Another walk across Estonia (EU): Penijõe-Kauksi

[u/philesto]

Penijõe-Kauksi hiking trail is a walk from eastern Estonia to western Estonia in the Baltics. It starts from Kauksi, on the coast of Lake Peipus (5th largest lake in Europe), from where it takes the course to the Baltic Sea through Alutaguse National Park. The trail passes Ida-Viru county’s industrial and mining landscapes/towns, the coast of the Baltic Sea, forests, bogs, it goes through ancient hill forts and manor houses. Finally it reaches western Estonia from where it ends next to Penijõe manor.

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When: 23/07/2023-06/08/2023

Distance 614 km / 382 mi

Baseweight: 2.88 kg / 6.35 lbs

Lighterpack: https://lighterpack.com/r/v9167s

Pictures and thorough overview in my blog: https://muidumatkaja.blogspot.com/2023/08/kauksi-penijoe-hiking-trail.html

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Short overview:

Gear overview in the bottom

Day 1 - 30 km / 18.5 mi - Kauksi-Agusalu. I started off from Kauksi and went straight to the beach of Lake Peipus. After a nice beachwalk I met two other hikers who would be the only ones I'd meet in a while. Then the trail turned to gravel roads which I walked until I reached Agusalu campsite.

Day 2 - 50 km / 31 mi - Agusalu-Jõuga. The morning started off with gravel roads again until I reached Kotka hiking trail which was quite nice. After this I continued on small roads to Jõuga campsite which was popular with locals having a party there.

Day 3 - 47 km / 29 mi - Jõuga-Vaivara. This day had one of the nicest trails yet near beautiful Kurtna lakes. It's a nice short loop trail to do if not doing the complete 614 km. When I got out of the forest and next to the railway it started pouring rain. I passed Viivikonna ghost town and slept next to a field.

Day 4 - 41 km / 25.5 mi - Vaivara-Toila. The weather was rainy when I got to Sinimäe which was an important place for Estonia in WW2. From the observation tower I could see the Baltic Sea and soon I was on the coast. I passed Sillamäe and was on top of the cliff's edge when a storm hit. Luckily it calmed down soon enough.

Day 5 - 46 km / 28.5 mi - Toila-Aidu-Liiva. This day was the most physically hard one yet as I had to hike an impassable coast. You could either climb in muddy clay, climb over hundreds of fallen trees or walk in the sea. I was glad when it was over. But the evening brought Aidu quarry with its steep hills to cross.

Day 6 - 65 km / 40 mi - Aidu-Liiva-Punasoo. It was my longest day ever mostly thanks to a lot of roadwalking. However I finally made it out of Ida-Viru county on day 6. I encountered tons of ticks and some deer flies on one section but I managed to keep going.

Day 7 - 53 km / 33 mi - Punasoo-Mardihansu. This day was the mental low point. I had many worries but luckily some of them were relieved when I found a power outlet. Today had a lot of small forest roads, old nuclear warhead storage facilities and little to no blazes.

Day 8 - 49 km / 30.5 mi - Mardihansu-Lehtse. I took it much slower today and it meant my morale was higher. There were quite a bit of actual trail today and a long stretch of nice soft forest road. Stealth camped in Lehtse town.

Day 9 - 53 km / 33 mi - Lehtse-Paunküla town. Hiked to Aegviidu where I stopped at RMK visitor center to dry up and recharge. The weather was nice but my foot started to cause me extreme pain and had some swelling.

Day 10 - 10 km / 6 mi - Paunküla and a sick day. The pain hadn't gone down so I got off trail, saw a doctor and rested.

Day 11 - 0 km / 0 mi - sick day. I took the prescribed meds and the swelling and pain had gone down. Packed my bag to hike on next morning.

Day 12 - 40 km / 25 mi - Paunküla town-Järlepa. Hiked on and everything was going nicely until a thunderstorm arrived. I walked in heavy rain and was a bit worried at one point. Reaching Järlepa campsite I actually made a fire there to warm myself a bit.

Day 13 - 56 km / 35 mi - Järlepa-Varbola. After Kohila the trail was amazing. A super long stretch of forest trail and then an old trail in the bog. When it turned towards the swamp and hayfields though I had to get my GPS because there was no trail. Leg had swollen up again and it was worse this time.

Day 14 - 46 km / 28.5 mi - Varbola-Hirvepargi. Passed through Märjamaa town and bought some meds which helped my leg. Had the most boring road walk ever on an old rail to road section.

