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Pyhätunturi National Park 1999-09-21
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Friday, 17.09.1999
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Having been in Rovaniemi for the time we had, meant leaving it for
a few days again. The town's ugliness was getting on our nerves and
the time of year was such that this would be one of the last
opportunities to go out into nature for a few days. Night
temperatures drop to freezing point and nature's colours are
changing from a lively green to an enchanting red-brown these days.
It is supposed to be the best time of year to be in Lapland. Even
though the foreign tourist season is over, until Christmas when
they all drop in again, Lapland is full of people, full of Fins
aware of Lapland's beauty.
Merja had taken a few days off from work and we decided to go to
the Pyhätunturi National Park, some 130 kilometres from Rovaniemi.
We had visited this park the previous year but only on a day trip
with my visiting parents, now we had planned on staying a few days.
Since the park doesn't have so much wilderness huts like for
instance the Uhro Kekkonen National Park, we were obliged to take
the tent along just in case we would not be able to sleep anywhere
inside.
We woke early in order to be on the 08.40 hours bus from Rovaniemi
to Pyhätunturi. Laden with backpacks we cycled to the bus-station
and left our bicycles at the opposite post-office. Within 15
minutes the bus seemed to have some difficulties. Something was
wrong with the wheels or something. Whatever it was, the bus-driver
thought it a good idea to change buses and we thus had to wait
somewhere for a working one to catch up. It came fast enough and
after the exchanging of luggage and people we were on our way
again.
Where I had expected the bus to turn right towards Kemijärvi, it
went strait onwards. At first I thought that the driver was tired
from changing busses and had made a mistake, but as it turned out
he just took another road. The bus went to Luotso first and then to
Pyhätunturi.
Just past 11.00 hours the bus drove on to the Pyhätunturi holiday
centre car park and let us off in front of Hotel Pyhä. We dumped
our packs in the lobby and made our way to the toilets, this would
be our last visit to normal toilets for a few days, so we took
advantage of the opportunity. I also filled my water bag with fresh
cold water. The park does have lakes with drinkable water but one
never can be to sure in such a case and what if we would want to
make a cup of coffee somewhere where water was not readily
available? It did add about 4 kilo's to my burden though.
As Merja was still in the toilets I walked into the hotel's
restaurant for a look at the view from the tables at the windows.
The view was acceptable, not dashing, just acceptable and nothing
more than that. Perhaps due to the weather; the sun hadn't shown
its rays for even a minute whole day long. Walking back to the
entrance I passed a counter on which I couldn't help but notice a
box of Montechristo cigars (Cuba's finest -in my humble opinion- at
an affordable price, but alas not in Finland). Since no one was
around I thought I should have a peek inside. Unfortunately the box
was empty; the faint aroma of waiting cigars filled my nose anyway.
There were to be no cigars on this trip then.
Our next stop was the park's information centre to get some last
minute news and perhaps a good free map. The map we had brought was
good but only a black and white photocopy. Unfortunately the local
library doesn't have the funds for a colour photocopier. The only
free maps available were of the A4 sized incomplete, inaccurate
tourist maps kind.
The information centre had a small exhibition on the park. It
showed the park's flora and fauna, a scale model of the park and
some stuffed local animals, including a young brown bear. After
Merja had changed some clothes it was time to go out into the
wilderness in search of our peace and quiet, away from Rovaniemi.
I still had a good recollection of the stones scattered around in
the gorge en route towards the waterfall from our last year's
trip. So we knew what to expect as we entered the park's
boundaries. From the information centre straight on past the ski
lift and onwards to the park's entrance, which is about a 2
kilometres hike. One descends about 180 stairs down to the bottom
of the valley. There one has two choices: left or right. Since most
were going right, we choose to turn left towards Oravalampi or
Squirrel's pond. An old man with a cane followed our initiative but
was left far behind in no time, even though Merja made a stop to
change clothes again.
The road was so littered with rocks that we were constantly looking
downward to make sure that we planted our feet securely. In doing
so one hardly notices the beautiful, dramatic nature. But luckily
we noticed it once in a while anyway. Consequently I also tripped a
few times.
