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Published: September 23rd 2008
View from Mars
From the summit of Marsfjallet we could see for miles. An amazingly vast area of wilderness!Since our last blog, when we left you in the Swedish town of Vilhelmina , we have been back to Norway briefly and spent three weeks in Finland. We have crossed the Arctic Circle no less than eight times, seen lots of reindeer in Lapland ( but no Santa), found a Lancaster Bomber, stayed in a sami kåta and a shed, felled some virtual trees, visited a Russian fortress and sampled Åland pancakes. In this blog we have recipes, will provide lessons in Finnish, will explain why the arctic circle isn’t where it is supposed to be, and tell you about one of the most endangered seals in the world.
The road between Vilhelmina and Gäddede is known as the Vildmarksvägen (wilderness road) and takes in some of the most dramatic country in Sweden. There are a few small villages (including Malgovik which has the dubious honour of recording the coldest temperature in Sweden, -53oC recorded in the 1940’s) but otherwise just forests, lakes and mountains. This road gives great access to some stunning mountains, national parks and nature reserves. Climbing Marsfjellet (1590m) made us realise the true scale of the ‘wilderness’ with views over huge expanses of bog to other
Reindeer on Stekenjokk Plateau
Just after the photo was taken they came straight for us! mountain ranges, extending into Norway. We camped on the Stekenjokk Plateau for a couple of nights, saw lots of flowers, had close encounters with reindeer, swam (very briefly!!) and even climbed a mountain in two countries with nothing better than a 1:500,000 road map! Just to the south of Stekenjokk is an area of karst landscape with a rich limestone flora. We discovered an amazing nature reserve at Bjuralven (beaver brook) full of caves and dolines, with its own open log cabin with stove and an endless supply of firewood so that visitors could enjoy a rest and make a cup of coffee! No graffiti, no litter, clean and tidy inside. We tried to imagine this sort of facility being provided in England...but couldn’t! Throughout this part of our trip we have been constantly surprised at the quality of services provided for hikers and visitors in national parks, nature reserves and wilderness areas , and the respectful way in which they are used. We have come across intelligent interpretation (i.e not dumbed down) almost always with a translation into English and German, excellent leaflets and maps with well maintained paths. We have also encountered some amazing shelters. All of this
Mountain in two countries
Kerry in Norway, Dave in Sweden near the summit of Sibmecokka. No border guards here either! is generally free. What a contrast to the USA and Canada!
From Gäddede you can either turn left towards Stromsund or right into Norway. We chose the latter as it would give us an easier route north. It was raining heavily, but we found ourselves a lovely little turf roofed log cabin. Inside the furniture and fittings were handmade. Perfect! We are going to build our own one day!
Just south of the Arctic Circle we visited the most northerly spruce forest in Norway. After this the only trees are pine and birch. The road crosses 66o 33’ on a windswept plateau in the Saltfjellet National Park. It is a beautiful place, but a harsh one and hundreds of Yugoslavian prisoners of war died up here building a railway to Narvik for the Germans. To completely spoil the ambience of the place, a hideous Polarsirkelsenteret ( Polar Circle centre) has been built, to quote the Rough Guide “like a giant lampshade plonked by the roadside and stuffed with every sort of tourist bauble imaginable”. In fact the Arctic Circle is actually 1km north of the lampshade as, due to the earth’s wobble, it is currently moving north at a rate
Hytte in Norway
Turf roofed cabins are a speciality in Norway. We stayed here one very wet night and it was lovely! of 14m a year! From here we crossed back into Sweden and followed the Silvervägen (silver road named for the abundance of birch trees along the way) to Arjeplog and Arvidsjaur. The quantity of bilberries up here was astonishing, so here comes the recipe...Ingredients: ½ mug of bilberries, ½ mug of plain yoghurt, a dash of maple syrup. Put bilberries into mug and mash with a spoon. Add dash of syrup. Add yoghurt and stir. Eat straight away for breakfast lunch and dinner or any other time of day.
Chances are, you have never heard of Arjeplog , a small town in the middle of lakes and forest, silent except for the call of black throated divers and where reindeer can stand in the middle of the road without fear of getting knocked down.(You have to keep your wits about you driving here.) In the winter, however , because the lakes are shallow and freeze quickly, car manufacturers from all over the world come here to test new cars on the frozen lakes and see how they perform in the extreme cold. Now, when your car refuses to start on that cold winter morning and you are already late for
Old farm, Dunderdalen, Norway
The Norwegian forestry commission (Statskog) maintain this farm, partly as a museum but you can also stay the night for free! work, you will remember Arjeplog.
