The following is a brief report on my second trip to Finland in 2014. The purpose of the trip was to travel from Ivalo to Inari via Lake Inari and if time and conditions allowed, to return inland via a snowmobile track. I have attempted this on two previous occasions and failed once due to laziness and once due to weather conditions.
Prior to the trip I monitored closely the weather reports for the area. I was there 6 weeks previously and the weather was dire, probably the warmest and cloudiest winter in living memory. I was also worried that the lake ice could be covered in water from melted snow. My luck was in however as temperatures stayed below zero for all but a couple of days and the forecast was reasonable for the 9 days of my trip. Based on these reports I decided to leave my skis and snowshoes at home and walk the route. I also made the decision to travel as light as possible and carry a rucksack rather than pull a pulk.
On previous trips I had used Lundhags Husky boots but have never been too impressed by them, they've been OK when walking around camp but I didn't fancy walking 20km per day in them. My old Lowa Camp boots were past their best so I ordered a new pair with the intention of breaking them in over 6 weeks. Sadly due to an online ordering error on the part of the supplier I received the boots 9 days before the trip. My rucksack was also 'new'. I had owned it for about 4 years but never used it in anger. Thankfully my training sessions seemed to go well but I had to cull a lot of my kit to get the weight down to a sensible level. Apart from the clothes I was wearing I took a pair of Woolpower 200 long johns, 2 spare pairs of socks, underwear and thermal vests. I also carried a Paramo insulated overlayering jacket (Torres) for use when stationary. The clothes I wore day in, day out were 2 pairs of socks (liner socks plus heavy socks), Paramo Aspira salopettes, Paramo long gaiters, merino underwear, merino hoodie, Paramo Summit Hoodie (when required) and Paramo Quito waterproof. I also covered my neck with a standard Buff, had a mountain cap on my head and Montane Extreme gloves were rarely off my hands. Every piece of kit was exemplary, I can not think of any changes to my clothing that would have improved my trip.
My stove was an Optimus Vega liquid feed gas stove backed up by a Caldera Cone. I was taking the cone as a windshield anyway and the additional weight of the meths burner was minimal. I have not used a gas stove in cold weather before but the Optimus was outstanding which, given its price tag, it should have been.
My accommodation was a Rab bivi tent which I have used previously with mixed results. It's bombproof when eventually pitched correctly but has minimal living space and no porch for cooking. I had considered using the gas stove inside in an emergency but thankfully I didn't as liquid feed gas stoves are a very different animal to regular gas stoves. They will flare on start-up and if not ignited as soon as the valve is opened a pool of LPG will quickly build up under the stove. Beware!
I took a fairly hefty sleeping bag but foolishly left behind my lightweight bivi bag. This resulted in my bag getting wet through contact with the tent walls at night. Frozen condensation is an issue in single skin tents and I suggest that down bags are protected with a light bivi bag when sleeping in single skin tents. My Z-Lite and Neoair kipmats were excellent.
I decided not to carry a snow shovel but carry a Snowclaw instead. The Snowclaw did not arrive in time so I went without it.
I carried a 800ml flask and a 1 litre Nalgene bottle with insulating cover. My knife was a Mora Robust, no multitool or penknife was carried.
My basic pack weight was quite reasonable but the addition of 9 days worth of food took my pack weight up to 18kg and I also had 4kg of handluggage.
My flight at 6pm on Wednesday was preceded by 9 night shifts which finished at 6am on Wednesday morning. Fortunately I work near Heathrow so managed a few hours sleep, but as usual, I ended up making numerous last minute kit changes, most for the better. The 2 flights were uneventful and the overnight wait in Helsinki Airport was fairly painless but I'm tired of the place having spent 36 hours there in the past year. I didn't manage much sleep there either.
I arrived at Ivalo at 11am and shared a taxi with in English gentleman and his Finnish wife who were travelling up to Kasasjok. A quick trip to the supermarket was made to purchase, meths, gas, matches, bottled water and food. There was also the option to buy a cheap 'boggan but I decided against it, a decision I later regretted...
So there I was with new boots, new stove, untested rucksack, no spare clothing bar underwear, no skis or snowshoes, no snow shovel etc, what could possibly go wrong?
The last time I carried a large pack I also had to carry a rifle!
As soon as I started I encountered a husky tour group and a Snowmobile group.
Clearing skies
Lack of sleep in the previous days meant that I was looking for a camp site after only about 8 or 9 kilometers. I camped on a small island and enjoyed the company of a woodpecker. The river has a number of houses on its banks but my campsite was a good 300 metres from the nearest house, a fair distance but not far enough to be out of earshot of the numerous barking dogs. After an evening meal I was in bed and asleep by 7PM.