The road got worse and worse. From the foot of the valley towards
Oravalampi was a distance of only 2,5 kilometres but it was taking
us like ages over all those rocks. When we finally did reach
Oravalampi, 100 metres before which Merja wanted to take a rest, a
group of about eight was just leaving and left the fire burning
unattended. We warmed up and were eating the last of our sausages
within half an hour of arrival. I knew we should have taken more
with us.
Oravalampi is along a popular day-trippers route so one can expect
people to arrive from both sides of the trail. A group of about ten
mostly middle-aged arrived from the direction on which we were to
proceed. One of them had taken a fall and damaged his nose; it was
bandaged. The rocks were the cause they said. They were definitely
day-trippers because they did not have any cooking-gear with them
and their sandwiches were ready-made, probably by one of the local
hotels.
As I had done as well, feeding the birds seemed to be everyone's
favourite pastime. The birds here must be used to people and
feeding upon them, since they came pretty close to eating from
one's hand. The group left and we were getting ready to leave as
well.
Just behind Oravalampi the road went up. We heard some voices and
saw three women coming down the slope in what seemed to be a
difficult manner. When we had reached them, and mind you it was
difficult going up as well, Merja asked them about the road ahead
and how long the rocks would continue. This was apparently the easy
part! There was yet more to come. The further we continued the
steeper the slope. By the time we had reached the tree line we
could finally see what all the fuss was about: the slope continued
upward to who knows where and was completely decorated with rocks,
rocks and rocks. Normally orange stripes on trees or dots on rocks
indicate the roads, but they were hard to spot now and it was
extremely difficult to follow the road. Presumably avalanches had
displaced the dotted rocks, but the railroad-crossing-like
motor-sledge road-signs for winter were a great help. As I balanced
my way further up hoping to see the top, Merja got further and
further behind. I waited for her once in a while and gorged upon
blueberries, which are significantly larger over here and seem to
taste sweeter as well. They were reached through sweat though;
perhaps that is why they tasted all the sweeter.
Over barren rock and through the thickening mist, voices travel
far. I heard two but couldn't yet see any people no matter how much
I strained my eyes. Fast enough though the two came in sight and
passed me at quite an astonishing speed. Of course they weren't
exactly burdened by heavy packs.
The silence was finally broken by cursing from Merja, who had also
reached the end of the difficult rock section and who was now
setting foot on a stretch of relatively normal walk-able road. The
berries were a welcome treat. She inquired if I had seen two men
pass and after I acknowledged this she said that they had actually
offered to carry her pack up to the top for her, but she had
declined.
As said we were on a stretch of relatively normal walk-able road
seemingly in between two sections of rocks, rich in edible berries.
We rested for a short while and gazed into the far, far distance,
into the unknown. The spell broke quick enough as we realised that
the top was still somewhere ahead of us. Onwards we went onto yet
another rocky section. As it luckily turned out we weren't far from
the top after all.
A signpost and some form of bench marked the top of this 540 metres
high Noitatunturi. No one in sight and no one to be heard. Merja
wanted to rest again and we sat down on the bench. The top didn't
have much of a view to offer due to the mist and most of the
surrounding areas being lower anyway.
Much to our surprise a group had reached the top and immediately
continued their way downwards into the direction we were to go. We
decided that our rest was over, mainly because the temperature
wasn't exactly comforting.
After just a mere 500 metres, Merja stated that she was too tired
to continue without first having a rest besides a bush of some
sort. She wanted to stretch out onto the ground and possibly have a
nap. More and more people were passing by so that the nap never
came.
Looking out over the valley, I distinguished a fireplace. On the
map I had marked the Annikinlampi fireplace and regarded it as our
next destination. It still was a long way down though. About 1,5
kilometres as the crow flies from where I stood, but probably three
or more via the track.
Small rocks and the descending slope made walking a tricky
business. On more than one occasion we saw some of the others slip
and fall. No deep ravines or crevasses nearby, but now I understood
why this route is marked as difficult and dangerous. Reason enough
to be careful and not try to break any records.
