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Urho Kekkonen

In the winter wonderland

By Northern Adventures

April 4^th, 2011

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INTRODUCTION

(SAT Mar 26th - Tue APR 5TH, 2011)

In fact, this may well be an exception: a winter trip instead of autumn or summer hiking. It somehow happened that I visited Urho Kekkonen national park twice within a single year, with the first trip being a challenging March cross-country skiing adventure.

Urho Kekkonen national park (Finnish: Urho Kekkosen kansallispuisto) is a national park in Lapland, Finland, situated in the area of municipalities of Savukoski, Sodankylä and Inari. Established in 1983 and covering 2,550 square kilometres, it is one of Finland‘s largest protected areas. It is named after Urho Kekkonen, late President and Prime Minister of Finland.

The Suomujoki river flows through the northern parts of the diverse park. The marked paths in its western part are an easy destination even for the inexperienced backpacker, whereas the wilderness is good for long and demanding trips.

It took us seven days to ski across the western part of the area. We spent nights in wooden cottages (”tupas”) that form a convenient network of freely accessible accommodation in the park.

It was a dreamy winter fairy-tale story; with abundant snow and sunny though chilly weather (-30°C during nights was not an exception), we were crossing a pristine winter wonderland of deep woods and frozen lakes.

And yes, being in Finland also means sauna - this experience was of course part of the story as well!

The Journey

We flew with Finnair to Ivalo with a short layover in Helsinki; I recall Finnair has favourable conditions related to ski transportation.

Having arrived in Ivalo, we took a convenient shuttle bus to Saariselkä which serves as the usual entry point to the national park. From here, already in the evening, we set out on the skiing track, aiming the reach one of the Rumakuru day trip huts.

Skiing in the darkness was not really easy, and from the very first moment we realised that our heavy backpacks will make the journey somehow challenging.

Day 1: From Rumakuru to Rautulampi

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On the next day, we continued skiing in the eastern direction, using one of the perfect skiing tracks around Saariselkä. It was quite fun despite the fact that from time to time we felt ashamed being overtaken by much older skiers (though they were just on a day-trip i.e. without backpacks on their shoulders).

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The weather was perfect - lot of sun, although the temperature was around -20°C - it was quite chilly.

We made a short stop at Luulampi day trip hut and had some grilled sausages and warm tea there.

At Luulampi, we left maintained skiing tracks behind and continued further to the east towards another hut called Rautulampi.

It was a gentle long climb we had to carry out, yet after a few hours of continuous yet slow skiing effort we finally reached the hut where we decided to call it a day.

The hut was a cosy place with a fireplace, a table, and a large sleeping platform.

Though designed as a day-trip hut (overnight stays are not encouraged here), being here alone, it was no harm to stay in the cabin overnight.

(Retrospectively, it's fair to say that despite the day-trip huts are frequently used for overnight stays and we misused them in this way also, we would avoid doing that during a potential next trip.)

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During the upcoming evening, all the day-trippers left, leaving us in the hut and its surroundings completely alone. The sunset at the cabin was picture-perfect and the temperature started to drop significantly as was the case of the previous night.

We felt both tired and excited at the same time since the proper adventure was about to begin - tomorrow we planned to leave maintained ski tracks and venture into the snowy wilderness.

Day 2: From Rautulampi to Porttikoski

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The sunrise at Rautulampi was beautiful.

Everything was completely frozen, the snow was crunchy, and the sun was illuminating winter landscape with its gentle warm light.

After short breakfast, we put our skis on, and slowly began to descend towards Lankojärvi lake.

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We were lucky with the weather again. Besides constant sunshine and clear skies, there was no heavy snowfall during previous days - which meant the track and path were solid and firmed up by previous skiers.

The journey continued along a frozen river through a typical Finnish forest.

We made a short lunch break at Lankojärvi hut located on the lake's shore (the lake was naturally completely frozen). Here we realised that winter travel has also some advantages over summer or autumn journeys - possibility to travel on ice, across frozen lakes and rivers.

We then skied further to the east, mostly on the frozen Suomujoki river. From time to time, we took short breaks, lazily lying on snow and enjoying the continuous sunshine.

We reached Porttikoski hut in the afternoon; so much snow around and on the roof of the wooden cabin! We unpacked our stuff and moved inside; again a cosy place, with a fireplace, and with two large wooden sleeping platforms.

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The evening at Porttikoski was magical - winter wonderland once more, and the sunset was just brilliant in the beautiful river setting.

There was another guy staying with us in the hut, coming from the other direction and heading to the west. An old Finnish man. And true adventurer, apparently, since he had spent two weeks in the area already. Also, he got stuck in another hut (Anterinmukka) for two days because of heavy snowstorm. “Luckily there was a sauna”, he smiled while describing his winter solo adventure...

Day 3: From Porttikoski to Sarvioja

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The morning at Porttikoski was as perfect as the previous evening was.

We put our skis on, and continued skiing along the river for a while, before reaching a point where we had to turn to the south and start climbing a ridge we had to cross.

Our destination for the night was a rather isolated hut called Sarvioja - not on a main track, however we did not want to go directly to Luirojärvi, opting for slower pace and more leisure and laziness time.

