The point was on the edge of a swamp. There were huge swarms of flies and horseflies flying around me the whole time while I was out there, together with some mosquitoes. I took a longer walk in the swamp and forest after visiting the point. Wild strawberries were here and there, and actually they were amazingly nice and big, but it was little bit uncomfortable to pick them, because I was almost eaten alive by horseflies as soon as I stopped. Taking water from my backpack was a dream that I made to come true only few times, because for that I had to stop even longer. It's not such a good idea to go to woods in the middle of summer in the middle of Estonian mainland.

http://geodashing.gpsgames.org/cgi-bin/dp.pl?dp=GDDC-NASH

inside hunter's tower

on the edge of the swamp

say hello to horseflies on my jeans

Kõrveküla

Geodashing Dashpoint Log
2016-06-30 18:07:09 UTC
GDDC-NIAS

Player: Haraldpoiss
Team:   FinEst Dashers

GDDC-NIAS is near Jäneda, Estonia.

> Date, Points, TeamPoints, Dashpoint, Country, State, Lat, Lon, Distance
2016-06-23, 3, 3, GDDC-NIAS, Estonia, , 59.2283, 25.6376, 0

New extreme east  visit this year for Estonia: GDDC-NIAS
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Number of previous hunts by Haraldpoiss: 80

It's possible to drive to 400m. The point was in forest, on the border of Kõrvemaa landscape reserve. Tere were huge swarms of flies and horseflies flying around me the whole time while I was out there, together with some mosquitoes. Wild strawberries were ready on the road-side.

http://geodashing.gpsgames.org/cgi-bin/dp.pl?dp=GDDC-NIAS

forest flowers

"Winter-canteen" for wild animals. The black object in the sky is not an alien spaceship, but a one of the horseflies that were orbiting around me.

wild strawberries

Vahastu

Geodashing Dashpoint Log
2016-05-31 17:42:03 UTC
GDDB-NAYM

Player: Haraldpoiss
Team:   FinEst Dashers

GDDB-NAYM is near Põllika, Estonia.

> Date, Points, TeamPoints, Dashpoint, Country, State, Lat, Lon, Distance
2016-05-28, 3, 3, GDDB-NAYM, Estonia, , 58.9145, 25.2343, 0

New extreme south visit this year for Estonia: GDDB-NAYM
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Number of previous hunts by Haraldpoiss: 79

It was possible to drive to 460m, wherefrom a small trail took me to the destination. The point was near an intersection of ditches and some wild strawberries were blooming around it. Afterwards I took a walk in the picturesque swamp and Piiumetsa landscape protection reserve nearby. I went swimming to a lake in the swamp. It's maybe 1.5m deep, but the bottom is so soft that it's not possible to stand in there, but only to swim or to hold from the shore. And the shore ain't made of soil, but of Sphagnum plants that have grown on top of each other over centuries and millenniums. The shore is actually floating on water and it's so soft and elastic, that all the small trees and bushes around you swing along if you jump on it. The lake gets deep instantly and as I checked, the shore is actually hollow from underneath. It's possible to get out only by using the strength of your arms to heave your body, until you get a knee on the edge. And you must be careful when standing up, because the shore is soft like cottonwool and bends backwards. As I wasn't careful enough, I lost my balance and splashed all the way back in, which was quite funny in fact.

http://geodashing.gpsgames.org/cgi-bin/dp.pl?dp=GDDB-NAYM

baby frogs

a tree fallen by beavers

the lake

Vetepere

Geodashing Dashpoint Log
2016-05-21 17:53:16 UTC
GDDB-NIGA

Player: Haraldpoiss
Team:   FinEst Dashers

GDDB-NIGA is near Albu, Estonia.

> Date, Points, TeamPoints, Dashpoint, Country, State, Lat, Lon, Distance
2016-05-15, 3, 3, GDDB-NIGA, Estonia, , 59.0982, 25.5378, 0

New extreme east  visit this year for Estonia: GDDB-NIGA
New extreme south visit this year for Estonia: GDDB-NIGA
If this is not correct, please notify the Geodashing Webmaster

Number of previous hunts by Haraldpoiss: 78

It was possible to drive to 1.6km, wherefrom a prepared wooden hiking trail took me through the swamp to 300m from the point. How nice :)  The trail was actually part of Peraküla-Aegviidu-Ähijärve hiking trail, which goes through the whole Estonia and is 820km long, but after long consideration, I decided to skip passing the whole distance last Sunday. The point was in swamp and nearby there's a free-to-use self-service public guesthouse with smoke-sauna and several camping facilities.

http://geodashing.gpsgames.org/cgi-bin/dp.pl?dp=GDDB-NIGA

Kollassaare free-to-use self-service public guesthouse. The black tepee on the right is smoke-sauna.

a spider stepping on water

Väike-Pakri

Geodashing Dashpoint Log
2016-05-17 18:02:18 UTC
GDDB-MYKI

Player: Haraldpoiss
Team:   FinEst Dashers

GDDB-MYKI is near Paldiski, Estonia.