As we gradually came to lower grounds, on and off over large
sections of smaller and bigger rocks, vegetation seemed to take the
overhand on the route once more. Unfortunately this also made one
overeager and less careful in placing one's feet as I learned
firsthand. I tripped and fell quite hard on my right knee. Cut
trousers and a bleeding knee made me curse my way further down and
yell at Merja to be careful. In doing so she also slowed down and I
lost track of her, but since the fireplace was already in sight she
knew where to go.
Three men greeted me upon reaching the fireplace. I strapped the
pack of my back and placed it next to a tree. From a nearby fresh
water lake I got some ice-cold water and let it take me well. The
tinselling effect of clear, clean and cold water running over your
face and down your neck and back gives one a refreshed feeling and
makes one forget just endured burdens.
While my kettle stood on a plate above the fire, I went for a look
around in order to spot Merja; she couldn't be too far off anymore
now. I didn't see her and just attended the kettle a bit more. Tea
would give the warming effect I was in need off.
The three men were warming themselves with a big bottle of brandy
and in truly non-Finnish fashion they offered me the bottle for a
good swallow. The warming effect I was in search of thus came
sooner than expected and it gave me enough strength to go and have
a look for Merja again. Still I couldn't spot her, but when I got
back to the fireplace she was already sitting beside it. Since I
had walked faster down the path she had sort of lost sight of me
and simply walked in a straight line towards the fire.
After another brandy for me the men left to the right towards the
Karhunjuomalampi cabin and we were all alone again and not yet sure
of where to go. About 2 kilometres to the right or double that
distance to the left towards the Huttuloma cabin. The problem
however was that we were unfamiliar with the path and had had quite
enough of our share of rocks. A young couple arrived from the
direction we were considering and assured us that the road was
clear of rocks a bit further down the path and that the cabin was
empty when they had left it about an hour ago. The decision was
rapidly made and we started on our way towards Huttulampi cabin.
The rocks indeed gave way to a normal earthen path somewhat
overgrown on both sides. The trees hid the magnificent views from
us on both sides and we were only allowed to see these once in a
while at open spots. Hilltops on our left and a vast landscape of
forests to our right as far as the eyes were permitted to see
through the fog. The rays of sunlight that did break through on a
few occasions revealed a beautiful sheet of colourful mosses,
flowers, berries, and grasses.
Suddenly I heard Merja frantically call out to me and when I was
close enough she pointed out to her left and said only one word:
"KARHU!" or "BEAR!" I grabbed my hunting-knife, which was strapped
to my pack and picked up a log for Merja. Anxiously and yet a bit
frightened, since there was no quick place to hide or so, I tried
to get a glimpse of the bear. Merja spotted it again and as it
turned out, she had mistaken a reindeer's ass for a dangerous
animal. A few nervous laughs and we continued, but the thoughts
didn't leave my mind that bears could be encountered here, that we
were quite vulnerable and that the pathetic sight of me and my
hunting-knife wouldn't even scare Whiney the Pooh away.
We must have been on our way for over an hour (and it was getting
dark by now) before I smelled the faint welcome fragrance of wood
smoke. That meant two things: good news and bad news. The good news
being that the cabin must be near and the bad news was that it was
inhabited.
As we came upon a broader path the cabin came in sight and smoke
was indeed rising from its chimney. Two women and a dog were inside
and intended to stay the night. Merja is a bit allergic to dogs but
she didn't have the heart to say so when the women inquired if we
had any objections to its presence inside the cabin.
Darkness had completely engulfed the cabin. Under the shady light
of a few candles and my mini-Maglite we made and had our dinner. To
make sure we would have a generous supply of fresh water, I took a
bucket and went out to the well. Barefoot I found my way to the
planks stretched out over the high grass forming a path to the
well. Another bucket attached to a wooden pole served as a means
to reach the water. I took advantage of the cold water and washed
my face and feet as well. Less than 50 metres away from the cabin I
stood and I could hardly see it through the darkness.
Berths were made and we positioned ourselves on the top-shelves,
away from the dog.
Saturday, 18.09.1999
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While Merja was still asleep I lay awake waiting for the women and
their dog to leave. My bladder was close to exploding when I saw
the last of them going along the path we had come from, passing the
last visible tree along the way. The side of the cabin seemed to be
the nearest toilet. The smell of fresh pine needles and morning dew
filled my nostrils and my feelings were of sheer joy.
