Hiking at the Karhunkierros trail
We're back from our week long trip to Ruka, about 800 km North from here. I went there with mom, her companion, his kid, Orasi, his companion and MM. Nydi had work so she couldn't make it. The first night home I was surprised at how dark it gets here in Espoo during the middle of the night. At least that's what it felt like after experiencing the midnight sun near the Arctic circle right after Midsummer. Me and MM climped to a ski jumping hill to see the sun and it was above the horizon at around 1AM. Stunning sight that. Back here home the sun at least goes below the horizon, even if there's enough light still that you can easily walk in the forest without artificial light.
And you can sit outside in short sleeves and a short skirt and not get eaten alive by mosquitoes. Or horseflies (paarmoja). Or black flies (mäkäräisiä). I can say that I've now experiences räkkäaika. I didn't even know the word before now, but after this trip I won't soon forget it. Räkkäaika means a time of the year (Summer) when there are a lot of mosquitoes. The fact that there's a word for that should give you an idea of how bad it is to be in Lapland or almost-Lapland during this time of the year. It was around +30 C for most of our time there and I wore long sleeves and long pant sleeves because it was better to feel too hot than to suffer the mosquitoes. I don't know how we would've survived without constantly using mosquito repellants. And I still got bitten enough that my legs especially sport a collection of red spots. Especially the horsefly bites are easy to spot.
But it was all still worth it. We hiked for 46 kilometers in five days on the Karhunkierros and canoed there for 25 kilometers on the last day. We made day trips hiking the trails as we had a rented cottage at Ruka. We made one two day trip on which we slept in a wilderness hut at the Taivalköngäs cascade. Köngäs is another new word that I learned on this trip. Imagine something between rapids and a water fall, that's how I understand the word.
And the scenery... I was frankly amazed that we have places with that kind of scenery in Finland. I have to extend my heartfelt thanks to the people who made the place a natural reserve so that we can all enjoy the spectacular views. The Oulanka national park is 270 sq. km while Nuuksio national park, where I go many times a year, is only 45 sq.km.
It was a fun trip. I get so much energy from nature. But the 12 hour car trip there and another back is still gruesome. Oh, and there were a lot of reindeers up North. It's a close call weather I saw more people up there or more reindeers. Ruka is pretty deserted during the off-season it would seem (it was full of people in the Winter). And reindeers are stupid as they just stand on the roads. At least mooses just run across, they don't block the whole road like a flock of reindeers does. Orasi got stuck for 15 minutes one time by reindeers while driving. The baby reindeers were very cute. :3
And you can sit outside in short sleeves and a short skirt and not get eaten alive by mosquitoes. Or horseflies (paarmoja). Or black flies (mäkäräisiä). I can say that I've now experiences räkkäaika. I didn't even know the word before now, but after this trip I won't soon forget it. Räkkäaika means a time of the year (Summer) when there are a lot of mosquitoes. The fact that there's a word for that should give you an idea of how bad it is to be in Lapland or almost-Lapland during this time of the year. It was around +30 C for most of our time there and I wore long sleeves and long pant sleeves because it was better to feel too hot than to suffer the mosquitoes. I don't know how we would've survived without constantly using mosquito repellants. And I still got bitten enough that my legs especially sport a collection of red spots. Especially the horsefly bites are easy to spot.
But it was all still worth it. We hiked for 46 kilometers in five days on the Karhunkierros and canoed there for 25 kilometers on the last day. We made day trips hiking the trails as we had a rented cottage at Ruka. We made one two day trip on which we slept in a wilderness hut at the Taivalköngäs cascade. Köngäs is another new word that I learned on this trip. Imagine something between rapids and a water fall, that's how I understand the word.
And the scenery... I was frankly amazed that we have places with that kind of scenery in Finland. I have to extend my heartfelt thanks to the people who made the place a natural reserve so that we can all enjoy the spectacular views. The Oulanka national park is 270 sq. km while Nuuksio national park, where I go many times a year, is only 45 sq.km.
It was a fun trip. I get so much energy from nature. But the 12 hour car trip there and another back is still gruesome. Oh, and there were a lot of reindeers up North. It's a close call weather I saw more people up there or more reindeers. Ruka is pretty deserted during the off-season it would seem (it was full of people in the Winter). And reindeers are stupid as they just stand on the roads. At least mooses just run across, they don't block the whole road like a flock of reindeers does. Orasi got stuck for 15 minutes one time by reindeers while driving. The baby reindeers were very cute. :3