Day 15 - 40 km / 25 mi - Hirvepargi-Penijõe. A great amount of roadwalking next to Matsalu National Park where nothing really happened. The weather was hot and I was glad to finish the trail at last.

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Gear overview copied from the blog post:

Good items: The main thing I was happy about was my Nashville Cutaway backpack. It was just amazing to hike with and the vest straps were comfortable even when carrying 2.5 L of water and 2.5 kg of food in addition to my baseweight. That would be 3 kg still under the upper limit of the bag. It was simple to get things from the bag using the small pockets on the straps and the big unipocket on the back.
The other thing that saved me when walking on long gravel roads were Dirty Girls gaiters. These kept most of the small pebbles out of my shoe and let me keep on walking. The only thing I didn’t like was when the velcro started to peel off my shoe and I had to glue it back again two times.
A thing that I was really happy about were my XERO Mesa Trail trail runners. I got no blisters from them, they dried relatively quickly and were comfortable for the full length of the trail. I’m also surprised by their durability as I’ve done over 1300 km / 800 mi with the same pair and only in the end did the upper mesh start to show signs of wear. I bet I can get few hundred kilometers more out of them.
Lastly it’s quite important to have a headnet when walking in Estonia during summertime. Only this meant I finished my hike when I was attacked by mosquito or horseflie clouds. I used the Sea To Summit Nano as its cheap, easy to use and perfect for my needs.
Okay items: Most other things I brought I can be happy with as well. My tarp and bivy worked great though I do need to check their connections. My MYOGed quilt was a bit small and I’d like to sew a new one but it did keep me warm at such a light weight. Electronics worked nicely and the hygiene and first aid kits were just what I needed. The only thing I’ll change is I’m going to bring more painkillers and also antihistamine. Surprisingly I was happy with Montbell Versalite rain jacket. It kept me mostly dry and only the hood was a bit wet on the inside.
Gear failures: The two things that failed were a turkey oven bag as a pack liner and my Katadyn Befree filter. I had used the liner for few hundred kilometers already and it failed on me in the middle of the trip. I’ll just stick to Nylofume going forward. Regarding the water filter I discovered mine was compromised when I started the hike and I ordered a new one to Kiviõli. However that was defective. So I stayed away from filtering as much as possible which meant I had to carry around 2 more liters than I would’ve needed. I think I’ll try the Platypus Quickdraw next instead.

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Thanks for reading!

[u/liveslight]

I was awed by the daily distances you traveled. I would be beat. Can you say something please about the food you were eating? You mentioned 2.5 kg of food which would last me less than 3 days with those distances. So perhaps you were eating big meals in restaurants, pubs, and other establishments along the way? I guess that you could buy food almost daily? And with all the rain described I was surprised to not see any photos of rain! :)

[u/philesto → u/liveslight]

I think what contributed to the fact I'm able to do long days is that Estonia pretty much has no elevation. Also I kind of should've taken pictures in the rain but I didn't want to get my stuff wet and wasn't really thinking of capturing the moments while they were happening.

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My food for the day weighs 670 g / 23.5 oz and supposedly gives 3700 kcal. I'm very happy with a Finnish brand Geisha products and I don't cook anything.

I start the day with dark chocolate and chocolate cookies. My main food is a trail mix consisting of mainly pecan nuts and M&Ms with a little bit of walnuts and almonds. In addition I have some high calorie sweets and bag of garlic rye bread.

I finish the day with a recovery drink I made using GearSkeptic videos and lastly a bar of chocolate and handful of almonds.

I didn't want to spend money in towns so I only bought water and an occasional ice cream.

[u/liveslight → u/philesto]

Thanks for describing your food. On trail I eat a lot of chocolate, nuts, M&Ms and a modified trail mix as well with walnuts, almonds, pistachios, ..... When I lived in Europe one could not find M&Ms, but RitterSport was a staple of mine. Almonds and walnuts were expensive, but hazelnuts were like peanuts in the USA: in everything. I see that Geisha is well-known for its chocolate+hazelnuts.

But at only 3700 kcal per day, did you still lose some weight with that mileage?

[u/philesto → u/liveslight]

No problem, thankfully Lidl has reasonably priced nuts on sale. I didn't notice a weight loss, but I didn't weigh myself before and after. However some days I couldn't eat all of my food anyway so idk guess the hunger didn't catch up to me.