The story about the Halti Weddings between Malla and Saana fells in Lapland

Lapland and Saamiland is a world of thousands of stories. The stories have survived from generation to generation through spoken language and most of them have their roots in the antiquity times. Many of these stories cannot be found on the internet yet, and the only way to access them is to keep your ears open when the local people open their mouths. Unfortunately, many stories have been forgotten over the past generations and will never be heard again. By bringing old stories that are in danger of disappearance or have already been forgotten by the general public, to the internet, they will hopefully get a new life and more and more people will be able to learn about them.

In Finland and Lapland the people might have heard the song about Halti’s Wedding, which tells the sad story of a wedding celebration with a catastrophic end in the northernmost of Finland, in the Halti area. Halti is the highest fell in Finland, 1,324 m high, situated on the border between Finland and Norway.

The authors Asko Kaikusalo and Yrjö Metsälä have written a book named “Tarujen tunturit”, translated topic: The Tales of the Fells. In this book they reveal the background to the catastrophic wedding.

This is how the story goes:

“The icy wind sweeps in from the north. It retrieves its icy breeze from the shores of Ruija (Ruija is the northern part of Norway facing the Arctic Ocean). The icy wind gathers more strength from the wide Arctic expanse, and finally swooshes along the slopes of Saana. In the village behind Saana a whining sound is heard and people tell Saana fell is crying again… Saana is a fell in Enontekiö municipality in the “arm” of Finland.

At the time of this story this was the land of big trees and a lot of snow and here lived only giants. The giants lived in different villages. Each one lead their own tribe, they went fishing in the Arctic Ocean and made enormous campfires. Today the forests have disappeared, fallen into the lakes and turned into waterlogged skeletons at the bottom of the lakes, but the flames from the bonfires remain. The bonfires of the giants rose into the sky and they still nowadays can be seen as northern lights in the nights.

In the fells of the “arm” of Lapland, that is, the tribe of Halti, the Halti äijä (=old man) was in charge. The village was located near Porojärvi, a sea in the northernmost of Lapland, but the “Haltians” often made adventures war expeditions against the Ruijians and other tribes in Lapland.

The Saana fell was one of the giants of the “arm”. He was tame and grumpy but a very handsome young man. He fell in love with his neighbor Malla, an incomparable maiden. After the romance had started, the young couple thought they’d better get married. The wedding was planned and organized to take place in Porojärvi Church. An old vice man/giant from Norway, Paras, was asked to be the consecrator, and people from all over Lapland were invited as guests. You can see the “arm” of Lapland here. Porojärvi is situated east from Kilpisjärvi in the wilderness of the fells.

However, there was one crowd that could not be invited: The enemies included the voluptuous Pältsa of Sweden, who had also struck his eye at the beautiful maiden Malla. His allies were the vicious old maids; “pohjanakat”, some wizards of the Arctic Ocean. Together, these decided to do everything they could to prevent the wedding.

The guests filled the church in Porojärvi. The wedding was going to start and suddenly everyone was chocked: Pältsa stepped through the door and screamed: “I wasn’t invited, but I came to see it anyway, because I don’t think everything will go as planned.” At that moment, the north wind began to blow real hard.

Paras, the norwegian consecrator, asked Malla and Saana to approach. But as the couple approached the altar, the storm reached top speed . The wind howled in the church tower and the whole building started to shake. An immense mass of ice began to roll from the north towards Porovuoma and Porojärvi. In panic, the church people escaped the church. Not everyone was able to reach their homes before they were covered under an ice sheet. The bride to be, Malla, fell to the floor, but Saana lifted her up in his arms and rushed towards the shore of Lake Kilpisjärvi; a small lake in the west. There they both froze side by side; Saana even stiffer, and Malla near her mother, all facing south. From the tears of the mother and daughter, the clear-water Lake Kilpisjärvi grew to its present size.

Pältsa also ran back to his own country Sweden. His allies, the furious maids “pohjanakat” could not any longer control their actions, and so Pältsa also was covered up until his ears by the ice. Only the crown remained visible.
(picture from Wikipedia)

This was the beginning of the Ice Age

Thousands of years later, these ice masses melted, and the giants were revealed. They could no longer move. But memories of those weddings are still to be seen in Lapland. As the Lapland people escaped in panic from the church of Porojärvi all over Lapland, their colorful clothes were torn in the wind and spread all over the slopes of the fells, expanses and over the valleys. Every autumn, the same splendor of color floods the fell in the form of colors during the vibrant autumnal period; “ruska”, in Lapland.”

If you ever walk the fells of the “Arm of Lapland”, you will encounter these giants, the gloomy Saana and the enchanting Malla.
In this picture you see Malla fell behind me. It is nowadays the Malla National Park.

Here is a picture of me in Norway with all the high fells in the background. That is the area where Paras/Barras and Pältsa can be seen.

Far to the Swedish side you can see the grizzled Pältsa and next to him on the Norwegian side the sharp-witted consecrator, Paras/Barras.

On this picture I have marked Pältsa. Paras/Barras fell is just north of Pältsa behind the border to Norway.

Even after the ice age, these fells – like fells everywhere – have experienced countless events, both fabulous and true. And if you go there with the right, compassionate receptive mind, you may get a glimpse of something of the fairytale-like innermost of the fells.

Brown trout fishing

To catch a brown trout is not the easiest thing but it will offer you adventurous moments. If you discuss with some elderly local people from the countryside or from the fells outside Rovaniemi city they can tell you how excited they were in their childhood when they learned how to get to the rivers in the wilderness to angel the brown touts.

Brown trout is found in fast flowing, oxygen-rich, cool clear waters with gravel or sandy riverbeds. They occur across almost all of Europe and as far north as Lapland.

First of all, the brown trout is a very sensitive fish. If you arrive to the riverside speaking load and running close to the river side you can be sure the brown trout disappeares for a long time. Then your chances to catch these rare spotted fish in the wilderness of Lapland have gone for a while.

The right way to start the fishing of a brown trout is to sneak quietly onto the river side and not talk load. You also have to take into consideration where your shadows are, so that not your shadow or the shadow of the rod are showed in the water. The best day to go brown trout fishing is on a cloudy day in the end of the summer in Lapland.

The latin name of the brown trout is Salmo trutta fario. It is also sometimes called the river trout. The size of the brown trout is about 25-30 cm in length and weights around 1 kilo at the most. In small rivers they do not grow that big. Their back is olive-dark brown and silvery blue, red spots occur towards the belly, the belly itself is whitish yellow. The brown trout can live for up to 18 years in the small rivers.

Brown trout are very faithful to their habitat i.e. they live only at one spot and do not migrate. Even after being disturbed they will return to their traditional sites. The adult brown trout requires its own territory. During the day it is hidden in the shadows of the river bank, facing upstream and that is where you start fishing. You throw your fishing rod with the worm on the hook into the water near the bank and wait for the brown trout to attack. Usually it does not take long time until you get the catch. The brown trout attacks very quickly and unexpectedly.

That is one thing that makes the angling of brown trout so adventures. It differs a lot from catching perch.
As the brown trout belongs to the family of salmons, the taste is more like the salmon’s.
The tradition of angeling brown trout is about to end, because at the moment the habit to fish brown trout is mostly omited by elderly men, who teach the skills only to their children.
I have had the opportunity to learn how to angel brown trout and I am so happy that I got that chance.

