No time was wasted in jumping right into day 3 at the Hyytiala Forestry Field Station. After a filling breakfast with coffee we got to meet Tiina Hakkarainen.
  Ms.Tiina is a customer service manager for Metsahallitus. Metsahallitus manages, operates, and develops 1/3 of Finland’s land and water. In 2016 the state was able to make €93 700 000 in profit with € 96 000 000 in state revenue contribution. Wow that is amazing sense all that money goes right back into the 40 National Parks, 6 hiking parks, 12 wilderness area, and 19 strictly regulated areas. So of course once you learn all this wonderful information about the very national parks that surround you, you of course have to go hike one! We choose Helvetinjavi National Park aka “Hell’s Hole”.

Now let me tell you a bit of advice if you have never been to a Finland National Park, it is a bloody must! On top of all National Parks being free of charge, the beauty of the National Park will blow your socks right off.

So after our goodbyes we climbed back into the vans and headed towards our next adventure, Stora Enso logging site. We learned about Finland’s logging practices and two different types of logging machines, the harvester and the forwarder. Both machines were Komatsu. The harvester was a mid-grade 911.5 model, perfect for a second cut site. The operators showed us how the machines worked and even let us get up into the cab of the harvester. Overall, a truly neat experience!

Check also the Stora Enso website: https://www.storaensometsa.fi/kansainvalinen-kesakurssi-tutustui-harvennukseen/. Sorry, it is in Finnish though.

We once agian said our goodbyes and last questions over coffee and a pulla (pastry). From here we climbed back into the vans, this time exhausted. We slowly made our way back to Hyytiala for some dinner, sauna, Lake Swim, and barbecue. What a fun filled day it was! Learned, hiked and saw so many unique and new things. A day I don’t think any one of us 8 will ever forget.

-Kaleena Jones