long way in dunes

Today the rest of green trail or Höga Åsen that I started on the first day is on the menu.
The beginning is the same with the seal trail. Sun is out, seal must be sunbathing. From the trail-crossing it is 2,3 km to the seal hide. I go to have a look.
Behind the hide are two man on the ground, feet on the table. They seem to be sleeping. I peek from one and another hole. Still only cormorants. Stay to look at the waves absentmindedly and notice that one rock has a shape of a head. The head turns and I realize that it’s a fat grey seal. The rock is under the seal. Cormorants have just gathered to also look at the seal. The beast lifts its upper body with every wave in order to avoid salty water getting into his/her eyes. Another seal pokes a head out of water every now and then. Probably waits for the rock to be free.
A snack pause. Many people arrive and start thronging around the peeping holes with loud chatter. When I look out again then the seals have disappeared.
I go back to the green trail and sun goes behind cloud cover. Against my expectations trees have curled into sculptures also in this part of the trail. This makes a lot of photo-stops necessary that slows me down. The trail goes over the highest ridge on the island and offers views from the height of treetops. Sea roars so loud that I look many times over my shoulder. Is really a train coming? There was railway on the island during timber high season the century before last century. Luckily modern forestry methods never reached here and even old methods didn’t reach Höga Åsen. So many of the trees around me are more than 400 years old. Estonian forestry people would faint with the thought that a forest goes un-cut for more than hundred years and still stands. Swedes for some reason appreciate old trees. As do ants, lichen and mushrooms.
Sun comes out again. Fourth time I walk back to camp on the central trail through the island. This time I find here new ideas for the coming winter and notice new doors that have opened for the time after hikes planned for next summer.
Soup break in the camp then to Bredsandsudde. Its broad sandy beach lined by dunes. It is not possible to come back here because wind recreates the landscape all the time. Shadows stretch longer, sand is full of footprints of birds and humans. Take a look at Bredsandsudde’s detour where is a bench, big puddle and many gulls and terns.
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the other half of the island
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back to mainland

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