A Sami story: Cosmic Elk hunt – Diermmes, the Thunder, and Meandas, the golden-antlered deer

According to old Sami tales the all mighty Diermmes, the Thunder, is in control of the stormy skies. Diermmes has the size of ten giant pine trees. In one hand Diermmes holds a rainbow and in the other hand a bow and flashing arrows. When he travels around the skies are filled with lightning as he shoots his bow wildly in all directions.

Diermmes hunts and catches fish. His feet sink deep into the earth. Wherever he runs around forests fall down and in some places valleys are born.

Diermmes has also dogs and they are running in front of him at a furious speed. He tries to chase Meandas – a golden-antlered deer.

Meandas has a dark head and a snow-white body and its coat shines like silver. Meandas flies through the air and if you look into its burning eyes, they make you blind. When moving it makes such a noice that human beings become deaf. And its breathing is so hot that man’s voice becomes toneless.

Diermmes wants to overtake Meandas. When he is about to catch Meandas, the golden-antlered deer, and his first arrow hits it, the fells nearby start to shake and crack and some rivers start to flow upstream. The heavens become a desert-sky and it will not rain anymore. Lakes and seas run dry, but the sun is still shining.


When Diermmes’ second arrow hits the deer between its golden antlers. Then fells start to erupt and boil and new mountains are born in their places. Ice melts and northern lands erupt in flames. This is actually taking place now.

Diermmes’ dogs are about to catch the golden-antlered deer. As the dogs attack Meandas, Diermmes has the chance to stab his knife into the heart of the deer. That is when the earth comes to an end. That causes the stars to fall down from the night sky, the old moon, Aske, hiding in the darkness dies and Beaivvás, the sun, sinks into eternal darkness and big flakes of dust will cover the Earth. Is that the prediciton of the end of the World?

Sami Story: A boy who fell in love with a gnome girl

According to Sami beliefs, gnomes, Gufihtars, live beneath the surface of the ground. Their lives are much like human lives. They are well-to-do and good-looking spirits. The songs they sing are very pleasing. Their reindeer herds are just beautiful. The gnomes are usually invisible to humans. They know the weather and they are fond of certain places. They show themselves to humans they like. But they get very annoyed, if people are building houses above their dwellings. In such a case a gnome may threaten to burn down a house or a cowshed. And it is not allowed to camp over night on certian paths. You can make an agreement with the Gufihtar in your area: If you happen to see their reindeer, you can throw a knife or an other piece of steel over them. Then the herd will become yours.

Here is a story about a boy who fell in love with a gnome girl.
Once there was a young man who came to a swamp to pick cloudberries. Suddenly he heard an unusual voice singing and he saw a young girl coming down the path. She was very beautiful. The reindeer following her were colored with all the colors the reindeer could have. The boy thought: ”That must be a Gufihtar’s daughter! She shall be mine.” He shouted to her: ”Hello there! Stay with me! Be my wife!” But the girl did not seem to hear him.

Later on, the young man came back to the same place to pick cloudberries. He met the same spirit girl and now they fell in love. This time, when he asked her to come home with him, she replied: ”I am ready.” She also told him not to look back anymore once they left the place where they were standing. He agreed to do so and so he received a huge reindeer herd from the spirits. How pleased he was! Soon they were married.

As years went by, they, however, lost their luck and wealth as well as most of their reindeer. Their wealthy life did not remain. But, according to some tales, many people who marry a Gufihtar live happily ever after.
It is important to have harmonious relations to all creatures who live around us. The ways of the Gufihtar are much like the ways of the Sami people. They migrate with their reindeer in the autumn and in the spring. And they are good at forecasting weather.

The Sami story about The Christmas Wanderers

There are some spirits in the Lappish storytelling that are not good to be seen by human beings. One of them I hope no human being will see are the Christmas Wanderers. In Sami language they are called Juovlajohttit. Animals such as reindeer, cats, dogs or horses can feel when the Christmas wanderers are near by.

A boy named Bánnan once happened to see the Christmas procession. They came in sleighs pulled by different animals in the light of the new moon in December. The first sleigh was pulled by a giant coal-black stallion. In the sleigh sat two people. One was an one-eyed man. The next sleigh was pulled by a reindeer with one man in it. After that came a sleigh with one man pulled by an ox. Further along came many sleighs, each pulled by different animals. The final sleigh in the procession was pulled by a mouse. A man with a very startling appearance sat in that sleigh. He was wearing a snow-white coat made of reindeer hides as well as beautifully decorated gaiters on his legs and on his head he wore a fine hat made of otter skin.

The boy, who had been watching this magnificent parade, was so excited. When he looked up upon the well-dressed man, Bánnan said ”Good evening, Sir!”

But the gentleman replied: ”Mark my words! Nothing good will come of this.”

The boy, Bánnan, had seen the Juovlajohttit! He had been standing there watching the procession of the Christmas spirits! But Bánnan did not feel very well that evening and since then, Bánnan is blind on one eye.  

The House of Mrs Claus at the Arctic Circle in Rovaniemi

In time for this year’s Christmas Season in Rovaniemi, Lapland, the House of Mrs Claus opened for visitors.

I walked by the building of the house last spring and I decided then that this is something I really want to visit some day. And finally the day came that I had the opportunity to do a visit at Mrs Claus’ house.

Mrs Claus’ Christmas Cottage at the Arctic Circle in Rovaniemi, Lapland

You find the villa behind the reindeer place at the Arctic Circle. It is open only about three times a day and you have to buy a ticket in advance before entering the house. The ticket office is the same as for the reindeer drives or you can book on Internet on the homepage of santaclausreindeer.fi.

There has been a certain demand for meeting Mrs Claus at the Arctic Circle and that is the reason why she now has an own cottage there, where she can meet children from all over the world and show up, so to say. Until now Mrs Claus has been at home at Korvatunturi making porrige and gingerbread, while Santa and his elves have spent days at the Arctic Circle.

Santa’s house at the Arctic Circle, Rovaniemi, Lapland

To meet with Mrs Claus you turn up outside the door with your already bought ticket. (Or you have to run back to the reindeer place to get one). Then a couple of Mrs Claus’ helpers turn up and open the door for you.

Inside you can leave your outdoor clothes in the cloakroom. There are also very neat toilets inside. And then you can enter Mrs Claus’ kitchen. After some entertaining from the elves Mrs Claus finally shows up. She greets all the guests and you will be showed to sit at a table for the upcoming serving of the special christmas porridge, which is served by Mrs Claus. The Finnish Christmas porridge is made of rice and at least the tourist who were visiting Mrs Claus’ cottage with me had never tasted it but found it delicious.

After the porridge Mrs Claus starts baking gingerbreads and the children can help her one by one to put on the different shapes of gingerbread.

While waiting for the gingerbread to get baked in the oven, Mrs Claus tells long (really long) stories about Lapland and the reindeer there. Unfortunately the story telling was this time in English and none of the children were speaking or understanding English and some of the adults did not even understand English. The small helpers are nice to look at and they run around making some funny things, that are better understandable by the children than the stories about Lapland.

Finally there is the signal for the gingerbreads in the oven. And Mrs Claus can take the gingerbreads out from the oven. After some cooling time all the guests can decorate their own gingerbread and eat it, too.

The visit to Mrs Claus’ cottage ends with the guests writing some christmas wishes and put them hanging in the christmas tree. And suddenly you hear an incredible noice coming up. That is suppose to mean there are hundreds of reindeer running by the house, but that part of the story unfortunately did not get to the children, because of the language difficulties.