Typical river side house and sauna
Camp One
Day one tracking data
On day two I was fed, watered and had struck camp by 6AM. I had about 20km of walking to get to my next destination, a wilderness hut that I had used 6 weeks previously. Again I saw dog and skidoo teams and I was passed by a minibus driving on the ice. I walked without stopping and arrived at the hut at midday. The weather was fantastic and the rest of the daylight hours were spent wandering in the local area. It was interesting to note that the log stores at the hut site had been refilled since my previous visit.
The daytime temperature was a worryingly warm 3 degrees Celsius but this was only to last another 24 hours. The night time saw a fine display of the Northern Lights but sadly my main camera had failed earlier in the day and my faithful backup, a Sony compact camera, was not capable of the longer exposures need for successful photography. The only other thing of note that night was some bellowing from the woods. I suspect it was a moose but I'm not sure.
At night in the hut I checked the latest updates to the hut log book. There was a an interesting entry by 4 Basque guys who had been there earlier, they reported that rain had stripped the snow off the lake and they could not ski on the remaining icy lake. They had to resort to snowshoes to get traction on the ice. Fortunately it had snowed since and I had a fine surface of half inch deep crunchy snow to walk on.
Lunchtime menu
Minibus on the ice
Fishing boreholes marked with twigs
Dog teams passing the hut
Blue skies
The hut - 6 weeks back this area was covered in deep snow
Fantastic weather
Landing stage
Refilled wood store
Planning the next day's route
A day's ration of fresh food
Day two tracking data
Day 3 started slowly and I did not leave the location until midday, it's a fine place and difficult to leave. I made brew after brew to delay my departure. Initially it was sunny but I soon found myself heading into a wild storm. In a matter of minutes the weather had changed to sunny with no winds to a hail storm with strong winds. Fortunately the storm passed quickly and the clear skies and sub zero temperatures thankfully returned. Again there were cars on the ice, I guess people were doing their final restock of their lakeside holiday homes. My campsite was about 3km from the nearest land though it didn't look that far due to the difficulty in judging distance in this environment.
Heading off along a skidoo track
A storm is brewing
A patch of ice where the snow has been scoured by wind and rain
Roadsign on the lake
The road ahead
The storm arrives
The storm departs
Post storm selfie
Cars with trailers on the ice
Crazy ice formations
Pure magic
GPS showing that there is no land within 3km
4 inch crack in the ice
Tent pitched on ice using Abalakov threads as detailed in this link here...
Icy goodness
One day I will return with a decent camera
After my evening meal I walked a further 2 to 3km out to a navigation marker, I may camp in this area in future years as it is rather fantastic.
Nav aid.
The view back to the tent disappearing in spindrift
The sun setting..
Navigation data day three
Prior to the trip I monitored closely the weather reports for the area. I was there 6 weeks previously and the weather was dire, probably the warmest and cloudiest winter in living memory. I was also worried that the lake ice could be covered in water from melted snow. My luck was in however as temperatures stayed below zero for all but a couple of days and the forecast was reasonable for the 9 days of my trip. Based on these reports I decided to leave my skis and snowshoes at home and walk the route. I also made the decision to travel as light as possible and carry a rucksack rather than pull a pulk.
On previous trips I had used Lundhags Husky boots but have never been too impressed by them, they've been OK when walking around camp but I didn't fancy walking 20km per day in them. My old Lowa Camp boots were past their best so I ordered a new pair with the intention of breaking them in over 6 weeks. Sadly due to an online ordering error on the part of the supplier I received the boots 9 days before the trip. My rucksack was also 'new'. I had owned it for about 4 years but never used it in anger. Thankfully my training sessions seemed to go well but I had to cull a lot of my kit to get the weight down to a sensible level. Apart from the clothes I was wearing I took a pair of Woolpower 200 long johns, 2 spare pairs of socks, underwear and thermal vests. I also carried a Paramo insulated overlayering jacket (Torres) for use when stationary. The clothes I wore day in, day out were 2 pairs of socks (liner socks plus heavy socks), Paramo Aspira salopettes, Paramo long gaiters, merino underwear, merino hoodie, Paramo Summit Hoodie (when required) and Paramo Quito waterproof. I also covered my neck with a standard Buff, had a mountain cap on my head and Montane Extreme gloves were rarely off my hands. Every piece of kit was exemplary, I can not think of any changes to my clothing that would have improved my trip.
My stove was an Optimus Vega liquid feed gas stove backed up by a Caldera Cone. I was taking the cone as a windshield anyway and the additional weight of the meths burner was minimal. I have not used a gas stove in cold weather before but the Optimus was outstanding which, given its price tag, it should have been.
My accommodation was a Rab bivi tent which I have used previously with mixed results. It's bombproof when eventually pitched correctly but has minimal living space and no porch for cooking. I had considered using the gas stove inside in an emergency but thankfully I didn't as liquid feed gas stoves are a very different animal to regular gas stoves. They will flare on start-up and if not ignited as soon as the valve is opened a pool of LPG will quickly build up under the stove. Beware!
