In Winter it’s easy and comfortable to get to Rautujärvi from Hetta, by just crossing the lake Ounasjärvi and having a short distance skiing trip up to the lake. In summer however, reaching the very same destination becomes a bit more tricky: The trails that can be found in various hiking maps are all winter tracks (that cross different lakes and mires). In order to avoid getting wet feet, the idea was to use a logging road, that goes by the lake in just a few kilometers of distance, then using a compass and a map to walk through the forest, trying to reach the fire place on the West shore of the lake.
After a nice 30 km biking trip, Heidi and me reached the place which – according to the map, should be the closest one from the road to the lake. It was then actually quite easy to find Rautujärvi, and maybe only 30 minutes after we changed our SPD shoes to regular ones, we arrived at the lake. The forest was rather thin which was no surprise, since all along the road the woods were pretty much depleted (dahh – logging road and so on …).
Anyhow, after arriving at the laavu (and picking some cloudberries in the swamps on the way there), we made a fire to grill our semi-delicious makkara, and got prepared to do some fishing. It was good that we had sausages with us, as the catch was only limited to some bigger bait fishes.
Nevertheless, we spent a wonderful and most quiet night there, with seeing the first stars since some time in May (or was it April?).