You can take your own photos together with Mrs Claus and the elves and the elves are also very helpful and take photos of the whole family, if you want that. The photos are included in the entrance fee (that, by the way, is one of the most expensive entrance fee I have paid in my whole life….).

Mrs Claus and her helpers

A visit to Mrs Claus’ house is recommended if you are really interested in learning how this mystical lady spends her days, but be prepared to pay a lot for the visit.

I am glad I made this visit, so now I know a lot more about Mrs Claus and I got to see the nice cottage from inside. I did not here reveal all the secret things happening during the visit. I left out some details you have to experience yourself in case you visit Mrs Claus’ house some day.

Ice-fishing in the end of April in Lapland

This year, 2019, my yearly ice-fishing expedition was delayed until late in the spring for several reasons. One of the reasons was that Easter was so late this year ( April 18-22) and we did not get a cabin during Easter; they were fully booked. So the expedition started after Easter. This year was also different regarding the snow situation. While there was snow nearly one meter in the south of Rovaniemi, we found out that in the north, near Kilpisjärvi in the northernmost Lapland, there was not that much snow – hardly no snow at all on places.

The weather around Easter was sunny and quite warm and that made the snow melt even more. On the way and at arrival to the fishing place we could just establish the fact that this expedition was going to be different from the previous ones.

First of all, we needed to move from the car around half a kilometer on SNOW with skies…..

Well the little snow was quite hard in the morning, so with some extra efforts we managed to reach the fishing-place without any problems.

The ice on the river was thick but a little water had melted on it. That was fixed with some holes in the ice and the water disappeared quickly. It was easy to move around on the ice and the weather was perfect all five days. I enjoyed the time outdoor in the nature. Some swans flew over and that is always a sign of spring arrival. The little white-troated dipper was diving in the rapids. The rapids were open, as usual this time of the year. It was nothing special with that.

On the starting day I caught some really nice white-fishes. As you can see, the water on the ice had disappeared completely.

As parts of the experience with ice-fishing are the breaks with fryed sausages.

As the days went by we realised the skiing was getting more and more difficult. The mornings were still ok, because of the cold nights and the hard snow and ground. But in the afternoons every day the sun had melted even more snow that had turned into water along our way. We even went skiing through some waters to reach the car. But then we came up with another solution: We found a way along the rapids that was still usable and with snow. Then there was only a short way where we had to ski on the swamp with only grass on.

As I’ve been sitting on the ice ice-fishing I have often wondered if it would be possible to climb the nearest fell, Lammasoaivi.

This year I saw the opportunity, because of the lack of snow. One day I decided not to go fishing, but hiking up to the top of the fell Lammasoaivi.

The feeling as I reached the top of the fell is hard to describe in words…I was so filled with happiness and the view from the top of the fell all over the north of Lapland was amazing. This is Lammasoaivi fell 740 m over the sea. I felt like I had made a dream come true.

I also visited a nature trail nearby on the same day. It was the “Iitto palsa mire” that describes the fenomenon Palsa in Lapland. Palsa means a giant peat hummok which is in permafrost. The Palsas are to be seen only in the north of Lapland. Apart from these palsa mires there are no permafrosts in other places in Finland. Permafrost means that the ice inside the mire never melts. The largest palsa here is around 5 metres high. If the peat is over 50 cm thick the ice does not melt during the summer. Palsa is the black pile in the picture.

The melting of the core inside the palsa makes the palsa collapse. With the rise of the palsa, its dry peat surface starts to crack and the warmth reaches the ice core on 55-77 cm and the palsa starts to melt. Finally the whole frozen core has vanished and the palsa collapses. The only thing left is a pool with peat edges, reminds us of a hole made by a small meteroite.

In the end of the week we decided to abandone the thought of ice-fishing on the river, because the rapid grew larger and larger every day and the noice from the rapid began to be very loud. This also had the affect on the fish, so we got hardly no fish at all in these days. We moved to more calm waters for the last two days.

We also visited the village Kilpisjärvi one of the days, as usual.

As usual, the expedition was full of adventures and we were very content with the tour again.

Santa Claus village is so much more than Santa himself

I have visitied Santa Claus village on the Arctic Circle situated 6 km north from Rovaniemi center several times. During the years there has always been some growth and development, but I have to say, since my last visit the growth has been huge! This has probably something to do with the fact, that the amount of visitors to Lapland is increasing big time. In 2018 there were around 3 milj. overnight stays in Lapland. That was the biggest amount of visitors to Lapland during a year ever.

The day of my visit was a sunny day with temperatures around -6 degrees celsius. Just perfect. A quick look and overview at the map over Santa Claus village and then I planned where to go.

Santa Claus Village, Arctic Circle, Tähtikuja 1, Rovaniemi, Finland https://santaclausvillage.info/info/map/

I had to leave out all the “normal” spots, like Santa Claus himself and the Official Post Office of Santa Claus – I have been there so many times before. This time I concentrated on visiting the new spots.

The first place I went to was The Moomin Snowcastle, a short walk from the center of the Santa Claus Village.

The Moomin Snowcastle http://www.moominsnowcastlefinland.com

On my way there I met a well-known friend of all the children….the Moomin Troll himself.

The Moomin snowcastle is full of ice sculptures of the characters from the Moomin story. Amazing how well-done they are! Ice-building artists from China have really done a good job! And their job continues all the time Because of the snow falling almost every day the last weeks the workers of the snowcastle have to clean the sculptures from snow all days long.

If you do not know who Moomin is, you should know he is very famous in Finland and the interest has spread to Japan and Asia and the Moomins get more and more known around the rest of the world also. Learn more about the Moomins here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moomins

Except from the sculptures there were several activities for the children and “childish” people. The Big Slide was very popular for all ages.

Another activity was to “make your own northern light”.

It is also possible to visit a husky park near the snowcastle. You can buy a husky ride or just stop by to cuddle with the dogs.

Near the Moomin snowcastle I found the Santa’s Igloos Arctic Circle; a place where customers can rent an igloo for the night. All the igloos have glass windows turned towards the north. In case of northern light activity the customers can lie in the beds and watch the northern light directly through the window.

Santa’s Igloos Arctic Circle https://www.santashotels.fi/en/hotelsantaclaus/glass-igloos-in-rovaniemi

Actually the area around Santa Claus village is full of accomodation possibility. During the last few years the amount of accomodation possibilities near the Village has increased.

Nova Skyland Hotel & Restaurant http://www.novaskyland.com
Reindeer on the yard of Nova Skyland Hotel

Nova Skyland Hotel & Restaurant is one of the newbuildings. It is possible to have a buffet lunch here and I took the opportunity to get inside the restaurant for the first time to have a buffet lunch.

Other accomodations in the area are the Santa Claus Holiday Village and the Village Suites, the Snowman Wold Glass Resort and at a 2 km’s walk from the Village is the Arctic TreeHouse Hotel.

Santa Claus Holiday Village Suites https://www.santaclausholidayvillage.fi/en/home/
Snowman World Glass Resort http://www.snowmanworld.fi/en/glass-resort#
Arctic TreeHouse Hotel https://arctictreehousehotel.com/

I had learnt that there was plans to open a Mrs Santa Claus House on the Arctic Circle and I was really curious to see how the building would look like, but that was not ready to open yet (in February 2019). I have to make a new visit to the Arctic Circle during this spring to visit that. I definitively have to see what it has to offer!

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Hiking in Korouoma canyon in Lapland, part 2

As I menitoned in my post from 2013 Hiking-in-korouoma-canyon I have since then been dreaming of making more hikings in Korouoma. Finally this autumn I got this second chance.

