According to the trail info, the west side of the trail should be the heaviest, but for me, this day wasn't as hard as yesterday's south section of the trail. Sure there's more massive peaks in the west side, but the south side had numerous smaller peaks, and I was really finished yesterday.
Of course today wasn't easy either, and it's a slow-going there with average speed of about 2.5 km/h or even less. Some people seemed quite oblivious to how demanding and slow-going the route is. I took shelter from a thunderstorm in a wilderness cabin with two men and an 11 or 12-year-old boy. It was already 5 pm, and they had come from Ukko-Koli, climbed the highest peaks, done closer to 9 km, and we're still planning to reach Kiviniemi 11 km away. It took me almost five hours to cover that 11 km! I don't think their plan was feasible, especially with a young boy with them. But I wished them luck after the storm passed and went on my way.
Ukko-Koli and the end of the trail is just five kilometres away. I'll hike there tomorrow, eat, drink and relax at the nature centre and then on Monday morning I'll get a bus to Joensuu and then a train to Helsinki.
It's time to come home. I'm out of mosquito repellent! 😄Read more
July 6, 2024 in Finland ⋅ ⛅ 18 °C