Gammelstad near Luleå on the Bothnian coast is a world heritage site for its church village. In the late 17th century, weekly church attendance was made compulsory in Sweden. For far flung farming families this was not practical, so those living more than 30km away were allowed to attend every three weeks. However the distance meant that they could not get there and back in a day, so each family built their own little wooden cottage next to the church. If it sounds a bit strict and grim, apparently the church weekends were a chance for people from isolated farms to meet distant neighbours, do deals, find a husband/wife and generally let their hair down! There are 500 of these cottages tightly packed around the church and they are still privately owned, but the owners can only stay in them on church holidays. Just as fascinating for us was nearby Gammelstadviken, a reedy lake which used to be a coastal inlet where we saw osprey, up to four marsh harriers and loads of red necked grebes from a fantastic viewing tower overlooking the lake.
From Gammelstad we headed back north of the
The first possum to cross the arctic circle?
Maybe, but can the shape of the monument be entirely coincidental? Arctic Circle to Jokkmokk. This Sami region is about the size of Wales but with a population of only 6500. After learning loads at the Sami museum (well worth a visit, again with excellent translations into English), we spent two days hiking in Muddus National Park, an area of over 500km2 of old growth forest , vast open bogs and lakes. It has incredible wildlife including bear, lynx, elk, reindeer, whooper swans, capercaillie, cranes, osprey and black throated diver . We stayed one night in a traditional Sami kotå , a pyramidal cabin, half buried in the ground with a hearth in the middle and sleeping platforms around the walls. Cosy, but very smoky. We tried having a fire and leaving the door open, but instead of clouds of smoke, we got clouds of mosquitoes and spent the night swatting and being bitten. Despite this, Muddus is a fantastic place and a true wilderness. At this time of year the area is so peaceful and quiet apart from the whooper swans , which breed here and still had cygnets in tow. After a 20 mile hike out of the park, we treated ourselves to a night in a comfy bed.
We hope this story had a happy ending
A fox cub in the middle of the road on the Silvervagen in Sweden. We hope other motorists slowed down too! The old station building in Porjus is owned by an English photographer, Patricia Cowern. She also runs a ‘vandrehem’ (guesthouse/hostel). Patricia was the first English person we spoke to since meeting a motorcyclist from the Isle of Man on day 2 of the trip! In Porjus, we also came across the remains of a Lancaster Bomber. During WW2 the German warship Tirpitz was hiding in the Fjords of Northern Norway and causing problems to the arctic convoys. The British made many attempts to dispose of the ship and the“Easy Elsie” was on one of the bombing raids to try and sink it in October 1944. This mission failed, and the Lancaster was hit by anti aircraft fire. The pilot managed to fly into neutral Sweden and crash into a bog near Porjus. Fortunately no one was killed and the crew were interned by the Swedes. Parts of the plane are still there.The local history society have made a trail from the road to the wreckage and provided a shelter and panels giving a full history of “Easy Elsie”. It was a misty day and it was quite eerie to come across the plane’s wreckage in the middle of a bog
Common cranes
Near Arjeplog and so far from home.
And so to Finland. The countryside looked the same, the houses were built in a similar style, but suddenly we found we couldn’t understand the roadsigns any more! We clearly needed a road map and a dictionary if we were going to survive here. So here comes Finnish lesson no.1 ...
At the Bookshop (Kirjakaupa)
Shopkeeper; Huomenta (Good morning)
Customer; Hei. I am sorry I don’t speak Suomi (finnish), but I am looking for a sanakirja (dictionary) so I can learn, and a tiekarte (roadmap) so I can find my way around
Shopkeeper (goes to find map and dictionary). Here you are
Customer; Ah, Kiitos (thankyou) Thats just the job.
Thus armed, we headed straight to Oulanka National Park on the Russian Border, only stopping to fill up with diesel at a station right on the Arctic circle near Rovaniemi. We thought the Norwegian polarcircle centre was bad, but Santa Land, the Finnish equivalent ,is far worse! Oulanka is a great area of old growth pine forest ,lakes and rivers. Because of the extreme conditions even pines which are hundreds of years old are only about a foot in diameter. There were
still a lot of bilberries to picked and a huge range of mushrooms, which we were not sure about. Bird watching was great as well, and we saw many new species such as Siberian jay, crossbills and crested tits. The weather turned very cold so we stayed in another fantastic log cabin. We should build one when we get back.