Me and my friend and her dog Topi spent a day hiking in Korouoma on October 22, 2018. We started our trip from the cabin nearby where we had spent the night. The weather was a fantastic October morning with no wind and around +1 degree. At arrival to the parking lot at the place called Saukkovaara, I saw a young couple getting into their car and leaving. They had already been hiking in this frosty morning and I noticed they were all sweaty, which made me wonder a little. After our hike I did not wonder anymore…..

The Korouoma canyon is all together 30 km long and on my first hike here we made about 6 km (which is about 3 km in one direction and then back). At that time we started from the place Koivuköngäs.
Korouoma is known as the biggest canyon in Finland and is hundreds of millions of years old. In the centre of Korouoma the fracture valley forms a canyon that has worn its way into the surrounding terrain. At its deepest the gorge is approximately 100-130 metres deep. Its cliff walls are tens of metres high and extremely steep and at points vertical. The bottom of this canyon is 200 to 500 metres wide. Parts of the canyon have become boggy and the narrow twisting River Korojoki meanders through it.

This time we chose Saukkovaara as the starting place. Saukkovaara is situated in the village of Pernu in the munincipality of Posio in the south-east of Lapland, 115 km from Rovaniemi. Directions from road 81 (Rovaniemi-Posio): At the village of Pernu turn right onto a local road at the sign for Selänsalmi. Drive for about 2 km and turn right at the sign to Korouoma. From this intersection it is about 3 km along a forest road to Saukkovaara, where you can find a parking area and information boards.

We chose the 6,5 km hiking route marked as a round trip on the map. It is marked demanding and suitable for people with good health. The path started nicely going down into the canyon and we stopped to enjoy a waterfall on the way down to the bottom. On the bottom of the canyon there is the small river Korojoki going the whole way through Korouoma. Hikers can use bridges to get from one side of the river to the other side. The hiking route is very well marked and on the maps along the route you see the places worth visiting and places where you can stop for a break and places for good photos.

The first place for a break and possibility to make a fire came a little suddenly for us; after 1,7 km. We had already had a nice breakfast in the cottage and we were not prepared for a stop, yet.

Our next goal would be the Piippikallio, where we could find the next shelter. And on we went….Piippukallio is a place situated on the edge of the canyon. This fact I did not realize until later….We started climbing up, up and up. The path was full of stones and roots. We saw parts of old stairs been taken away from the path. For now we had to manage climbing with the help of the stones.

After a very hard climbing up the wall we got rewarded! A fantastic view of the canyon and a very nice and cosy fire place.

Climbing down was really much easier, even though we had to be careful where we put our feet. The dog did not have any problems climbing up or down. And he could drink the water from different wells and from the river. I probably did not drink enough during the hard hike and I had to cope with a minor liquid loss as I returned home.

After a refreshing break at the fireplace we continued. The path lead us to the places for the spectacular winter ice climbing places: Ruskea virta, Mammuttiputous and Jaska Jokunen. I can only imagine what they look like in the winter with the thick ice covering the walls.

The last part of the hike, the 1,8 km leading us back to the car was all about ups and downs all the way. Steep up and steep down all the time. Really testing our legs and knees. And we found them still going strong and the only problem I had was I was all sweaty and started to freeze as we arrived to the car. I was really freezing and shaking as I got home with my wet clothes on. But after changing clothes and drinking a lot of liquid I am all ok again and ready for the next hike.



The Windman, Bieggolmmái, in Sami mythology

The wind and all kinds of weather have always affected the lives of the Sami people. They do activities like fishing, hunting, reindeer herding and berry pickings always with the weather conditions in thoughts. People belive that Bieggolmmái, the Windman dwells on high mountains and rocks, controlling the weather and winds from higher places. The Bieggolmmái, the wind-spirit, is known across the Sami lands. He has been drawn very centrally on shaman drums. This is reasonable, because Sami people always need to follow the weather whatever they are doing. They of course have always attempted to control and influence local weather conditions, in every possible way. The samis know the Windman carries the words if wisdom. On the picture of the shaman drum, the Windman’s symbol is the round circle around the Sami hut.

There are some very important signs that tell us about the coming weather: When there is a warm autumn, there will be a cold spring is one saying. Another is to follow how the willow grouses are behaving. They are usually walking on the ground and hide under bushes, but if you see willow grouses sitting in trees, on branches, there is a snow storm coming up soon.

Another trustworthy sign is how the wind turnes around: When the wind turns clockwise from one direction to another, there will be good weather. And when the wind turnes anticlockwise on the other hand, there will be bad weather. It will start snowing when there are clouds coming up after a windy day.

In ancient times the Sami people tried to affect the weather conditions by worshiping and honoring the Windman when they were herdig reindeer in the mountains or travelling at sea. They believed then the Bieggolmmái would not put hard winds nor storms on them. The Sami people were offering through ceremonies reindeer antlers and other things on mountaintops for Bieggolmmái, the wind-ruler.

If the wind is blowing hard from one direction the Windman can move the reindeer in the direction he wants. The Sami people have always been able to take control of the winds. They are gifted in stopping the wind and knotting the wind in ropes. In ancient times they used to sell windropes. On knot on the rope could hold an ordinary weak wind. Two knots held hard winds and a rope with three knots held a raging storm.

The story tells the Sami people can control the winds with the help of the Windman. That is at least the fact about a Sami capable of catching the wind being born. He or she is then capable of controlling that special wind that was blowing on the day he/she was born.



Ice-fishing expedition to the Upper North of Lapland, in 2018

The winter in Lapland 2017-2018 was cold with a lot of snow. In Rovaniemi almost one meter of snow on places. The planning for the yearly fishing expedition had to take into consideration this extreme situation. The fact that spring arrival was delayed for about two weeks made changes in the plan. The expedition usually takes place in between the 20th and the 25th of April. But with this year´s spring delay we decided to start to Kilpisjärvi on the 24th of April.

If you arrive too early to the fishing area the fish are not awake; they still have the calm winter in their bodies. When spring arrives the fish wake up and start to move around searching for something to eat. The possibilities for you to get a catch will then increase. Last year (2017) the spring was almost as late as this year and our expedition was then not as successful as we expected. Our expectations for this year´s expedition were not too high, either.
One thing we found out just before starting driving towards the Upper North was the fact that there was not as much snow as in Rovaniemi. At the time there was 72 cm of snow in Rovaniemi and 61 cm in Kilpisjärvi. The nice lady in the reception of the cottage village Ropinpirtti could also tell us there was no crispy snow whatsoever…..The sun was shining bright from a blue sky and decreased the amount of snow every day. The snow conditions were cleary different from the ones in Rovaniemi.

The main thing is, that when we reach the ice there does not need to be any snow on the ice, but we need to have snow to ski on on the way to the fishing place. The start was really challenging. There was around half a meter of snow that did not carry you. This is a picture of the way we used to ski previous years. Completely impossible to take this route this year; too much big stones.

The only possible route was situated a bit further away, but we had to choose that. Snow is smoother than stones, anyway. So we struggled through the smooth snow for more than an hour.

Once on the ice we started fishing. It was a wonderful feeling to be on the good old ice-fishing spot again after one year of waiting. The hole-maker started his job; there was around 70 cm of ice except for the areas near the two rapids that are in both ends of the area on the river. The ice was thinner there.

