The bed is hard to sleep on. I continuously dream of some kind of defense positions. And it's hot.
Morning
business done, I'm just packing my things and gathering all the stuff
I've outspread in the room when two fishermen arrive. They are surprised that I'm
alone. There's enough fish in the lakes, they catch more than they can
eat.
The plan is to get to the border today. There should be a camp site. Step by step away from civilization. Landscape is varied. Lone stumpy birches in set with junipers and grass. Sand dunes. Low pines, cranberries with pink blossoms. Crossing the rivers is easier that I hoped. According to the map I should wade through two first ones. On the first river a suspension bridge has been built. Looking at the foaming water I do not want to imagine how I'd wade through this navel-deep water with barely 10 degrees air temperature. Getting close to the second river I see ropes. No bridge, a boat on the other bank. I pull the rope and the boat starts to move towards me. If the boat gets there, I pull myself in the boat the same way to the other shore. Clever.
I meet two Finish hikers. Kind of crowded here.
It's clouded, no wind.
Birds twitter. Already third spring this year. That probably explains the absence of mosquitoes. I scare a duck who flies away, quacking reproachfully.
Dry ground varies with swampy stretches where I have to jump from one turf to the next. Near Iisakijärvi I hear voices. No-one to be seen. When I get to the cabin by the lake then it's filled with various belongings. Clear, this must belong to the voices. Make an entry into the diary and have a short snack picnic outside.
Trail continues in birch thicket. Reindeer flash between tree trunks. Then there's big bare swamp. From turf to turf. A guerrilla feels kind of naked in this landscape without any cover. At a distance is some strange white thing on a mountain. Checking it with binoculars confirms my first suspicion that it is snow. Trail forks, the one going to Rousajärvi is narrower than the other one. Rousajärvi will be the last small cabin on my way. Two hikers I met earlier spent a wound-healing-day here.
Lunch. Middle-sized brown bird is anxious by the river. It's 12 km to the border. Four trails depart from the cabin. The one going towards border is the narrowest. I traverse a couple of mosquito swarms. Mosquitoes pay no attention to me. I'm not insulted.
Landscape gets more and more bare. First dead birches, then lone birch twigs and then only rocks and lichen until horizon. Peaceful sloping hills stretch in each direction. From time to time there are reindeer. Earth, water and sky are mixed up. As if I was the only human being on Earth. In south a narrow light orange strip appears in the sky and starts getting closer with mixed success.
The campsite a few hundred meters before border turns out to be a garbage dump. Very un-finish. I keep walking around trying to find a flat spot without rocks, junipers and bumps. Finally I notice a place next to someone else's fire place. More and more blue sky between pink clouds in southern direction forms a background to dinner. Small sole clouds try to push ahead but the big mass barely moves. Instead of typing my impressions of the day in tent I move outside, equipped with warm underwear and gloves. Maybe tomorrow will be beautiful weather? Behind my back and over the hill is Norwegian border.
How GPS sees the world today: 27,5 km, moving time 7:22, stopped time 4:11, moving average from the beginning 3,8 km/h. Start was at 10:15 and finish at 22:00.
The plan is to get to the border today. There should be a camp site. Step by step away from civilization. Landscape is varied. Lone stumpy birches in set with junipers and grass. Sand dunes. Low pines, cranberries with pink blossoms. Crossing the rivers is easier that I hoped. According to the map I should wade through two first ones. On the first river a suspension bridge has been built. Looking at the foaming water I do not want to imagine how I'd wade through this navel-deep water with barely 10 degrees air temperature. Getting close to the second river I see ropes. No bridge, a boat on the other bank. I pull the rope and the boat starts to move towards me. If the boat gets there, I pull myself in the boat the same way to the other shore. Clever.
I meet two Finish hikers. Kind of crowded here.
It's clouded, no wind.
Birds twitter. Already third spring this year. That probably explains the absence of mosquitoes. I scare a duck who flies away, quacking reproachfully.
Dry ground varies with swampy stretches where I have to jump from one turf to the next. Near Iisakijärvi I hear voices. No-one to be seen. When I get to the cabin by the lake then it's filled with various belongings. Clear, this must belong to the voices. Make an entry into the diary and have a short snack picnic outside.
Trail continues in birch thicket. Reindeer flash between tree trunks. Then there's big bare swamp. From turf to turf. A guerrilla feels kind of naked in this landscape without any cover. At a distance is some strange white thing on a mountain. Checking it with binoculars confirms my first suspicion that it is snow. Trail forks, the one going to Rousajärvi is narrower than the other one. Rousajärvi will be the last small cabin on my way. Two hikers I met earlier spent a wound-healing-day here.
Lunch. Middle-sized brown bird is anxious by the river. It's 12 km to the border. Four trails depart from the cabin. The one going towards border is the narrowest. I traverse a couple of mosquito swarms. Mosquitoes pay no attention to me. I'm not insulted.
Landscape gets more and more bare. First dead birches, then lone birch twigs and then only rocks and lichen until horizon. Peaceful sloping hills stretch in each direction. From time to time there are reindeer. Earth, water and sky are mixed up. As if I was the only human being on Earth. In south a narrow light orange strip appears in the sky and starts getting closer with mixed success.
The campsite a few hundred meters before border turns out to be a garbage dump. Very un-finish. I keep walking around trying to find a flat spot without rocks, junipers and bumps. Finally I notice a place next to someone else's fire place. More and more blue sky between pink clouds in southern direction forms a background to dinner. Small sole clouds try to push ahead but the big mass barely moves. Instead of typing my impressions of the day in tent I move outside, equipped with warm underwear and gloves. Maybe tomorrow will be beautiful weather? Behind my back and over the hill is Norwegian border.
How GPS sees the world today: 27,5 km, moving time 7:22, stopped time 4:11, moving average from the beginning 3,8 km/h. Start was at 10:15 and finish at 22:00.
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