Taking the Pahtajärvenreitti to Närpistö Laavu And Wondering: Is It Already Spring?

Crossing Pahtajärvi
Crossing the frozen Pahtajärvi

After skiing towards the South the day before, we decided to also ski a bit towards the North and visit the Närpistö lean-to shelter (once more), along the Pahtajärvenreitti. Like the days before, it was again rather warm (especially for mid February), and I had the feeling it would be some time in the middle of spring. Why: Because it actually was pretty warm (just a few degrees below zero), the the snow felt wet and not winterly, but maybe even more because of the way the trees looked like. Continue reading “Taking the Pahtajärvenreitti to Närpistö Laavu And Wondering: Is It Already Spring?”

On the Sammalvaara Skiing Trail to the Postitupajärvi Lean-To Shelter

Lean-to shelter at Postitupajärvi
Lean-to shelter at Postitupajärvi

A nice skiing track in the Hetta region is the Sammalvaaran latu (Sammalvaara skiing trail), which is a bit West of the main tracks from Hetta to Pyhäkero and Sioskuru, and which has two lean-to shelters along the trail: the Rautujärvi laavu, and the Postitupajärvi laavu. The latter one was the target for this short skiing trip, which we choose for having our lunch that day. Continue reading “On the Sammalvaara Skiing Trail to the Postitupajärvi Lean-To Shelter”

Moonlight Skiing to Pahtajärvi

Pahtajärvi
On the summer hiking trail with forest skiers to Pahakuru

The clear ski on Friday revealed the strong brightness of the moon just a few days after it was full. With such an amount of light available, I wanted to take advantage of the beautiful weather and decided to go to the Pahtajärvi laavu for some late night dinner. Since the sun is almost gone anyway, the moon will be the only light-ball shining from the sky in the next few weeks. Of course the clear sky came along with cold temperatures (down to -30°C), but that shouldn’t keep me off from a short skiing trip. Continue reading “Moonlight Skiing to Pahtajärvi”

Sunrise today at 10:12. Sunset today at 14:10. Length of day is 3 h 58 min.

JyppyrävaaraThe days are getting shorter quickly and the Arctic night seems to become tangible. Currently the day length decreases by ten to eleven minutes every day (The headline, by the way, I stole from todays weather forecast site of the Finnish meteorological institute).

The other information I found on that site, which however also was obvious by looking out of the window, was that today was a clear sky. Continue reading “Sunrise today at 10:12. Sunset today at 14:10. Length of day is 3 h 58 min.”

Last Bike Trip in First Lasting Snow – Lunch at the Frozen Pahtajärvi Shore

Laavu at Pahtajärvi
Laavu at Pahtajärvi

Last weekend – and thus mid of October, apparently this years winter started. There has been already a few centimeters of snow in late September, however, now that the temperatures are persistent below freezing, conserving the snow and keeping it from melting away again. And so, the few centimeters of snow from early last week are still remaining. Since there is more snowfall predicted for the upcoming days, we decided to once again take out our bikes, and ride them through the forest, where soon we will be only able to ski or walk with snowshoes.

It turned out to be easier than expected, even though the trails were quite slippery of course. Maybe it helped that we Continue reading “Last Bike Trip in First Lasting Snow – Lunch at the Frozen Pahtajärvi Shore”

Breaking News at Pahtajärvi: A New Fire Place Grew Over Night!

PahtajärviGreat news from the makkara-extinguishing-front! A new laavu grew over night. Or over summer, or so .. I’ve been using the trail from Hetta to Närpistö laavu quite some times this summer, but something new appeared recently: A sign with the name of Pahtajärvi written on it and additionally containing the symbol of a fire place.

Continue reading “Breaking News at Pahtajärvi: A New Fire Place Grew Over Night!”

Pallas-Hetta – Taking the “Highway” in Pallas-Yllästunturi National Park

Pallas-Hetta - Marked TrailRecently, a few visitors and friends asked me, how often I have already walked through Pallas-Yllästunturi National Park. Well – the truth is, never before. OK, I have often been in the national park, but never really walked through it. However, with two friends deciding to walk from Pallas to Hetta, I joined their decision and then them, to also get my premiere – at least for the part through the two Northern fell areas. The reason why I never did that before, was, Continue reading “Pallas-Hetta – Taking the “Highway” in Pallas-Yllästunturi National Park”

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