Oandu-Ikla hiking trail 370 km / 230 mi
After hiking the Hiiumaa hiking trail the year prior, I had a desire to hike an even longer trail. I decided to increase the distance step by step and so I took on the challenge to hike the Oandu-Ikla 370 km hiking trail.
Eesti keeles https://muidumatkaja.blogspot.com/2023/05/oandu-ikla-matkatee-370-km.html
Challenges on trail
The main challenges on trail were long and endless gravel roads. On my longest day I did 59 km and around 57 km of them were just gravel roads. It was easy to become and expert in those. The hardest and most painful were the roads with loose gravel (e.g. around Võidula) but all of them exhausted me mentally. On a gravel road you know that nothing happens there and to walk in a straight line for many kilometers is not why I like hiking. This means that after Aegviidu, the trail turned into a great feat to overcome myself and is suitable only for the true fanatic of walking. Even if I did try to walk on smaller paths sometimes surrounding the road, it was only possible to do so before Valgehobusemägi and after reaching the Gulf of Livonia.
Pace
On the first day I started at 11:45 and on the eight day I finished at 9:45, which means I hiked the trail in 6 days and 22 hours. My average tempo was 53 km a day.
I learned quite a lot about what I’m able to do and what I want to be able to do. It’s possible to hike almost 60 km a day but especially on gravel roads, it’s annoying and tiring, When planning my next hike I know to stay around 50 km and to not push beyond 55 km, because otherwise I won’t have any time to rest and the mental challenge increases tenfold.
People
I met only a handful of people while hiking. Just two hikers were on the same trail as I but they were section hiking. The only other hikers I met were at Kõrvemaa. RMK campsites were full on friday and saturday when people were car camping a lot. Lastly I met helpful people in the visitor centers of national parks, who let me charge my electronics and drink warm water.
Animals
On my trip I met many roe deer who wandered on to the trail, one fox and one otter. At one point however a moose scared me while hiking towards Loosalu bog. It snorted and dissapeared to the undergrowth.
For the first time in my life I saw an adder slither across the trail. It is the only venomous snake in Estonia. Thankfully the rhythmic tapping of my trekking pole had warned it. Sadly I also saw many dead adders on the roads.
Lastly for animals, it was the time of the great nesting period for birds. Each day I was awoken by a loud choir of birds singing. In addition the one bird who accompanied me the whole hike was the common cuckoo with it’s distinct call.
As for nature, the staple of Estonia is the raised bogs that can be found everywhere throughout the country. They are a distinct feature with open landscapes and ground which (as is an old Estonian saying) is neither land nor water.
Weather
For most of the time the weather was nice to me. The very first days the temperature raised quite high which I wasn’t ready for. There was a single rainy day during my hike. On that day I woke up at five to rain tapping on my tarp which I then closed. I walked the entire day in rain and while there was a stop from the clouds around lunch and I could dry myself, the rain continued later. The next days were windy, temperatures were chilly and I didn’t have to deal with mosquitos that much.
Food and resupply
I sent two resupply boxes to parcel lockers on the way: one to Ardu and the other one to Kilingi-Nõmme which the trail passed through. It also passed small shops in Aegviidu and Lelle from which I bought some snacks, ice cream and water. From Kilingi-Nõmme I just took my box in the morning and got going. The most food I carried was for four days after leaving Ardu (it also was a long water carry).
Daily kilometrage and diary
Day 0. - Late at night I made it to Tapa from where I walked 5 km to Tõõrakõrve designated campsite. I discovered that I truly dislike night hiking when I can’t see anything. At the small campsite I set my things down and went to bed.
Day 1. - 50 km / 31 mi - Waking up early I set my way back to Tapa from where I jumped onto a bus to Rakvere. There I waited for an hour for a different bus taking me near Altja. I stopped at Lauli and walked few kilometers to Altja’s beach where I walked to the end of the small cape there. It was the unofficial start of the border to border route. My next stop was Oandu visitor center to which I could hike on actual trail. I briefly stepped inside the center but a few moments later was already hiking towards Võsu. It was great to be on the Kõrve trail which is a smaller part of the whole trail. Passing through Võsu was the last time I saw the sea for a while because now the trail took a turn towards inland and Viru bog. The sun had already set when I reached Kalmeoja campsite. Three men had occupied on of the spots but thankfully there was another spot further away where I could lay down.
Day 2. - 48 km / 30 mi - I purposefully hiked a shorter day today to save myself for the coming days. Viru bog is a popular place so I tried to get there as early as possible. However I hadn’t even reached it yet when I already met some people. They probably had the same idea as me. The bog was beautiful but ended quickly. Officially I should’ve turned to a new reroute to walk next to the Tallinn-Narva highway for some kilometers, but instead I had devised a route inspired by and Estonian hiking forum. Even if the route was better than walking next to the highway, I can’t recommend it as I went through many private properties, one even had a sign saying they’ll shoot people (super illegal in Estonia). Most of the day I was on a familiar trail however, as I’d done this section before. At afternoon I reached Aegviidu where I visited the shop and next walked on a gravel road to Mägede campsite. It was a Saturday evening and there were many people there. This meant I slept in a forest.