While enjoying some freshly brewed coffee and Mrs. Auel's The
Mammoth Hunters, plans were made up. I sort of gathered that Merja
wasn't too keen on walking a long distance today and that she would
rather stay another night, very well then.
According to the map a lakeside cafeteria would be just outside the
park's border less than 2 kilometres away. It would be our goal
today.
Voices reached us and a fearful feeling overcame me; we were not
alone here and the day-trippers would no doubt start harassing us
with their sorry attempts to being nice and their pathetic stories
on how they had come here and how beautiful and quiet it all was
and so on.
A couple, presumably in their late twenties or beginning thirties
arrived. Given their packs and utilities these were no day
trippers. They weren't and intended on staying the night. They had
come from the Kapusta (Russian for 'Cabbage') day cabin, about 6
kilometres from here and kept telling us how close by and how nice
it was. We both felt that they wanted us to go there so that they
would have this Huttuloma cabin for themselves: selfish bastards!
Luckily -as in spoiling their peace- groups of day trippers started
coming in and destroying the peacefulness and quiet even more.
We decided to go and have a look at this nearby lake and waterfront
cafeteria. The map indicated that there was a so-called Varauskota
as well, or in other words that there was a cabin for rent next to
the cafeteria. We stashed our stuff on "our" sleeping-platform and
went on our way.
It irritated me to see that the cabin we had just left had been
near a road! Not that I saw any cars or so, but the road was so
broad that if people would want to ride it, they could. It was no
more than 3 kilometres from the main-road, what a bummer! It was
also disastrous to see that just outside the boundaries of the
national park the landscape was devastatingly ugly. No trees, just
rocks; a few bushes on barren ground. Spare the bushes this must be
the closest I would ever come to the Mars landscape! Well my day
was already spoiled anyway and this wasn't going to make it any
worse.
The bushes however turned out to be blue- and lingonberry, so
picking a meal on the go we made it to the cafeteria only to find
it closed.
A path of wooden planks snaked towards the waterfront where I sat
down on a bench on a small wooden pier overlooking the lake. All
sides -except ours- showed forest. The wind was totally absent and
the only sound strong enough to hear was the sound of water lazily
swaying against the pier. Merja came over to join me and we decided
to pick some more berries, enough to make us a healthy side-dish
next to the macaroni-stuff.
As we scavenged the empty, unkempt -like a storm and fire raged
through but forgot to blacken everything- area we wondered over and
over again how it came to be that the berries here were so
extraordinary big. Picking was easy; we had about a litre of
berries in no time. Back in Rovaniemi this would have taken us
nearly an hour, but here we were finished in less than 20
minutes. The idea of having these for a meal had made the both of
us hungry enough to head back to the cabin.
The smell of sausages blackening over an open fire and the sounds
of far too many people reached us while we were still outside the
premises of the national park and unable to see the cabin. On
reaching it, it was like a hiker's worst nightmare come true. The
place was jam-packed with day-trippers and a number of tents were
scattered around the area. All the benches and the complete porch
were occupied by people eating, drinking and -worse- talking and
thus disturbing the peace--mainly mine. Ok, I shouldn't sound like I
own the place or something, but this was ridiculous. It was still
early though, so there was enough time for all of them to hike on
out of here.
As the day progressed, and Merja probably had spoken to just about
everyone, the crowd thinned into the die-hards that intended to
stay the night. The tents stayed up and a few groups would sleep
there. The cabin seemed to be left for Merja, the young couple, and
me. But -of course- another group arrived. Two adults and -I think-
four teenagers, three boys, and a girl. Most of the teenagers fell
onto the sleeping-platform utterly exhausted, while the two adults
arranged most of their stuff. As it turned out they were kids from
disturbed families or so from Tornio on a field trip away from
home.