It did not take too long for me to catch my first fish. It was a harjus. Good size and good activity in the fish, promising. This first evening we caught some pretty nice fish and that was promising.

Early the next morning out on the ice again. The ski track gets harder the more we use it, but still no crispy snow. The sun was shining again, got a lot of good sized fish.

The days sitting on the ice did not feel long at all. There was always something happening. In the morning, I could hear the grouses “playing” around on the shore. The wooper swans flew over, singing. I also heard the first cranes’ arrival to the fells. The wooper swan is the national bird of Finland and I love the sound of it when it first return back from its winter residence. The wooper swan is one of the first migration birds to return to Lapland in spring. I get cold shivers as I hear the wooper swan for the first time. These swans were not the first ones I heard. They were out flying looking for open waters. The little white-throated dipper was also singing and diving in the rapid.

Every day we had a bread with log fire and fried sausages and other delicacies. But sometimes the pause was postponed because the fish was active all day long and it was hard to leave the ice for even a moment.

The third morning there was finally some crispy snow and the way from the car to the ice was decreased by half a kilometer. It was so easy, you could go skiing anywhere and the snow was hard because of the low temperatures during the night. After a sunny day we needed to use our previous ski track to get up from the ice again, because the sun makes the snow smooth again. But we were lucky to have crispy snow-mornings during the rest of our stay.

So after five days of fishing, we could state the fact that this year was very successful; the weather was just perfect, the fish were active and we got some good sized fish and we had no injures. Now and then we got a big pike on the hook and sometimes the line broke and you lost your hook to the “big-mouth” himself. (We are not really interested in getting pikes on this expedition, because we can get that anywhere. On this expedition we want harjus, whitefish and of course a trout now and then, but mostly we do not get those.)

As we left the cottage village there was not much snow left. The spring arrived to the upper north of Finland and we returned to the south of Lapland, back to Rovaniemi.



Protect your eyes in the sun

Ever since I came to Lapland I have suffered from a minor irritation in my eyes in spring time when the sun in shining on bright snow and ice. I have been used to put eye drops in my eyes before I go out, otherwise I had to deal with sore and itching eyes the following night.

Somehow I have thought I do not want to use sun glasses, because I thought the glasses change the colors and the light in the nature. I really want to enjoy the real nature, with real colors and real light.

As I grow older I realize that it is not a healthy way of thinking and not protecting you eyes. Your eyes are really important and you want them to work as long as possible. A number of studies have shown sun exposure may increase your chances of developing eye problems, such as cataracts, later in life. I have read a study that direct sunlight isn’t the only threat to your eyes. Reflected UV rays can also be harmful. For example, fresh snow reflects as much as 80 percent of UV radiation; dry sand about 15 percent; and sea foam about 25 percent. And, because you’re more likely to look down than up, more UV light is reflected directly into your eyes. Hats with brims offer no protection from reflected UV rays.

The time of day and time of year influence the severity of harmful UV rays. Because the eye is naturally shaded by the brow ridge when the sun is high in the sky, the highest ultraviolet radiation exposure for eyes is in the morning and mid-afternoon, rather than at noon, as it is for skin. Sun exposure to the eyes also tends to be more constant in fall, winter and spring when the sun is lower in the sky.

Another reason why I have not used sunglasses is that I have to use glasses with prescription all the time and I have found it complicated to use sunglasses at the same time. I have not found a solution that would satisfy me enough, until now….

There was an offer for two glasses to the price of one in one of the local stores. As I needed to get new reading glasses I asked for sunglasses with prescription for free. My new sunglasses are decreasing the irritating reflexion from the bright snow and still the colors of nature stay (almost) natural. I am very satisfied with my new sunglasses. The prescription allows me to see the worm on the hook when ice-fishing as well as the far away snowy landscapes. I hope I can leave all eye drops at home in the cupboard when I spend days on the snow and ice.

Of course the sunglasses will serve me also in the summer time as the sun is shining and also when driving the car in sunny weather.



The Eight Seasons and the little Weasel

The other day I heard an original Lappish man saying the winter is over in Lapland for this season. My first thought was: “What is he talking about?!” and I looked around on the huge amount of snow and over half a meter of ice around me. This is absolutely what I, as a newcomer, would call winter! But then I remembered, there are eight seasons in Lapland – not only four as in the rest of Finland!

My post about the eight seasons you find here: http://grandma-in-lapland.com/lapland-the-land-of-eight-seasons

According to this man, the arctic winter is over when the temperatures during day-time are around 0 degrees Celsius or more. And that happened this week; the cold we had last week with temperatures around -30 degrees Celsius suddenly changed to near 0 degrees.

Even though I still love the winter, snow and cold weather, even for me temperatures around -30 are a little too severe. You can hardly breath outside and the air is so dry, you get dry hands, dry face and dry lips. If you are fortunate enough to not have the seasonal flu, you could manage for a short while outdoor, but if you have the flu and your throat is already sore, the cold, dry weather makes it hard to breath.

The season “Frosty Winter” is supposedly over for this time, but still the “Crusty Snow” season has not arrived. The Crusty Snow is when you can go skiing on top of the snow as the sun has made the snow so hard with melting warmth during the day and still freezing temperatures during the night. In Rovaniemi at the moment the official snow depth is 93 cm.

So we could say we are on the zone between the Frosty Winter and the Crusty Snow seasons at the moment in the middle of March this year.

Another story:

The other day I had to bring my car to the service station for some smaller measures and check-ups. As I came to fetch up the car in the end of the day the service man told me first about the measurements he had made and then at the end he told me, by the way, he had also removed the perch from my motor……

You should have seen my face: the perch!!??!! You say there was a fish in my motor!?

Yes, he said, there was a very old perch, so he could not eat it. He had to throw it away. He also asked me if I used to drive on the ice-road on the river or near a lake or something. I must say, I had no answer at that moment to give to him.

But as I returned home and that question was struggling my head I suddenly came up with the answer: the Weasel!

I have been enjoying the life and movements of a little weasel for several years now in Lapland. Of course, I cannot be sure it is the same weasel all the time. But anyway, as I go ice-fishing a lot, I get a lot of small fish, too. That is fish I do not prepare for my own food. In the beginning I used to give them all to birds near the lake, but as I one day found out there was a weasel fetching up fish, too, I was happy to share the fish with “him”.

During the autumn and winter I have seen the weasel frequently on the camera but also in the real. It is so funny and I have been laughing a lot because of that weasel. I see it collects fish from the place where I use to leave the small fish.

During this winter we have used a trap for racoon dogs as the feeding place for the weasel. As the birds like magpies and jays do not get the fish from the trap, it leaves possibilities for the weasel. The weasel gets into the trap and brings out the fish…no problem!

The weasel collects and hides food in stores for later use. It definitively not eat them all immediately. There are several different stores to where the weasel brings food. You can see that from the tracks around the place. After my visit to the service station with my car I realized my car was also one of the stores of the weasel food! I am glad we found the fish in my motor before summer. Just think about the smell of rutten fish…

And I surely was the laugh of the day for the service man at the station!



The Ski resorts Saariselka and Levi in Lapland

I have visited several ski resorts in Lapland. As I live in Rovaniemi at the moment it is easy to jump into the car and drive for some hours and reach the beautiful ski resorts in the winter time.

