Finland 2015 Photos
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Great write up and pictures, as someone contemplating one of the 2016 trips it gives a great insight, how do you fill the hours in the day, wood collection processing and ................ ?
Thanks again Pheastos for a great thread.
Thanks again Pheastos for a great thread.
Melting snow and collecting and processing firewood takes a while but we started doing that in the dark (early morning) so that daylight hours could be spent doing activities such as visitong the local town, ice fishing and snow shoeing etc.
And yeah we did have maps beforehand although some of the guys had also been to the same area before.
I reside in the very south, but should be about the same situation across the country, depending on the landowners activity to fetch firewood and popularity of the area by campers.
If you go to tourist infested woods, you'll find nothing, they even kill living trees peeling off the bark all around the trees.
If I was going, I'd take the buss out of town and just drop off at a random area that looks sufficiently uninhabited on the map. Half the north is national park anyway
Flying to Helsinki/Tampere/Kuopio and going north with train gives a lot more options, the east side of the country is mostly dense forest, but one must wander a few miles off the road to find the perfect spot.
Top report Matt 
... I hope this helps ,when looking on a map look for areas that are a bit higher out of bogs and cold laying areres. The reason is in summer the trees will be soaking up all the wet and in winter frezze so if you can go higher and dry wood will be more easy to find. When you find a tree with no bark on and you are not sure if its dry or its just frozzen rot, cut a bit out put it on your tongue and lick it, if it sticks like paper then its dry but if it goes sogey its rottin and wet. All ways get local knowledge if you can and allways travell in twos or more if you can. Get as much practice at home doing bushcraft like wood prep, fire lighting, first aid, map and compass and work extra hard sawing wood and building up your fitness. If you are doing this for a week in the cold you will need to be fit. Hot tents are a good back up but a cabin is beter. Cold camping is fun and good, but always have a back up plan. Before a trip have lots of meet ups and training camps work out who is good at what and what can be their job in the arctic. Team work is the way to go if you are planning a week long trip. There is a lot of ideas about how to camp in the arctic but i think team work is best but this will only work if every one puts the work in so choose your team wisely. Next trip we think maybe in sweeden jokkmok for the sami market, cabins are the main plan with the odd night camping, the cabins will give more time for the market and activities which is a good plan. I think i will camp as i wish to wake up in the forest this will be hard, as time is never on your side when you like to go to the market. I like a challenge and with the right kit and mind set it can be done. I am working towards making kit esspecialy for this trip, kit like a light weight tent tarp that can have a fire under it saving weight having no need for a stove, pulk instead of tobogon saving time moving about on trains and bus etc. I will not go on to much on Matts thread so i will leave it at that. Matt top job mate i look forward to seeing more arctic pictures.
... I hope this helps ,when looking on a map look for areas that are a bit higher out of bogs and cold laying areres. The reason is in summer the trees will be soaking up all the wet and in winter frezze so if you can go higher and dry wood will be more easy to find. When you find a tree with no bark on and you are not sure if its dry or its just frozzen rot, cut a bit out put it on your tongue and lick it, if it sticks like paper then its dry but if it goes sogey its rottin and wet. All ways get local knowledge if you can and allways travell in twos or more if you can. Get as much practice at home doing bushcraft like wood prep, fire lighting, first aid, map and compass and work extra hard sawing wood and building up your fitness. If you are doing this for a week in the cold you will need to be fit. Hot tents are a good back up but a cabin is beter. Cold camping is fun and good, but always have a back up plan. Before a trip have lots of meet ups and training camps work out who is good at what and what can be their job in the arctic. Team work is the way to go if you are planning a week long trip. There is a lot of ideas about how to camp in the arctic but i think team work is best but this will only work if every one puts the work in so choose your team wisely. Next trip we think maybe in sweeden jokkmok for the sami market, cabins are the main plan with the odd night camping, the cabins will give more time for the market and activities which is a good plan. I think i will camp as i wish to wake up in the forest this will be hard, as time is never on your side when you like to go to the market. I like a challenge and with the right kit and mind set it can be done. I am working towards making kit esspecialy for this trip, kit like a light weight tent tarp that can have a fire under it saving weight having no need for a stove, pulk instead of tobogon saving time moving about on trains and bus etc. I will not go on to much on Matts thread so i will leave it at that. Matt top job mate i look forward to seeing more arctic pictures.I asked, as I've only been able to find scale maps of 1:100,000 any further north than Boden.
Especially around Muddus National Park.
Wondered if local shops sell 1:25,000, or 1:50,000?
The pics look great matt. Really wanna go with you guys one year? Gunna need some tips off you for gaining weight first lol
Top report Matt
Good post Riam
I bought the 1:50000 map online and got the detail GPS map for the area. If you are looking to move around I would highly recommend a GPS. In the snow and dense woods, you really only have to spin around once to completely loose your bearing. Everything looks suspiciously the same in all directions ;-)
Curious question: How much usable day light do you get on a trip like this when so far north?
Julia
Julia
'Proper' daylight was mostly from ~9.30 to ~15.30 but with snow and the moonlight I was able to walk around at night without needing a torch/light.
great report and looks like you guys had a superb trip. am driving though the area on thurs on my way up to finnmark. will pop up some pics when i get back.
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