Today on the Blogger Network, Jouni heads out for a lightweight ski tour in Finland
Jouni Laaksoner’s blog, Scricfinia (Finnish Way of Hiking), is all about backpacking, skiing and other outdoor activities, mainly in Finland. In his latest post, Jouni tells the story of a late-winter ski-touring trip covering 165km of the least-hiked wilderness in Finland. At this time of year in Northern Scandinavia, temperatures usually begin to creep above zero, making it more feasible to adopt a lightweight approach to wilderness journeys – and Jouni certainly tries to keep pack weight at a minimum, sleeping under a tarp and melting snow on an open fire. He also addresses the question of whether solo hiking in such a winter environment is dangerous.
Next day I planned to visit nearby fell top, but the sun was gone again. Thick layer of clouds made me decide to ski to Peurasuvanto (no proper village, just a name on the map) along road number 4. There I stepped onto a bus to Rovaniemi and from there back home. So, I hiked for 9 days instead of 11 days, because I skipped so many planned sidetours because of gray weather. I was happy with that. The one sunny day more than made up with two more cloudy ones.
This is what you get when hiking outside trails. I saw no other hikers, not even marks of anyone’s skis. The feeling of being completely responsible of your own life, without any safety nets, is invigorating. It makes you totally forget about workday stress. You cannot know everything about conditions in advance, so you take what you get. If you cannot enjoy what you get, you are not prepared and/or experienced enough, or you have a wrong attitude. At best you get experiences you remember all your life.
