Day in the Forest

moody forest, cowboy coffee and wild play among the rock and moss

Last Sunday we celebrated Father’s Day, and what better way to spend it than going on a forest hike. We packed cake supplies, some snacks, and coffee, and set off to one of the many little lake destinations in our hometown.

Once we arrived, we noticed that many others had also thought a Father’s Day outing was a good idea. Even though the parking lot was full of cars, you hardly noticed it on the forest trail.

The path here is like something out of a fairy tale. It winds, rises and falls, and tall trees grow right along the trail, creating a mesmerizing atmosphere.

The children ran ahead immediately, so far that my partner and I couldn’t even see them anymore. We could only hear their voices from within the forest: shrieks and joyful shouts. That’s one way to get a little bit of time together! We eventually caught up with the children and continued our walk all together.

At this time of year, the forest may at first glance look quite bare and colorless, but if you look closely, you notice all sorts of interesting things. There are still some mushrooms, though quite few. Bracket fungi adorn the decaying trunks, and the moss is still green and vibrant. Pines, spruces, and junipers are now the only trees with any green. I love the cold green shade of the spruces. The reddish trunks of the pines and their richly green crowns make a stunning combination.

The path wound its way among withered ferns. The ground was very damp, but today there was no rain at all. Each of the children found something they liked: the 8yo found a stick that looked like a spear, the 5yo a glittering, bright stone chipped from the rock, and the 3yo a puffball mushroom.

We came to the slippery boardwalks that led across the wetland. Just as we reached the rocky cliff where the campfire site and the lake view were, I saw a great spotted woodpecker. I’ve been seeing them all the time lately — almost everywhere I go in nature. I stopped to listen to its tapping while the others hurried to the fire.

The campfire was already burning. The Father’s Day crowd was especially noticeable there — several other groups were present. Fortunately, there were two fire pits, and everyone seemed to fit around them nicely. Others made room for us too, and we started grilling our food.

The children had fun running around on the rocks and boulders. They started playing a lava game, where the lava rises and falls, and the rocks are safe spots to climb onto whenever someone shouts, “the lava is rising!” We adults also got completely caught up in the game.

After we had eaten our grilled food, the children started toasting marshmallows. First, of course, they looked for suitable sticks. The cleverest ones picked a forked stick so they could hold two marshmallows at once.

For the celebration, I made campfire coffee instead of the usual instant coffee. It’s made by heating water in a pan over the fire, then adding coarsely ground coffee and letting it come to a boil. The coffee is then “shocked” by tapping the pan — this makes the grounds settle to the bottom so they don’t pour out with the coffee.

We had also planned an easy Swiss roll cake that could be assembled right on the plates in the forest.

Then it was time to continue our walk. We visited a small pier beneath the rocks, reached by steep, slippery stairs. A little bit of excitement for the day!

As we walked back along the trail, we settled into a wonderfully unhurried mood, and everyone clearly enjoyed being in the forest in their own way. I was photographing mushrooms and moss, my partner was whittling sticks, and the children’s imaginations ran wild. At the same time, we chatted and marveled together at the wonders of the forest.

We found tiny mushrooms under a spruce branch that looked like little fairy umbrellas. I love exploring nature up close like this. The atmosphere is completely different than higher up. I feel grounded, present and more part of earth.

The moss was deliciously green. Some of it was still ‘blooming’ with spore capsules. Drops of water made it look like a work of art. We also found rose moss (Rhodobryum roseum), which looked more like a succulent than moss.

Rhodobryum roseum / rose moss / Finn. lehtoruusukesammal

Then evening began to fall. Here in Finland, the sun sets at 4 p.m. this time of year. After four hours of outdoor activity, it felt nice to relax at home and enjoy a long evening with the family.

This Father’s Day was really wonderful, and the best part was hearing from my partner that he thought it was just perfect.

PS: If you want to see place where we spent Mother’s Day in the spring, check out the post below.

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