Beginning of a trail from Didnojohka to Käsivarsi Wilderness Area goes uphill. You will soon arrive to small swamp, which at least in August, has nice field of cottongrass on it. While I went to take photographs of it, I also found some cloudberries.

More photographs from Didnu

Looking back to starting place in Didnu

Looking forward towards Lossuahytta (still 10-12km to go)

When you check hiking maps about Käsivarsi Wilderness Area, there is only one hiking trail that goes from Kilpisjärvi to Halti (this trail is called Kalottireitti). However, if you read finnish hiking forums (for example relaa.com), you will soon learn that there is also another way to get into Halti. This trail starts from place called Didnu in Norway (or Didnojohka, if you look it up from a map). Best way to reach it is to take a taxi from Kilpisjärvi and ask them to give you a ride. It will cost something like 30-40 euros/group.
From here our trail will take us to 12km hike to Lossujärvi, which is already in Finland, but more about that in future days.

Photographs from Didnojohka

Car heading to Norway

After few hundred meters you get nice view

More information

Related posts:
Kilpisjärvi, Finland

Related photographs:
Käsivarsi Wilderness area (2009)
Hike to Halti and back (2008)

Our next destination in Hiking in Finland blog is going to be Käsivarsi Wilderness area in Lapland, where I’ve been hiking in two occasion. Last year (2008), I went and conquered Halti fell and this year (2009), I visited couple other popular destinations in the area. Before we can get into Käsivarsi Wilderness area, hikers will usually travel to village of Kilpisjärvi in North-West corner of Finland. There are at least three choices, how you can get their. Popular choices for transportation are:

• flight to Kittilä and take bus from there to Kilpisjärvi
• night train from Helsinki to Kolari and take bus from there to Kilpisjärvi
• take bus ride from Helsinki to Kilpisjärvi

My choice in both times has been night train to Kolari and bus from there to Kilpisjärvi. You will arrive to Kilpisjärvi in early afternoon. If you have reserved room in Hotel Kilpis or reserved cottage for a last night before trip back home, you still have time to drop your spare clothes and other stuff that you don’t need in hiking trail, get some lunch and take taxi for the last leg of our journey to beginning of hiking trail.
One thing that I probably should mention about lunch is that there are something like four places in Kilpisjärvi, where you can get some lunch. First three places are Ida-Sofia’s cafe, which usually have just one choice, Tuulan Kahvila, which can make pizzas, hamburgers and such and Haltinmaa, which has lunch buffet. These three places are within walking distance from each others and pretty close to local market and Hotel Kilpis (which kitchen is only open from 17-23). Fourth place for lunch is called Retkeilykeskus, which also has some buffet, if I remember correctly from last year, but its few (3-5) kilometers north from the rest.

Ruka	Hautajärvi Ristikallio Oulanka

In last January, we started our hiking trip from Hautajärvi (in Lapland) to Taivalköngäs rapids (in Kuusamo). We made sidetrip to Ristikallio, returned back to Taivalköngäs and continued our journey south to Ruka, where the journey ends. I have to admit that writing took whole lot more time than what I had anticipated, but I am still glad that I decided to stay on topic and write something about each step along the way. Now it is good time to wrap things up by making list of articles that I wrote about Karhunkierros hiking trail.

List of my articles about Karhunkierros hiking trail

Since Ruka is one of the end points of Karhunkierros hiking trail, it is now time to wrap things up, make list of all the places that we’ve gone through alone the way and decide, which hiking trail I should cover next. I’ve been thinking about Riisitunturi, Kevo Trail and Halti as next logical choices, but haven’t yet made up my mind. If you have preferences, let me know in comments.

In our journey from Hautajärvi to Ruka, we still have Ruka fell as one last obstacle before sauna, bed, etc.
From navigation point of view, this is the place where you are most likely to get lost, because there are ski slopes and all kind of shorter trails with their trail marks. If you are able to follow trail marks, you should finally come to one of the lower peaks of Ruka (one with ski jump tower). If you get lost at somepoint or simply don’t want to climb anymore than you really have to, just look for signs to Rukahovi and you should be able to find pass between Ruka’s peaks to get to the other side and end point of Karhunkierros hiking trail.
If you don’t have any accomodation reserved, Rukahovi is nearest hotel to the gate. It is also one of the places, which should be able to get you bus ride into airport, if you are planning to fly home. If you are heading to airport, make sure that you dump all extra Marinol and/or Sinol, if you’ve been using alcohol based cooker on a trail, before you walk into airport’s security checkpoint. They probably wouldn’t be too happy to find them from your baggage.

More pictures from Ruka fell

Valtavaara Hill is last obstacle before your arrival to Ruka fell. It is relatively long and high for a hill, but once you get up there you don’t mind about all the sweat that you had to pour to get up there, because it has pretty amazing view to surrounding nature. Along the way you will come across with two lean-to shelters and one day trip hut between them. While I love sight of those structures, Valtavaa Hill is so close to end point of this trail (or starting point, if your heading from south to north) that I have never manage to restrain myself to stay over night in Valtavaara Hilll instead of completing the journey and going into warm sauna.
One thing to keep in mind, while your making plans, is that Valtavaara is so close to Ruka that you will probably see lot of people doing daytrips in Valtavaara, because there is 8km circle trail which goes part of the way (something between 1/3 to 1/2 of its length) along the same trailpath with Karhunkierros hiking trail. So if you arrive to those lean-to shelter in early morning hours and want to get some sleep, I wouldn’t be too suprised, if you will see other people near by, when you wake up.