I took a fairly hefty sleeping bag but foolishly left behind my lightweight bivi bag. This resulted in my bag getting wet through contact with the tent walls at night. Frozen condensation is an issue in single skin tents and I suggest that down bags are protected with a light bivi bag when sleeping in single skin tents. My Z-Lite and Neoair kipmats were excellent.
I decided not to carry a snow shovel but carry a Snowclaw instead. The Snowclaw did not arrive in time so I went without it.
I carried a 800ml flask and a 1 litre Nalgene bottle with insulating cover. My knife was a Mora Robust, no multitool or penknife was carried.
My basic pack weight was quite reasonable but the addition of 9 days worth of food took my pack weight up to 18kg and I also had 4kg of handluggage.
My flight at 6pm on Wednesday was preceded by 9 night shifts which finished at 6am on Wednesday morning. Fortunately I work near Heathrow so managed a few hours sleep, but as usual, I ended up making numerous last minute kit changes, most for the better. The 2 flights were uneventful and the overnight wait in Helsinki Airport was fairly painless but I'm tired of the place having spent 36 hours there in the past year. I didn't manage much sleep there either.
I arrived at Ivalo at 11am and shared a taxi with in English gentleman and his Finnish wife who were travelling up to Kasasjok. A quick trip to the supermarket was made to purchase, meths, gas, matches, bottled water and food. There was also the option to buy a cheap 'boggan but I decided against it, a decision I later regretted...
So there I was with new boots, new stove, untested rucksack, no spare clothing bar underwear, no skis or snowshoes, no snow shovel etc, what could possibly go wrong?
The last time I carried a large pack I also had to carry a rifle!
As soon as I started I encountered a husky tour group and a Snowmobile group.
Clearing skies
Lack of sleep in the previous days meant that I was looking for a camp site after only about 8 or 9 kilometers. I camped on a small island and enjoyed the company of a woodpecker. The river has a number of houses on its banks but my campsite was a good 300 metres from the nearest house, a fair distance but not far enough to be out of earshot of the numerous barking dogs. After an evening meal I was in bed and asleep by 7PM.
Typical river side house and sauna
Camp One
Day one tracking data
On day two I was fed, watered and had struck camp by 6AM. I had about 20km of walking to get to my next destination, a wilderness hut that I had used 6 weeks previously. Again I saw dog and skidoo teams and I was passed by a minibus driving on the ice. I walked without stopping and arrived at the hut at midday. The weather was fantastic and the rest of the daylight hours were spent wandering in the local area. It was interesting to note that the log stores at the hut site had been refilled since my previous visit.
The daytime temperature was a worryingly warm 3 degrees Celsius but this was only to last another 24 hours. The night time saw a fine display of the Northern Lights but sadly my main camera had failed earlier in the day and my faithful backup, a Sony compact camera, was not capable of the longer exposures need for successful photography. The only other thing of note that night was some bellowing from the woods. I suspect it was a moose but I'm not sure.
At night in the hut I checked the latest updates to the hut log book. There was a an interesting entry by 4 Basque guys who had been there earlier, they reported that rain had stripped the snow off the lake and they could not ski on the remaining icy lake. They had to resort to snowshoes to get traction on the ice. Fortunately it had snowed since and I had a fine surface of half inch deep crunchy snow to walk on.
Lunchtime menu
Minibus on the ice
Fishing boreholes marked with twigs
Dog teams passing the hut
Blue skies
The hut - 6 weeks back this area was covered in deep snow
Fantastic weather
Landing stage
Refilled wood store
Planning the next day's route
A day's ration of fresh food
Day two tracking data
Day 3 started slowly and I did not leave the location until midday, it's a fine place and difficult to leave. I made brew after brew to delay my departure. Initially it was sunny but I soon found myself heading into a wild storm. In a matter of minutes the weather had changed to sunny with no winds to a hail storm with strong winds. Fortunately the storm passed quickly and the clear skies and sub zero temperatures thankfully returned. Again there were cars on the ice, I guess people were doing their final restock of their lakeside holiday homes. My campsite was about 3km from the nearest land though it didn't look that far due to the difficulty in judging distance in this environment.
Heading off along a skidoo track
A storm is brewing
A patch of ice where the snow has been scoured by wind and rain
Roadsign on the lake
The road ahead
The storm arrives
The storm departs
Post storm selfie
Cars with trailers on the ice
Crazy ice formations
Pure magic
GPS showing that there is no land within 3km
4 inch crack in the ice
Tent pitched on ice using Abalakov threads as detailed in this link here...
Icy goodness
One day I will return with a decent camera
After my evening meal I walked a further 2 to 3km out to a navigation marker, I may camp in this area in future years as it is rather fantastic.
Nav aid.
The view back to the tent disappearing in spindrift
The sun setting..
Navigation data day three
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