As darkness started to engulf everything in its light-less blanket,
all groups seemed to take their dinners in turns. What surprised me
most was the richness in food that the kids were to consume. Big
pieces of nice -and hungry making- cheese on dark bread, the most
expensive coffee that one can buy in Finland and above all salmon
soup. Their packs seemed to contain nothing more than sleeping bags
and food, lots of food. I couldn't help thinking that maybe this
was better food than they get at home. Perhaps a belly full of
decent food and a peaceful night's rest will help them forget the
troubles at home. Noodles and coffee for us.
After some time with Mrs. Auel's novel sleep came early again. The
soft snoring didn't bother me and I didn't complain when Merja woke
me later to accompany her to the toilets. Her imaginative possible
alien abduction was a good excuse to make the visit myself as well.
Sunday, 19.09.1999
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I woke at the first sounds from the plateau beneath us and was
happy to see that both groups were making preparations for an early
leave.
The rich smell of tasty porridge and freshly brewed coffee was
tempting but I kept to myself and didn't rise until the last person
had left the building. Merja had woken by now and one of the first
things she did was search for what the others had left behind in
foodstuffs. We were to have a little porridge with the rest of our
yesterday's picked supply of berries!
While browsing the cabin the day before I had found some thin black
gloves with rubber knobs on the palm side. They were still above
the wood-stove and found their way into the pockets of my coat in
an instance. I didn't take them for keeping my hands warm but
mainly for keeping them clean when handling firewood.
After our breakfast and while Merja was tending to herself and I
enjoyed Ayla's slightly erotic adventures of about 40.000 years ago
over yet another cup of coffee, the first visitors dropped by to
place their names in the guest book. As usually, mostly elderly and
a few middle aged day-trippers. Scattered groups came and went as
the minutes past until the loud -preacher like- voice of one man
seemed to overshadow every other sound in the vicinity. He had
religion written all over him, the typical simple and arrogant look
and smile as if knowing everything about man's existence and place
in the universe these people seem to have. How wrong they are! He
led a group of I reckon at least twenty elderly. Each of which sat
down outside, visited the inside asked the same questions: have you
stayed the night here? Are you from far? Do you like Lapland?
Etc. etc. etc. Merja took care of these conversations and I just
smiled and nodded once in a while. They all signed and went out
again, back to their fruit-juice, yoghurts, sandwiches or
whatever. One thing though, all of them excused themselves on
entering and hoped that they were not disturbing us. "No, no" I
answered (in Finnish that is), but my mind screamed, "Yes, yes"!
Ayla and Jondolar were alone again in some part of the Mammoth
hunters' cave. Loudly they all left as the next group appeared on
the scene.
It was time for us to take our leave from this cabin that has given
us warmth and shelter for 2 nights. My pack was all packed and
standing outside next to the porch table. Like me it was waiting
for Merja.
We left the cabin behind and started out towards where we had come
from. Our plan was to go to the Karhunjuomalampi cabin and stay the
night there. This cabin is a 2 kilometres hike from the
Annikinlampi fireplace, which is where I had enjoyed the brandy so
well 3 days earlier, from which we were only 4 kilometres away.
The track we had followed 2 days ago doesn't go over hilltops
neither through the bottom of a valley, but sort of runs in
between. When we were on it the hilltops were to our left and the
valley to our right; not really a valley though, more like where
the hills reach bottom or simply 'ground level'.
Today we followed the path we were already on and which would
-according to the map- lead us close to the tops of Peurakero
(504m) and Laakakero (520m), and so towards the Annikinlampi
fireplace. The path went up.
Amazingly it didn't take long at all before we encountered the
first of some of the groups that had visited us earlier. Again they
were occupied with eating. Many cups of yoghurt are travelling
through this national park! Most of the people we saw sitting and
resting were elderly and perhaps they were just tired.
I was afraid that we would become part of a group walking along the
paths in our direction so my speed was quite high in order to try
and avoid that at all costs, no matter how it might tire me.
Unfortunately Merja had her own speed and I had to wait for her
once in a while to catch up. The scenery made up for too many
people along the way and the obligatory nods and "hellos."
The rocks of our first day were still fresh in my memory and I
hoped that we had seen the last of them. Luckily this was quite the
case. The path was obviously a popular one since there were hardly
any rocks of mention-able size. No bandaged day-trippers to be
spotted. Bushes, grasses, some plants, and mosses couldn't keep
anyone from enjoying the magnificent views of the surroundings. A
clear day so that one could look for many kilometres in the far
away distance.