We meandered slowly south through Finland, visiting numerous national parks and nature reserves. Just like Norway and Sweden ,the facilities in Finland, particularly those provided by Metsähallitus, the Finnish Forestry Commission (which runs the National Parks...!)were superb . We have also found the concept of “Everyman’s Right” very enlightening. It gives everyone the basic right to roam freely in the countryside, without needing to obtain permission, no matter who occupies or owns the land. You can camp, pick wild berries and mushrooms, fish , row, sail, canoe, ski, walk in the countryside. Of course there are provisos about not damaging property and harming wildlife. It is actually illegal to erect a sign saying ‘Private, No Trespassing’ (except around your house or garden)! Karelia is a large region in eastern Finland with vast areas of natural forest which continue unbroken
Kata in Muddus
It was very dark and smoky inside with the door shut, but the open door attracted the mosquitoes! into Russia. This area is home to four of Europe’s large carnivores, bear, wolf, lynx and wolverine. The Finns and Russians have been cooperating to monitor these animals and secure their conservation. Several cross -border ‘friendship parks’ have been established, and border fences removed to allow easier movement of these animals and their prey species such as reindeer. The Metsähallitus information centre at Kuhmo has excellent information about the four species and the conservation measures being put in place to protect them.
By now we had been away about five weeks and thought it was time to get in touch with home, so having set up a Skype account we now needed some headphones. Time for Finnish lesson 2...
At the computer shop (Tietokokaupa)
Shopkeper; Hei
Customer; Hei. I am sorry, I don’t speak Finnish
Shopkeeper; That’s OK. How can I help you?
Customer; I am looking for some Skype headphones.
Shopkeeper; Here . These are 21 Euros.
Customer; Just the job. Here you are. Kiitos
You will gather from this that language has not been that much of a barrier, as many Finns, particularly the younger generation, speak very good English. Even when they don’t, hand
Evening light, Muddus National Park
Silent apart from the calls of whooper swans (and the whine of mosquitoes!) waving, pointing and smiling can go a long way. In fact one of the best campsites we stayed at was run by an elderly lady who didn’t speak a word of English. She got around this by talking to us quite rapidly in Finnish whilst pointing and gesticulating. We got on really well! When it rained we rented her ”shed” , an ancient one up- one down log cabin right by the lake, and when we left she gave us some bread she had baked that morning.
The Finnish Lake District is a huge area in the south east of the country of interconnected lakes, forests, small farms and huge papermills. Unfortunately when we visited the weather was cold and wet, but it must be fantastic in the summer, before the mosquitoes arrive! We managed a day’s canoe paddling but there is so much potential for longer trips here...we’ll have to come back! There are several National Parks in the region, principally set up to protect the endangered Saimaa seal. This is a sub-species of the ringed seal found in the arctic, which was trapped here as the land rose after the last ice age and has become a
Lancaster bomber
The Easy Elsie where it crash landed in 1944, in the middle of a bog near Porjus Sweden true fresh water animal. There are currently only 280 of them but they are increasing slowly having been hunted almost to extinction in the past. We didn’t see one but the excellent information centre at Rantasalmi has everything you ever needed to know about them! We also visited the National Forestry Museum near Savonlinna, which has a fantastic chainsaw display and even has a timber harvester simulator which we both enjoyed! (Yes, OK, but it was extremely wet and cold outside!)
From here we motored west to Rauma where we extremely well looked after by friends from Cumbria, Pam and Ian Weighill, and we enjoyed soft beds, lovely food, and even a sauna or two. Rauma is a fascinating place, particularly the old town with its wooden buildings and granite cobbled streets. The outskirts are still surrounded by forest so that elk, red squirrels, black woodpeckers and crested tits all appear in gardens! Pam and Ian gave us loads of information and advice about the Åland Islands where we were heading next, so we were able to ‘island hop’ our way across the Baltic rather than take one of the main ferry services from Turku to Stockholm. Åland is
The Shed
After camping one night at this lovely lakeside camp near Kuhmo, we rented the Shed. Despite its appearance, it was nice and warm inside! an archipelago of 6500 islands which are technically part of Finland, but are Swedish speaking and semi-autonomous. They have an interesting history with plenty of artefacts from Bronze age burial mounds, Viking hill forts, medieval churches, wooden windmills and a Russian fortress from the 19th century. Although we were visiting out of season, it is clear that the wildlife is pretty special too. There are ash/hazel woodlands which must be fantastic in the spring when covered with Hepatica, yellow and white wood anemone, cowslip, may lily, herb Paris and wood cranesbill. We’ve seen several sea eagles, which nest on the islands, and more mute swans than you can imagine. Herons, which were conspicuously absent from central and northern Finland, are abundant here, and the cranes are making the most of recently harvested wheat fields on their southward migration. The islands are extremely productive, with large areas given over to apple orchards, arable crops and livestock, however plenty of forest and scrub for wildlife. They produce their own cheese, beer and crisps, all of which we have sampled, together with Åland pancakes (served with jam and cream). The sea kayaking must be superb, with so many islands to visit, generally favourable
winds and no tides to think about. It’s as though we’ve found heaven! Must come back here sometime.....
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John Harper
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How do
Hi Kerry and Dave Keeping up with your ventures - some great photos. Looking forward to a lecture/slide show in a draughty Cumbrian village hall sometime. Good luck with whatever comes next. Bet Scout Scar will never seem the same after this!