I visited Saariselkä in the beginning of January. It really happened to be the first sunny day of the year in Saariselkä. After the kaamos, the dark period of the year, the sun gets up again around January 8th in Saariselkä. At the top of Kaunispää, the highest peak in Saariselkä they say the sun gets up three times behind three different fells every day in January. The sun is at that time so low and only up for some hours. The slopes for downhill skiing are mostly used during the spring months March and April. On the top of Kaunispää there is the longest sleigh slope in Finland. It is 1200 m:s long and starts from the top and ends near the center of Saariselkä village. Saariselkä is a dream location for cross-country skiing enthusiasts with a bustling nightlife and plenty of shopping opportunities. Saariselkä is normally the first ski resort in Lapland to open its cross-country skiing trails and its treeless fell highlands provide magnificent settings for viewing the Northern Lights.

The distance from Rovaniemi to Saariselkä is 250 km and the distance from Ivalo Airport is 27 km.

The ski resort of Saariselkä has captured my interest because of the open, treeless fells. The shopping is not that interesting in this resort.

The ski resort of Levi, about 160 km from Rovaniemi, is more like a little city even if it is only a small village. There is always plenty going on in Levi. Levi is Finland’s  busiest ski resort. It offers not only snow fun, but also a superb nightlife. This pleasant alpine village is full of boutiques selling branded products intended for the whole family. In Levi is also one of Finland’s largest spa. The distance from Levi to Kittilä airport is only 17 km.

Levi offers slopes for downhill skiing, but also many tracks for cross country skiing.

Every time I visit Levi I also want to go to the top of the fell. There is the restaurant Tuikku with a marwellous view over at least 5 fells in the west of Lapland. Tuikku is very popular among the downhill skiing people. It is a place where they take a break and something to drink. And the slopes bring you all the way down to the village center.



A visit to the Husky Park

One of the tourist attractions of Lapland is a visit to a husky park and a husky sleigh drive.

Husky is a general name for a sled-type of dog used in northern regions, differentiated from other sled-dog types by their fast pulling style. They are an ever-changing cross-breed of the fastest dogs. Huskies are used in sled dog racing. In recent years, companies have been marketing tourist treks with dog sledges for adventure travellers in snow regions. In Lapland you can find husky parks in almost every touristic village.

When you arrive to the husky park the huskies are anxiously waiting for customers. Because they love to run! They can hardly wait for the run to start. The husky howls rather than barks.

The dogs are of different kinds. There are leaders and followers. In the first row are always the leader dogs. The owner of the husky park knows his dogs well and divide them into leaders and followers. The customers can sit in a sleigh behind the dogs and the driver stands on the back of the sleigh. The ride is very fast as the dogs are anxious to run. But in parks where there are several dog teams running it could also happen the dogs suddenly stop to smell the urins from other dogs. They quickly continue on order from the driver. The touristic drive is not that long, but if you get excited about dog rides you can of course also order longer drives.

After the ride you can get an introducion of the dogs’ lives from the guide of the park. And you can also visit the area where the dogs not running are resting. They like people and are also safe with children. Occasionally there are of course also puppies in the park. The owners plan the shedule for when to have puppies and when not.

Some huskies have blue eyes and some have brown eyes, but there are also dogs with one blue and one brown eye.



The animals of Ranua zoo in Lapland give me so much pleasure

I love the Lappish nature with lakes, swamps, rivers and forests, specially in winter time. And the animals of Lapland give me so much pleasure, both wild animals but also tame or half-tame animals. Readers of this blog have probably already noticed I also love to spend times in the Ranua zoo near Rovaniemi. I visit there several times a year and I never get disappointed. And so was this day’s (March 20th, 2017) visit also very successful.

Ranua zoo has a new and rare resident. A polar bear cub was born on November 25th 2016 and has spent about 3 months inside the den with its mother, Venus. And finally, last Monday, the door to the den was opened and the inhabitants could come out. I had the chance today, a week later, to visit the zoo.

At my arrival I could just see the back of Venus as she entered the den for a short feeding of the cub and their mid-day nap. So I went to see all the other animals first. When I returned to the cage of the female polar bear and her cub, they were still napping. But my waiting was rewarded as Venus suddenly put out her head and sniffed in the air to be sure there were no threats to the cub outside. After that the cub was also allowed to come out. And how adorable it was! It has no name yet. The zoo arrange a name competition for the male cub on the website and the name will be final in the end of the summer.

The father, Manasse, lives behind the wall and he was very interested in the smells that came from the other side through a crack in the wall.

So far the cub will go without a name. When it was born, the cub weighed around half a kilogram, but now it is already 10 kilograms.

In the nature the male polar bears are a threat to the cubs. They could kill cubs just to get the female polar bear rutting again. When the female bear has a cub, and that could last for about 2 years, she is not the least interested in the male polar bear. That is why Venus all the time sniffed in the air to find out if there were any threating male bears nearby. The mother bear was looking out for the cub all the time they spent outside the den. There were not so many visitors watching their show today, but in the morning as I arrived there were several buses with visitors. And children from a kindergarden were singing out loud to wake up the polar bears. But that did not work and they went disappointed back to the kindergarden again without seeing the polar bear cub. I do hope they have the chance to come back one day.

The staff of the zoo are very proud of this newcomer, and for good reason, as it is extremely rare for a polar bear to reproduce in captivity. Special focus has been put on monitoring the wellbeing of mother bear Venus. She has now given birth to two polar bear cubs in Ranua zoo. Five years ago her cub Ranzo was born and brought around 150,000 visitors to the zoo. Ranzo lives in an Austrian zoo at the moment.

During this day’s visit the cup and its mother enjoyed the sunny weather and the snow in the cage. The cub wanted to play with the mother and jumped towards her several times. It was so sweet!

The Ranua wildlife park is open daily 10 am to 4 pm. You can stay in the park after closing time. Until 6 pm, if you want.

After the successful show at the polar bear place I also checked the other animals of the wildlife park. Next to the polar bears was the quiet place of the brown bears. That was quiet because the brownbears are still hibernating. They could wake up any day now, though.

Then comes the cage of the wolves. They were out walking in the snow and seemed very content with their lives. And so did the dholes, the wolverines and the lynxes. Especially the lynxes seemed to have the feelings of the spring in their hearts. It would be nice if they could have small lynx babies soon. The wildlife park is expecting a musk ox calf to be born later in the spring. Last year the first musk ox calf was born in the wildlife park. Ranua zoo is the only place in Finland where you can see musk oxes and last year’s calf was the first in 9,000 years to be born in the region of Ranua. The beavers also have small cubs at the moment. But they were all sleeping today during my visit.



Auttiköngäs is full of geological history and war history

Last week I decided to try out Auttiköngäs nature trail. Auttiköngäs is situated 70 km from Rovaniemi along the road to the east. It is easy to reach by car and there is a large parking lot from where the 3,5 km long nature trail starts.

Auttiköngäs is part of the great canyon that goes through Lapland in a north-west to south-east direction near Posio in the east of Lapland. I visited the canyon Korouoma many years ago. You can read about that here.

The weather this day was normal October weather in Lapland before it starts snowing. There was no wind and around +2 degrees Celsius. Just perfect for a hike in the nature. Actually the temperature was below 0 degree in the morning as I started the hike.

img_0697At the parking lot there is a restaurant in Auttiköngäs. The restaurant is open for visitors only during the summer season from the beginning of June to the end of August.