More photographs from Valtavaara Hill

Valtavaara day trip hut in horizon	Konttainen (another hill) and couple lakes
Trail signs This is where day trip trail and Karhunkierros hiking trail split into different directions.	Valtavaara day trip hut
Valtavaara lean-to shelter	Decent from Valtavaara Hill

With one exception, all the hills and fell in Karhunkierros hiking trail are within last 15km before Ruka. When you leave from Porontimajoki, it almost feels like trail just keeps on climbing to higher and higher. While hiking to uphill can be frustrating, you should keep in mind that your pack is already whole lot lighter from food than what it was in the beginning and by the end of day, you can walk into hotel (Rukahovi is right next to exit gate). If you have forgot to reserve accommodation for yourself (or your group), now might be good time to dig mobile phone from a pack and start making those phone calls. If this is not enough to get your spirits up, you start seeing taxi ads whenever trail crosses a normal road.
While taxi could sound as a nice way to get back into civilization, I would like to encourage to you keep on walking, because hilltops offer you wonderful view to surrounding landscape and you start to realise why travel agencies like to advertise Finland as land of thousands lakes.

More photographs from hills

Our next stop in Karhunkierros hike is actually couple hundred meters away from hiking trail, but there are good signs and path that will guide you to Porontimajoki wilderness cabins. Instead of one big cabin, Porontimajoki has two small cabins, which have space for eight people (four people in each). At least I personally like this solution whole lot more than idea of big cabin, because small cabins gives you so much more freedom on what temperature you want to keep inside, when you want to go to sleep and wake up. In case cabins are full, Porontimajoki also has lean-to shelter and flat ground under spruce trees for tents. If you are only making short visit in Porontimajoki before heading to Ruka (16km along trail), you might still want to fill your water bottles in here, eat some food and check old mill, which is partly built above the river.
I’ve visited Porontimajoki twice. My first visit was just lunch break around midday in 2005. On my second visit in 2007, I had reserved more time for visit so that I would get opportunity to take long exposure photographs from river. This second visit was also one of the two times, when I’ve actually slept in wilderness cabins, which are placed on Karhunkierros hiking trail.

More photographs from Porontimajoki

This article was originally published on May 2008 as my entry for letter P in ABC Wednesday.

After seeing nice collection of suspension bridges and whitewater rapids, we’ve once again come to less exciting segment in our hike along Karhunkierros (from Hautajärvi to Ruka). Trail goes on relatively flat ground in a forest. Sometimes trail goes next to a swamp and these are usually the moments in time, when you get nice view to surrounding nature.
My personal opinions about swamps are bit conflicting, because swamps have lot of interesting flowers and colors that I would love to photograph, but they are usually wet and they have lot of mosquitoes, which makes them less than ideal place to hang around. If your one of those people, who don’t like swamps, I can only comfort you by saying that this part of the trail doesn’t have whole lot of swamps, when compared to places like Riisitunturi, which is fell that is covered by slope marshes.

Myllykoski Rapids is one of my favorite sights in Karhunkierros (and Pieni Karhunkierros). It is 150m long class III whitewater rapids.
In summer of 2008, I was in whitewater paddling course, where we started on Saturday morning from Käylänkoski and paddled along Kitkajoki and on Sunday afternoon we arrived to Myllykoski. We were offered possibility to try it out (as out first class III rapid), but only two out of nine participants dared to try it and I wasn’t one of those two. First one out of those two almost made it, but fell at the very end, and second one went swimming in first turn. So if you don’t have any experience about whitewater paddling, it is really challenging, but for experienced paddlers it should be doable. Just keep in mind that after Myllykoski, there is only something like 200m of stillwater before you arrive to Aallokkokoski, so you definately want to have rescuers in place, before you try it out. If you don’t have whitewater padding experience, but want to experience adrealine rush, rafting boats go through the rapids on daily basis.
For hikers, there is old millhouse, suspension bridge and great looking rapids to explore from shores, what else can you ask for?
Only downside is that I haven’t yet found any one single point, which would give my dream photograph about Myllykoski. I have some sort of idea, where it might be, but I haven’t yet had opportunity to check it out with camera (I believe its under the suspension bridge…).
For photographers, one good question regarding this place is at what time should you visit Myllykoski. Around midnight you would have opportunity to play around with long exposures, but you won’t see any rafting boats in those hours, because they only travel on daytime. Best solution, if you have enough time available, would be to visit on daytime when rafting boat are coming through the rapids and then return on evening, when shutter speeds start getting longer.

On our last four articles (five, if you count this one), we’ve been traveling along Kitkajoki on a hiking trail, which is common for Karhunkierros (Bear’s Ring) and Pieni Karhunkierros. Now it is time to turn away from Pieni Karhunkierros and continue on Karhunkierros hiking trail towards Ruka.

More photographs from Myllykoski