Perfect day on the fells

 

Jouni Laaksonen 10.6.2019

Weather, that’s the keyword. But important is also the state of mind.

I did a three day ultralight-fastforward hike in Urho Kekkonen National Park and I sure was reminded how weather makes all the difference.

The first day was partly cloudy, but sometimes also sunny. During that day I marched to the heart of the park, Lake Luirojärvi.

So, when the second day dawned I was situated at the foot of the highest fell in the area, Sokosti, 718 meters. It was fully cloudy and raining, and I knew I won’t see any view from the fells, but no can do. This wasn’t (only) a leisure hike, but I was doing field research for my next book (it will be in Finnish).

I sweated my way to the top of the fell, and saw no more than some tens of meters ahead of me. However, I managed to check those things I wanted, so it wasn’t total waste of energy.

On the left pic you can faintly see Lake Luirojärvi down below. The right pic is from the top, and by then I saw just nothing. Well, I knew this already when I started my climb…

It’s good to sometimes get a reminder from Mother Nature that she is the mighty and we humans are tiny. The cold rain, poor visibility and large snow-covered areas made me turn towards lowlands and skip some of my planned fell tour. I sure needed my waterproof jacket, hood and trousers, and waterproof mittens as well.

The next morning I woke in Porttikoski wilderness hut. The sun was shining and I got nice pics from River Suomujoki valley, as I had hoped.

But the best moment of this hike I had beside Lake Rautulampi. I have the bad habit of being in a bit of a hurry when I’m hiking alone. I always want to see still a bit more and more…

Now, at Rautulampi I was quite exhausted and had to sit down and eat something. As I sat down I noticed how windless and nicely warm a day it was. I had only a t-shirt on and it was enough, even when I was sitting idle. This small lake is surrounded by treeless fells  so it’s often windy here.

I drank my water bottle empty and walked a few meters to the shore of the lake, to the spot where the brook flowing out of the lake starts. I filled my bottle and happened to look to the lake from this perspective.

I felt this was the perfect day on fells. Weather was important, and finally I was no more in a hurry. I sat down again and just enjoyed the view and the calm!

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A short reminder: My book Hiking in Finland – Day Trips and Backpacking Expeditions just came out of the printing house last week! It has hit the first bookshops already. See more on Books page.