The highest point was reached in no time. It seemed that this route
was shorter than the one we had taken before. As Merja caught up,
the road descended onto the rocks leading to the Annikinlampi
fireplace.
The kids from Tornio were having their lunch here and so was the
preacher we had heard earlier this morning. The preacher and his
group were very interested to hear where we were from and Amsterdam
appealed to all. Even more so since I replied in Finnish and was
able to maintain some form of conversation in this so difficult
language. They all bade their goodbyes and good lucks and were on
their way again. We drank some more tea, ate some more crackers,
and hoped above all that the next cabin would be empty.
It was an easy road to the Karhunjuomalampi cabin. We had been here
the previous year with my family who visited us in Rovaniemi. One
is not allowed to spend the night in this cabin and we just
lingered until all visitors were gone. Merja spend the better part
of the afternoon picking berries while I read. Later on while Merja
slept and I was reading by the low flickering light of a candle,
two hikers from Helsinki arrived. They too were aware that one
couldn't spend the night here, but set up their tent anyway. While
Merja chatted with them I went out for a short walk in the darkness
and to splash my face with the fresh cold water from the nearby
lake.
We rearranged the hard wooden benches to form some sort of platform
on top of which we placed our sleeping-mats. Merja slept there, but
I preferred the floor, that somehow didn't seem as hard.
Early the next morning the first day-trippers arrived, too early
for our tastes. Quickly we had rearranged our stuff to let it
appear that we were just early hikers. After our washing, breakfast
and coffee we left for the information centre again. When we had
hiked here with my family we had wanted to walk a certain route
back to the information centre around the ski-sloped mountain
Kultakero. Unfortunately we had taken a wrong route from the cabin
and ended up walking about 5 kilometres extra. Now we took the
right road or so we thought. It was not our intention to walk
around this Kultakero, but straight on towards the information
centre, which was a long enough trip. We had entered the road we
should have taken with my family and were on our way around the ski
mountain. I noticed this as we saw the ravine we were supposed to
be in far away to our right. After checking the map we decided to
cross the stretch of vegetation a little while back, hike up the
slope and find the road we were supposed to be on.
It all proved well that we had chosen the wrong road. Hiking up the
slope we were amazed at the abundance of blueberries. They were
about twice the size of the ones we pick at home and there were
certainly more than thrice as much. Behaving as if we had all the
time in the world, we started picking and filled a bottle and our
food-pan. With about 4 litres of blueberries we entered the right
path and continued onwards to the information centre.
From the top of the ravine long, steep stairs descend down along
the rocky slope. At the bottom the road leads to the right in front
of a small near dry pond. Less than 100 metres further a waterfall
thrusts its contents into the small Pyhänkasteenlampi Lake. This
"Lake of Holy Baptism" is where according to a legend in the 17th
century the Apostle of Finland, E.M. Fellman, forcibly baptised
Sami to convert them to Christianity. The cool clean water was a
welcome relief.
The road through the gorge leads over wooden planks protectively
laid over the large rocks. At a fireplace just before the stairs
leading up out of the gorge, a large group of elderly people were
eating sausages and singing -apparently- religious songs. We
quickly passed them and fled up the stairs only to find another
group of mentally handicapped picking berries. We fled on and
reached the information centre and Hotel Pyhä after a short walk.
At the hotel we inquired about busses for Rovaniemi, but found that
the next one wasn't due until the next day. It would be possible to
catch a bus from Sodankylä to Rovaniemi, but that would be from the
main road about 15 kilometres away. We got a ride there within 15
minutes and started waiting for the bus and hitching at the same
time.
We got a lucky ride from a man on his way to Rovaniemi and he
dropped us of exactly where we had left our bicycles. We now had
some extra money left that we hadn't spent on the bus, so we bought
about all we could carry from the nearby food-shop.
The snow would start falling soon now, so we knew that this would
be our last camping-trip for the season. The long wait until next
year and next year's thaw had already started.