Day 3. - 54 km / 33.5 mi - The sun rose and I started walking. After a small detour to Valgehobusemägi hill, I continued on the hiking trail which had awful ot of gravel roads in it. Passing Kalajärve and Noku campsites I saw people sleeping still when I walked in to Kakerdaja bog. I enjoyed these moments in the bog as I knew there were long stretches of gravel roads ahead. I stopped at Napu campsite for a second and the trudged on to Hiieveski. After a short break I walked into Ardu where I had a resupply box waiting: 4.5 days of food and also for a long water carry 1.5 liters of water. This was the heaviest my pack will be. On the long asphalt and gravel roads I had the first mental struggles to continue. I got over them by turning my brain off and listening to podcasts. Before the nightfall I gathered water from a bog lake to which I walked an unofficial path. I had the last stretch to Hirvelaane and after finally making it there I set up my bivy to keep away the bugs and fell asleep.
Day 4. - 55 km / 34 mi - A new day didn’t bring much change and the gravel roads continued. I was also bothered by having a bloody nose. The prettiest part of the day was Loosalu bog and the surroundings. Sadly it didn’t last long and walking to Lelle while on a paved road and the midday sun shining on me was hard. In Lelle I visited a small shop and continued on the roads. The remaining part of the day was spent on endless gravel roads til before the night I made it to Mukri bog. On top of the viewing tower, higher than the mosquitos I took a power nap, because my legs were quite tired from the gravel roads. Past there I made camp at Mukri campsite while 10 000 mosquitos tried to get me.
Day 5. - 57 km / 35 mi - At 5 o’clock I was awoken by rain on my tarp. I closed the zipper and slept for another hour. After waking up I put on my rain clothes and started walking. Unfortunately my rain jacket didn’t hold me either dry or warm. This section also included the hardest gravel roads with loose jagged rocks. When I arrived at Kellissaare, the rain had stopped and following that the trail took me on nice sandy forest roads. Later I reached Kurgja where however the museum was closed and I took water from the river. The best part of the day awaited. Sakala hiking trail was 12 km of mainly real footpaths instead of gravel. Alas it too had to end and when I reached the gravel roads it started to rain again. I stopped briefly at Hüpassaare but continued on to Oksa granary which hikers could use to sleep in. The rains stopped and the sun winked at me after a long day. When I finally reached the granary I was surprised to find another hiker in there. We chatted for a second and I made a bed for me on a wooden sleeping bench.
Day 6. - 59 km / 36.5 km - I had an early start and the kilometers passed quick. At the Soomaa National Park visitor center I charged my batteries (even though it wasn’t that necessary) and drank some warm water. The gravel roads continued the entire day but also the wind started blowing. I stopped briefly at the designated campsites but I couldn’t decide how far I wanted to go today. I had a plan to reach Kilingi-Nõmme, but my legs didn’t want to do that. Even so, when I reached Kopra campsite and I’d soaked my feet I decided to continue. Late at night I reached Kilingi-Nõmme’s small hiking trail and basically ran to the campsite.
Day 7. - 47 km / 30 mi - My last full-length day started with a walk to Kilingi-Nõmme where I received my second resupply box. The trail however didn’t change much and put me back on gravel roads. There was a short stretch of real trail next to Rae lake, but it didn’t last long. I “enjoyed” the gravel roads til I reached RMK Laiksaare office. I soaked my feet and found that I had a blister under my toe. Tried to mend it as best as I could. I took drinking water from the RMK office and continued under the blazing sun on a straight gravel road towards Massiaru. It was quite boring but I finally reached it. Soon I crossed the highway to Latvia and reached Kabli visitor center with tired legs. I visited the sea after many days, but decided to make it a short day and went to bed early.
Day 8. - 17 km / 10.5 mi - I rose at five together with the sun and set my feet towards the beach. The official trail turned back towards a small paved road, but I stayed on the beach. I crossed small streams but the loose sand slowed me down. After reaching Lemme I went back to the official trail on the road. Luckily for me there was a parallel path in the forest after Treimani. This elevated my mood to finish the trail. Finally I passed the sign stating Ikla and I could already see the Latvian flag. Few moments later i reached the Estonian border. I finished two hours before my start time and reached the bus aswell. From there I was taken to Pärnu and finally home.
Gear
I was quite happy with everything I took with me. The backpack was comfortable with the light load I had. My tarp and bivy worked amazingly. This was my first long hike with the bivy and I can say I did a right decision when purchasing it. I could also take a smaller tarp when hiking during a dry spring.
What didn’t work was my rain jacket. I’m now trying to find a silpoly rain jacket which can atleast keep me warm. One of the bigger failures was also with Avenza maps. I apparently hadn’t created the files properly and continued with Google Maps and overview maps on paper.
Other things worked as necessary. On my next hikes I’m now more aware of how much soap to bring and to better take care of my water filter.
Favorite sections
There’s no surprises here as I believe these parts are favorite among all the hikers. By that I mean Kõrvemaa with its rolling hills and beautiful pine forests, Sakala hiking trail which gave some variety to the gravel roads and lastly the beach of the Gulf of Livonia. All these share the traits of not being roadwalks. I’m not willing to walk this much on gravel roads again.
In the end the hike was hard and exhausting, but im happy and proud that I could complete it in less than 7 days!
- Muidumatkaja
