Frozen floodwaters bring winter mood back to Soomaa National Park
While last week's thaw brought the floodwaters to Soomaa National Park, this weekend's frost meant the winter mood was back. With Soomaa covered in ice once again, people were out in force this Sunday to enjoy the bright weather.
While last week's thaw, the sunny days and the first birdsong of the year, gave hope that spring had arrived, they also meant the waters of Soomaa National Park flooded. However, this week's frost saw a return to winter conditions. A thick layer of ice had actually formed in marshy areas of the national park at the beginning of the year, but with the melting snow that became submerged.
"After that, the water subsided and now the ice is back again. And there is new ice there again thanks to the night frosts /.../ One might have thought that the thaw we had last week would be followed by a longer period of high waters, but in fact it went up very quickly, and then back down very quickly. In 30 years, I can't remember a time when it has changed so quickly from ice to water and then back to ice again," said Soomaa National Park guide Aivar Ruukel.
On Sunday, there was a long line of cars driving to the Tõramaa wooded meadow in Viljandi County. People came from near and far to enjoy the ice, which spread over an area of around three and a half kilometers. ERR spoke to some of the people who had made the trip.
"Really super, this is the second time I've ever been on ice with these skates and I'm so excited. /.../ I skated quite a long way out there, chugging along, but it went really well," said Endla, who was out enjoying the conditions.
"It's nice. It gives a good workout and makes you feel good," said Andres, who was also at Soomaa on Sunday.
"We came from Tartu to Soomaa for the first time. I brought my skates just in case," Ludmilla told ERR.
"I didn't go completely to the end, I left a bit early," added Ingeli Mona, another skater.
"It's great, I've never had an experience like that before, skating on an icy slope with trees, and with rocks. And the extent of the ice field is still wild," said Leana, who clearly enjoyed it.
"We had the idea of coming to see what it was like, as we'd never been," said Simone, who was at Soomaa for the first time.
"Yes, we just came. At first we thought we'd come canoeing, but then it turned out that there was ice on the surface and we couldn't canoe. So then, yeah, we're here in our own shoes," added Britt, who joined him.
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Editor: Miichael Cole