There are around 15,000 visitors at Auttiköngäs every year. The visitors are interested in the canyon and the log chute and dam built in the river in order to make it possible to float timber to the Kemijoki river and further to Rovaniemi and onward to the sawmills located near the Kemi city on the west coast of Finland. The first mention of the Auttiköngäs log chute dates to 1899. Log driving continued until the 1970s. Currently there is no log driving taking place at Auttiköngäs but the aim is to preserve the log driving structures at Auttiköngäs. Around the parking lot you can also learn about how the log driving used to take place and the museum near by shows a lot of items dated back to the log driving era. It is of great cultural value to preserve this to the coming generations.

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The items are presented in the museum and you learn about what the different items were used to.

 

 

An information board in the beginning of the hiking route tells you about how the log driving were done and what the log workers were doing.

The hiking trail starts over a bridge leading you over the log chute. The water fall is 16 m high in an almost up right position. The trail continues along the east side of the canyon with some view points where you can stop and admire the sight of the rapid. It could be good to mention here that the hiking trail is partly built of iron and duckboards for easier access. For the dogs there are some special routes because they probably do not want to walk on the iron grid. There is also a special route for dogs and their owners in the forest to avoid all the stairs with iron grid that are necessary for access around the canyon.

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Here is a map of the hiking route with the different sights and resting places.

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At the time I started my hike there were also other hikers out on the trail and as I reached back to the parking lot again it was full of cars, which shows how popular this place is for visits even at this time of the year.

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Along the banks of the Autti river you can stop and admire the view but the information boards along the route also tell you about the war history from this place. German soldiers have built structures ranging from trenches to shooting holes and artillery positions here. These were part of the Ringwall defence line constructed in the Rovaniemi area at the end of the Continuation war in 1945. The plan was to withdraw German units from the border between Finland and the Soviet Union to new positions in Northern Lapland and Norway. The intention was that fighting in the Auttiköngäs area would delay Soviet troups during the withdrawal. And that I really believe would have succeeded. The terrain here is hardly impossible to move around in or cross through! I was really surprised to find even a war history in this area. However, the Germans left the Auttiköngäs so rapidly that there were no batteries built here and some of the structures were not even finished.

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Soon the trail leads you to the hootchie where you can sit down and eat your picnic, fry your sausages or just admire the view. From the hootchie a suspension bridge brings you to the other side of the river Autti. This place is not in the canyon any more and the bridge hangs just above the water surface and is very easy to access.

The terrain so far has been partly challenging with all the high stairs to climb, but just before the hootchie the path starts to go down and easens up your walk a little.

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There were several people at the hootchie already as I arrived. One man was anxious to tell me about how he had been taking part in log driving in his youth about 60 years ago. He was probably in his 80:ies now.

They all wanted to tell me about the Siberian Jay birds that were around in the place. I could, myself, soon experience how a almost tame Siberian Jay came and picked some bread from my hand.

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There were four Siberian Jays in the place and they all soon came and picked up some breads we visitors gave them. The Siberian Jay is called “the bird of luck” here in Finland. I still do not know what kind of luck these birds will bring to me. Waiting for that.

Siberian Jays are living in old spruce forests and are known to visit the fire places where the lumber jacks used to give them something to eat in the old days. I have met Siberian Jays on several fire places here in Lapland during the last years. In the picture you can see the Jays picking up the left overs from the benches of the hootchie. img_0758

If I thought the walk to the fire place was challenging I had no idea of how challenging the last part of the trail would be. After crossing the river on the suspension bridge stairs would lead me up to the top of the hills again.

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The trail lead me up to the top and to the bird watching tower up there. This day was not the ultimate for view watching because of the fog above the river.

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The rest of the trail was quite easy to walk and information boards told me about the forest and the glacial erratics situated all over the place. A glacial erratic is a piece of rock that differs from the size and type of rock native to the area in which it rests. “Erratics” take their name from the Latin word errare, and are carried by glacial ice, often over distances of hundreds of kilometres. Erratics can range in size from pebbles to large boulders.

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While waiting for the snow and ice to come to Lapland

It is October 2016. This month is unusual warm and even if we are in the middle of the month there is still no snow on the ground in Lapland.

As I would like to have snow and ice I get a little anxious and impatient. But then I decide I have to settle with the situation and try to get as much good out of it as possible. So my October in Lapland has been full of interesting happenings and new experiences.

This time of the year is suitable to pick cranberries. Cranberries are naturally a bitter tasting berry, but the taste changes after a night outdoor in minus degrees or in your deepfreezer and the result is less bitterness. The cranberry is many times used as medicine for illnesses especially in the urinary bladder or in the kidneys,

I was happy to find a swamp where I could be alone and pick cranberries, because this year the cranberry is not very frequent. So I spent several hours walking around on a very wet swamp. But I was happy to return with 1,5 l of the best berries.

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The autumn before the snow can also be used for hiking. The wibrant color period is in September, but as this October is extraordinary warm I decided to go for a hike last Sunday. On the map I found an interesting round suitable for one day’s hike. The amount of hours with daylight is decreasing every day now, so you’d better leave early in the morning to have time enough for a hiking tour and return home before dark. The length of the day light is 9 hours these days.

My route is to be seen on this picture of the map. The area  “Soppanan retkeilyalue” is in the south of Finnish Lapland. There are many hiking routes to choose between. On the area there is also a camp site in the summer time.

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My hike starts very promising as I in the beginning am overwhelmed by a bunch of Bohemian waxwings. They gather together like this in the autumns here in Lapland to fly south during the winter. I like the look and the whistling voice of these birds.

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Other companions on my hike were the reindeer. They are strolling around in the forests of Lapland this time of the year. I found some beautiful, white species near my hiking route. They were not used to people and would run away as they saw me.

 

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Along the route there are two hootchies where I could stop and sit down for a while with philosophical thought about the nature around me. At the fire places my soul rests and the world around ceases to exist for a short moment. I drink some hot cups of tea together with something to eat which I bring in my backpack.

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This place is near the Paasojärvi sea with a great view over the sea and a steep shore. As all leaves have fallen off the trees now, there is not much that disturbs your view. The weather was not the very most optional for a nature hike this day, but it was warm enough and no rain, so I was quite satisfied with the circumstances.

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In this forest the old spruces wore a kind of “beard”. On some places the “beard” was really frequent and tall. The beard is officially named Usnea, but called the old-man’s beard or beard lichen. Usnea is very sensitive to air pollution. Under bad conditions they may grow no larger than a few millimetres, if they survive at all. Where the air is unpolluted, they can grow to 10–20 cm long. It can sometimes be used as a bioindicator, because it tends to only grow in those regions where the air is clean, and of high quality. Nice to know the air is unpolluted here.


One of the places I stopped for a rest is like a hut where you can sit indoor in case of rain. It is also possibly to spend the night here if you want to do that.

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I found the sweetest guest book in this hut and I could read the story from a visitor a couple of weeks ago. He had spent 3 days and nights in this hut as he had been watching and photograping auroras/northern lights in the sky. During the days he had been fishing from the sea nearby. I always check for guest books in the huts and I mostly find them, too. Some guests write only short marks of their visits, but some guests really makes an effort to write an interesting story for other visitors to enjoy. The most common marks in the guest books are the weather conditions.

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img_0668 The hiking route lead me over swamps, up on high hills, near seas and rivers and through the forest. I was very satisfied when I returned home in the evening with one more experience in the baggage.

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Ice-fishing expedition to the Upper North of Lapland, in 2016

I have just returned from this year’s ice-fishing expedition to the “arm” of Finland. It was an expedition that lasted for 5 days with varying weather conditions and varying fortune in the ice-fishing.

