The Eräkeskus-Team until end of 2019 is ready - welcome in our Lodge! Frieda & Sari joined our team by beginning of September, Nadja arrived by Mid-September and now we are complete until the end of the year. Alina is on the picture, but leaving us end of this months after 3 months volunteering; Dennis has a 5-week-holiday in front of him and also Simone has still some travel-plans during that autumn. But more or less: these are the faces you will meet here during autumn and beginning of winter!
The autumn-training officially started last Monday 16th September. We trained 5 big teams in the Old Kennels. The honour of leading the first team on the trails, was with Taivas and Mogli. Taivas offered her place to Anouk after half of the distance. During the first 2 weeks of training, we train from Monday to Friday, always one kennel per day, switching from Old to New kennels and back. Saturday and Sunday are days off! Oldies and the dogs for winter-week-programs only, will join the training later in autumn. So far it runs smooth and easy. The young ones from summer 18 are highly motivated and do a great job. Some few were a bit irritiated, when running for first time in a big team, but that is normal. And the 2nd run was already showing clearly how much they like it! Next generation is looking good!
In between the trainings, what block the biggest part of our daily jobs now, we still have time to hike a bit, pick mushrooms, enjoy the colours in forests & swamps and just relax a bit after a busy, long summer.
Some funny moments we had those last weeks with the forest goverment, trying to fulfill their wishes about traffic-signs in the finnish forests... In short: in April we got a new trail license, a trail that runs on an old forest-way, not a road, with a lot of bushes growing there, and somewhere in the middle, it crosses an old bridge, over a small creek. During summer we got contacted by them, that we have to build a barrier in front of the old bridge, to make sure, no car-driver crosses there, as the bridge is rather old and not very safe anymore. We built a barrier and put a "no-crossing"-sign there; the picture of our first ever barrier was prouldy presented in the News from beginning of August. Then beginning of September we were told that the barrier has to be stronger, to make sure that no car-driver can open it by himself, drive through and damage himself/his car on the bridge. We built a stronger barrier, 2 thick tree trunks digged in the ground, a heavy, thick trunk horizontally over them, secured by chains and 2 big padlocks. Sadly not good enough for the forest goverment... Still - as they say - a car driver can open the barrier by himself, drive through and damage his car on the bridge. The vertical trees have to be so close that no car passes between them. So we digged in a 3rd tree trunk in the ground, making sure no car can drive between them. But now we wonder, if there are maybe some brave bikers that can still open the barrier and drive through, damage themselves on the bridge... obviously it is legal in the forests here, that a barrier with chains, padlocks, thick wood and a sign "no-crossing" can be opened by humans, and if they get a damage by driving after that barrier, we - as trail-owners - are responsible... well... we are central-Europeans and do not really understand this Nordic rule... but.. we wait and see! As there was no barrier at all in all the years before, we see the risk as rather small...