> Date, Points, TeamPoints, Dashpoint, Country, State, Lat, Lon, Distance
2016-05-14, 3, 3, GDDB-MYKI, Estonia, , 59.3356, 23.9715, 0

New extreme north visit this year for Estonia: GDDB-MYKI
New extreme west  visit this year for Estonia: GDDB-MYKI
If this is not correct, please notify the Geodashing Webmaster

Number of previous hunts by Haraldpoiss: 77

It was raining when I left Tallinn and most of the way, but in the area nearby the dashpoint it was dry and not even a single drop of rain fell on me during the whole day that i spent there. The dashpoint had fallen on the easternmost island of Pakri archipelago, across the 3km wide strait from mainland. It's basically not deep between there and if you go from the right place at the right angle then, according to the map, it should possible to cross strait Kurkse on foot. But if it's cold and stormy and you loose your way then you may easily drown, like it happened to 14 people on 11 September 1997.

It would have been possible to reach to 500m from the point by sea, but as it would have been basically in front of the doorstep of a household, I decided to disembark little bit further towards north-west, next to an old wooden boat-wreck. The point was in forest and there was nothing interesting around the place. After having reached successfully to the destination, I decided to visit also the western island of the archipelago, where I was greeted by a dead cow laying on the ground at the place where I landed. As the island was lacking dashpoints, I just went to a randomly self-generated point that happened to be on a meadow with some bovines on it. There's 6 people in total living at the archipelago and I didn't happen to meet any of them during my visit.

http://geodashing.gpsgames.org/cgi-bin/dp.pl?dp=GDDB-MYKI

In memoriam for the soldiers that died during the attempt to cross the strait on foot

It's not the boat that I used to reach to the islands :)

I'm sorry for posting this, but it's the first time in my life to see a dead cow

Pihali

Geodashing Dashpoint Log
2016-03-06 17:53:34 UTC
GDCZ-NAAQ

Player: Haraldpoiss
Team:   FinEst Dashers

GDCZ-NAAQ is near Adila-tagaküla, Estonia.

> Date, Points, TeamPoints, Dashpoint, Country, State, Lat, Lon, Distance
2016-03-05, 3, 3, GDCZ-NAAQ, Estonia, , 59.1317, 24.5773, 0

Number of previous hunts by Haraldpoiss: 76

It was possible to drive to 65m, which makes the point a drive-in. However, as I had the intention to take a walk in the surroundings afterwards, I decided to park properly. There was deep snow on the road-side, so I digged a pocket, whereto put my car and left it there. But after coming back from the woods, I got stuck and couldn't get the car out of there any more. It took me 45 min to get moving and after getting out from the self-made parking place, I stopped the car on the road for a moment to gather my spade and the jacks and put them back to trunk. But this was a mistake - I couldn't get moving once again after putting the stuff back in. It was just a small forest-road with a lot of snow on it and 2 narrow tracks made by vehicles. I was about to start digging again when there came a guy with snowmobile. He was able to pull me that much that I got moving again. I thanked him politely of course and we both drove away. When I was back on the bigger road 7km away, I remembered that I had forgotten a stone to the place where I got stuck. It's a nice and big flat stone, which is very handy to put under wheel if car gets stuck, and has helped me out lots of times, including this time. What can we do, I drove back there to pick up the stone, because it's better to have it in car than to start looking for one when it's needed. And this time I managed to not get stuck ;)

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after crossing a lake in swamp

a tiny spruce rising from snow

it's not a hamburger kiosk for giants, but a tower for hunting wild boars

Suursoo

Geodashing Dashpoint Log
2016-02-21 19:57:19 UTC
GDCY-NAUV

Player: Haraldpoiss
Team:   FinEst Dashers

GDCY-NAUV is near Pikavere, Estonia.

> Date, Points, TeamPoints, Dashpoint, Country, State, Lat, Lon, Distance
2016-02-07, 3, 3, GDCY-NAUV, Estonia, , 59.3054, 25.0941, 0

Number of previous hunts by Haraldpoiss: 75

The point had fallen on the grounds of Paraspõllu ("Proper Field's") nature reserve in the village named Suursoo which means "Big Swamp" in translation. Besides that, it was just 50m from a channel, which is part of the channel system that supplies city of Tallinn with fresh drinking water. And of course, access to the road on shore of the channel was blocked with a gate. So I had to take the road on the other shore, which was in very bad condition, because officially there was no road at all. When I stopped to visit the point, there came a guy with a SUV from the opposite direction. He stopped beside me and asked if I'm not afraid to get stuck in such conditions. My answer was "Yes". After visiting the point, I took a little walk. There were lots of tracks of ATV in the forest.

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the channel of fresh water

ATV tracks in the forest

a dead animal

Ääsmäe

Geodashing Dashpoint Log
2016-01-31 19:37:33 UTC
GDCX-NAAZ

Player: Haraldpoiss
Team:   FinEst Dashers

GDCX-NAAZ is near Roobuka, Estonia.

> Date, Points, TeamPoints, Dashpoint, Country, State, Lat, Lon, Distance
2016-01-30, 3, 3, GDCX-NAAZ, Estonia, , 59.2418, 24.5872, 0

Number of previous hunts by Haraldpoiss: 74

The sun that had been shining all through the morning, was hidden behind dense clouds in the afternoon. Later it started raining little bit. I parked my car at the entrance of a peat career, 1.35km from the destination. It was +5C outside and ground was covered with 10-15cm deep wet and sticky snow. The point had fallen onto a clear cut area of forest.

http://geodashing.gpsgames.org/cgi-bin/dp.pl?dp=GDCX-NAAZ

a fisherman on Maidla water reservoir

the ice was covered with 10cm thick mix of snow and water