Skiing down to Sarvioja from the mountain pass was a ridiculous exercise - with long skis, heavy backpacks, and deep snowdrifts, we were falling constantly, laughing and swearing all the time.

Sarvioja was a perfect destination. Again with a nice fireplace - a stony one - where we grilled a few sausages. And yes, Caol Ila single malt whisky was a lovely digestive afterwards. A special time!

It was in the middle of the night when one from our group had to go outside for a pee. Jaromír returned quickly, really excited and hilariously shouting: “It’s there, it’s there!!!”

Quickly we realised he was yelling about northern lights, Aurora Borealis.

Of course, we went outside, and enjoyed the marvellous spectacle; our very first sighting of northern lights in our lives.

Aurora borealis is a special and wonderful phenomenon, though it is only green on photographs, we wondered; using one’s own eyes, it looked more like a colourless wonder light moving unpredictably across the night sky.

Day 4: From Sarvioja to Luirojärvi

The journey planned for the next day to Luirojärvi lake was quite straightforward - climbing to a mountain pass to the south via a clear and firm skiing track, and then some downhill falling (better not to call this activity skiing ;-)). The following final leg was about to be across the frozen Luirojärvi lake to cabins on its shores.

Luirojärvi hut was one of the newest and most spacious in the area, sometimes funnily nicknamed “Hilton” by local skiers.

Really a cosy and comfortable place in which we took a rest, made dinner… and were slowly getting ready for a magical ritual that was about to follow - the sauna :-).

We had been looking forward to Luirojärvi sauna since the beginning of our trip, and now, finally, the time had come.

In the remote wilderness and in winter, sauna needs some preparation. Wood; surprisingly, there was a special “sauna wood” available in the wood storage - apparently, the sauna deserves it better than the ordinary fireplace. Water; there is a lake. Frozen lake. Which means using an axe and a bucket to take the water to the sauna room. And then… sauning. A special time indeed!

Going from the overheated sauna to -20°C outside and cooling down in the fresh snow… the word “refreshing” got here another meaning! :-)

Day 5: From Luirojärvi to Tuiskukuru

The journey to Tuiskukuru was really a short one.

It took us just a few hours to cover ten kilometres to Tuiskukuru, and than we enjoyed a peaceful afternoon and evening in another cosy wooden hut.

Day 6: From Tuiskukuru to Lankojärvi

We continued back to Lankojärvi lake and hut we had already visited on the second day of our skiing adventure. Here, some parts of the journey was a traverse of areas of deep snowdrifts - quite an effort with (still) heavy backpacks we had to carry.

Here we realised that though we really had wanted to get ready for the skiing adventure and had taken wider cross-country skis with us, we were not really prepared.

Locals do it differently. No backpacks - better to go with spacious pulks. And better to have skis that are 2,6m long and wide as those for ski jumping, to avoid sinking into deep snow. Next time, we will know, we were saying to ourselves while falling into snowdrifts and swearing…

Day 7: From Lankojärvi to Rumakuru

Last day in the national park was the most pleasant. Spring began!

The temperature reached its highs above 0°C - such a perfect time! In Rumakuru, during our last day night in the national park, we enjoyed a few beers that two of our crew brought from the nearby Saariselkä settlement.

During the night, another aurora borealis performance happened. We enjoyed the natural phenomenon spectacle once more, now in much more bearable conditions in terms of outside temperature.

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Afterword

It was a special adventure. Children from the deep north are surely born with skis on their legs, this is what we thought. We were not born in this way; that’s why we went rather slowly and carefully, being aware of the severe winter conditions the area may be quickly ruled by.

Hiking seemed to be more easier and natural for us. This special winter adventure, however, will never be forgotten.

It was a perfect trip in the unspoiled wilderness of the Finish north, spiced by aurora borealis sightings and sauning in the wild.

Practicalities

Frankly, I don't feel competent enough to write down list of advices given the fact we've only visited Lapland in winter once (on this trip). Nevertheless, couple of observation points follows - may be rudimentary for those with some experience ;–).

The Urho Kekkonen national park is suitable for cross-country skiing trips, given the number of visitors (it's easier to follow someone's tracks rather to ski through deep snow), network of wooden challets ("tupas") and maintained skiing tracks around Saariselkä.
End of March / beginning of April may be the most convenient period for such a trip in Lapland - there is still enough snow yet temperature starts to be more bearable. Also, polar nights are over i.e. there is some daylight, too.
The cabins scattered within the park are very convenient for overnight stays and some of then even posses a sauna (i.e. Luirojärvi or Anterinmukka). The huts are mostly free (autiotupa - open hut), though there are some reservable huts (varaustupa) that are paid in advance. That being said, we had no problem finding a place in huts despite being quite a large group by Finnish standards (5 people), yet there is always a residual risk one may end up in a situation of reaching a fully-occupied tupa.
A pulk (from Finnish: pulkka; Swedish: pulka) is a Nordic short, low-slung small sled used for transport, pulled by a skier, is definitely more convenient than a heavy backpack on one's shoulders. Together with wider "backcountry" skis, it makes travelling through deep snow areas easier, faster and safer.

Footnotes

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FootNotes

All images are exclusive property and may not be copied, downloaded, reproduced, transmitted, manipulated or used in any way without permission of the author.