In the “arm” of Finland there are the highest fells of Finland and the river Torniojoki/Muoniojoki with extensions runs all the way along the border to Sweden from Kilpisjärvi in north to Tornio in south.

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To drive to our accommodation took us 5 hours from Rovaniemi with a short stop in the village of Muonio to pay a visit to a nice little shop of a friend of mine, Pikku Puotinen.

After some arrangements concerning too much snow on the parking lot near the cottage, we moved to the place for ice-fishing near the fell Lammasoaivo. IMG_9459 (2)

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During the stay the weather conditions varied from absolutely fantastic, warm, sunny days to cold, windy and also one rainy day The temperatures varied from -10 degrees Celsius to +5 degrees. In the beginning of the expedition the snow was hard, really hard. Even about half a meter deep. The reindeer could easily walk above on the snow. But in the end of our visit the rainy day had destroyed the hard snow completely and the reindeer as well as we had difficulties to walk in the forest.

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We moved on skies for some kilometers every day and we could also in the beginning enjoy the hard snow and the easiness to go skiing in the nature, where the depth of the snow was about half a meter. The last day was really a trial on skis, but we made it, with a sweaty result.

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Regarding the fishing, the ice was 70 cm thick, there was  hardly any snow on the ice and we got a lot of greylings and some whitefish. The amount of fish was really more than expected. My unluck, although, was the trout I had on my hook for several minutes, but finally, as I almost got it up on the ice, it succeeded to free itself from the hook! The disappointment lasted for the whole day. This trout was probably even bigger than the one I got in the year 2013 weighing 1,5 kilo.

Here is a picture of the trout in 2013. Just for my own comfort, to forget the one I lost this year…..

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The greylings were many and some were really big. Some nice whitefish I also got.

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Every day inbetween we lit a fire in different places depending on from which direction the wind was blowing at the time, and fried some sausages and had something warm to drink.

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At times when the fish was not eating, I watched the nature and, as usual, the little White-throated dipper (Cinclus Cinclus) in the rapid. Impossible to get a good picture of it with my little camera. On the snow I also found a “runway” for swans. Two swans had visited the ice during the night and left the marks where they took off again.

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Otherwise the spring had not arrived yet to this area and very few migratory birds had so far returned to Lapland. Some flocks of Snow buntings (Plectrophenax nivalis) were flying around from the south bank of the river to the north bank. I missed the Common crane (Grus grus).

The rainy day we spent with a visit to Kilpisjärvi, the northernmost village near the place where the borders from Sweden, Norway and Finland meet. Even if it was raining on the fishing place 40 km from Kilpisjärvi, the sun started to shine as we arrived to Kilpisjärvi.

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An interesting visit to the Kilpisjärvi nature center provided me with information about the nature and the people of the area around Kilpisjärvi. After that we had a delicious lunch at the Kilpisjärvi Retkeilykeskus before we returned to ice-fishing.

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Very tired, but content we finally ended this year’s expedition to the Upper North of Finland. So far I have never been disappointed with the ice-fishing experiences in between the fells of Sweden and Finland. And so far the weather has always been, at least, partly sunny and not too cold for ice-fishing.

A visit to this place in the summer time is on my wish list.

 

 

 

 

 



The village of Inari in Lapland

I have finally visited Inari/Aanaar, a village in the north-east of Finland. As I many times already have been visiting the north-west part of Finland, Kilpisjärvi, I have put up a goal to some day also visit the north-east part. That finally came true last weekend.

Why I have postponed the visit to Inari for so many years is due to lack of company, lack of courage to dare to drive the long way alone in winter time and so on, and so on. Suddenly I found out I do not need any company to go there and winter was coming to an end so the roads were really nice and dry to drive. Inari is situated about 330 km from Rovaniemi in the middle of the “head” of Finland.

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Inari (Inari Sami: Aanaar, Northern Sami: Anár, Skolt Sami: Aanar, Swedish: Enare, Russian: Инари) is Finland’s largest, most sparsely populated municipality, with four official languages, more than any other in the country. Its major sources of income are the lumber (timber) industry, nature maintenance and tourism.

The municipality of Inari has a population of 6,783 (30 June 2015). The population density is only 0.45 inhabitants per square kilometre.

I started early Sunday morning and on my way to Inari, along road nr 4, I stopped for a short photo session on the top of Saariselkä Kaunispää, 250 km from Rovaniemi. The weather was fantastic and as I already mentioned the roads were in very good shape. No need to be afraid the car would not pass through.

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The view from the view tower was absolutely astonning. I could see far north the fells in Finland and there was snow everywhere. There were still winter tourists in Saariselkä.

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I have visited Saariselkä before, but that was during the Kaamos period and it was hard to see in the darkness how the nature was shaped. I was lucky enough to see the auroras in the night that time.

After Saariselkä there is the village Ivalo/Avvil before you arrive to Enare. Ivalo has an airport. The church of Ivalo is a modern creation. The former Ivalo church was burnt down by the Germans during the World War II.

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After Ivalo the nature changed. The road became also more curvy; not so straight forward as the road Rovaniemi-Ivalo. Along the road I saw waters, sometimes on both sides of the road. There was of course ice on them now, but I can imagine how beautiful it must be in the summer time with the lakes and the forest.

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Road nr 4 leads you directly into the village center of Enare. On the right side you have the big Inarinjärvi lake. As I arrived I realized there was a happening going on on the ice near the shore. The final reindeer cup race was taking place. As I already had attended a reindeer cup competition this year I chose to drive directly to the Sami museum Siida.

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The Siida museum was one of my main reasons to visit Inari and it was still open for 3 hours this day, as I arrive around 1 o’clock pm.

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Inari is the center of Sámi culture in Finland and the museum Siida presents the Sámi culture in an interesting way. Siida means village in the Sámi language.

The Sámi Museum Siida is the national museum of the Sámi and a national special museum in Finland. Its main purpose is to support the identity and the cultural self-esteem of the Sámi.

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The Siida museum presents the nature of northern Lapland in a very interesting way, but my main interest was today the handcrafts of the Sámi people and their culture.

After my visit to Siida, I went back to see the final races of the reindeer cup. The winner this year was Pikalaaki reindeer driven by Hanna Mikkola from the Pintamo cooperative of reindeer herdsmen.

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In the night I accompanied an Aurora safari around Inari. The company Visit Inari could provide me with a memorable tour and a perfect guide, Pekka, who could also help me with some camera settings to get perfect northern light pictures. The excursion lasted for 3 hours and we could see the auroras almost all the time!

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The next morning I also attended an excursion for ice-fishing with the same company, Visit Inari. Even if I see myself as an experienced ice-fisher I still wanted to experience fishing on the huge Inarijärvi lake, too. The excursion went by snowmobiles to some spots on the lake where the guide Mika had heard we could perhaps catch some greylings. The weather was sunny and nice and the ice was almost snowfree. The driving went well and we finally ended up trying to get some greylings from the holes in the ice. Harmfully, we did not catch any fish this day. We also tried on a place known for its perches, but without any success. In the end of the excursion the guide prepared a light lunch for us in the wilderness.

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My return to Rovaniemi started with some snowfall, but as I drove south there was no more snowfall and everything went well. I am so glad I finally made this trip. I had the opportunity to see the nice village of Inari for myself. Inari is situated so beautifully on the shore of lake Inari and I am sure the village is absolutely fantastic also in summer time.

In summer time the tour companies offer hiking tours, boat tours and fishing expeditions or just boat cruises on the lake. Definitively worth trying. Inari is not only for winter experiences.

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