Hiking to Halti | FindPenguins

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Trip start
August 22, 2025
Hiking to Halti Taru Viero
1
Day 1: Kilpisjärvi - Saarijärvi
August 22, 2025 in Finland ⋅ 🌧 6 °C
I started from Kilpisjärvi around 8 am. It was immediately a rough start as the southern route is closed. I needed to round Saana from the north side which meant a lot of climbing.

The terrain is also quite hard to hike. Rocks, wet and mud. Additionally it rained during the day, but thankfully the wind was blowing behind me thus it didn't feel so miserable.

The landscape is amazing though. So quiet and peaceful. Some reindeer and few hikers.

It's currently snowing in Halti. Here at the lower elevation the temperature is quite ok especially when the wind is not blowing. But when the wind starts I really feel how close we are to the Arctic Sea!Read more
On sinulla huimat maisemat, kiitos kun saan jakaa tämän ja turvallista vaellusta 🙏 [Orvokki]
8/25/25ReplyTranslate
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Hiking to Halti Taru Viero
Day 2: Saarijärvi - Meekonjärvi
August 23, 2025 in Finland ⋅ 🌧 7 °C
I started hiking around 8 am in light rain. The first hour or so was again difficult terrain to hike; wet, deep mud and difficult rocky terrain. After an hour this changed and I walked the rest of the day on a nice path. Rocky, but nice!

Also the weather changed around noon. Rain stopped, the sun started to shine a bit and heavy wind started to blow, but it wasn't extremely cold wind.

The terrain was fantastic. I can hardly believe I'm in Finland. This is not the scenery that I think first when thinking about Finland. It looks like a landscape from central Asia, those endless steppes!

Stopped at Meekonjärvi for the night. Another fantastic looking place. Just amazing. It's raining again now in the evening. Tomorrow if the forecast can be relied on it shouldn't rain.

Tomorrow I should reach the foot of Halti. I'll try to reach the peak on Monday.Read more
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Hiking to Halti Taru Viero
Day 3: Meekonjärvi - Pitsusjärvi
August 24, 2025 in Finland ⋅ ☁️ 7 °C
Morning started with sunshine which continued most of the day. The trail was quite heavy with a lot of climbs and rocky fields. It took me four hours to cover about 12 km without any real breaks.

I reached the wilderness cabin at Pitsusjärvi around noon and ate lunch at the cabin with three Chezc who arrived at the same time. They still continued towards Halti which is about another 12 km away.

I debated with myself over and over again if I should continue even a little bit closer to Halti to make the actual climb to the top shorter tomorrow.

In the end I decided that it makes no sense to carry the heavy backpack another five to six kilometers closer to Halti and then carry it again back in a difficult terrain.

Instead Pitsusjärvi will be my base camp and I will leave tomorrow early in the morning with a very light backpack containing only some food and warm clothes and try to reach the top of Halti like this. Of course it's going to be 24 km hike and a climb to Halti, but it will be easier with a light backpack. I hope.

Many others have come to the same conclusion as there are about ten hikers here who will also try tomorrow to reach Halti. The highest peak in Finland.Read more
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Hiking to Halti Taru Viero
Day 4: Pitsusjärvi - Halti - Pitsusjärvi
August 25, 2025 in Finland ⋅ ☁️ 6 °C
I slept pretty bad as the wind was blowing heavily from the fell and shaking the tent all night.

No matter if I was tired or not I started around 7 am with three other hikers towards Halti. The sky in the direction of Halti was black! Something that I had noticed in the night too.

The two hours of hiking it took to reach the foot of Halti the weather was decent. A few drops of rain, a bit of sunshine and heavy wind. But the top of Halti was still in cloud cover, but thankfully not fully black clouds anymore.

It was a heavy climb. Really heavy! I hadn't really prepared myself mentally for this climb. I think I was expecting some kind of a path, but there was none. Just wood markers pointing the way, but no path. We were basically hopping from rock to rock and climbing a few times vertically up which made me worry how I would get down.

As we approached the peak there were few times that I thought to abort my climb. I was trailing our group and the cloud cover made me lose sight of other climbers. It's also the general feeling of the place. It feels dead. Inhospitable. Not welcoming. Rocks. I don't belong there. Go home.

But suddenly the marker of the highest point in Finland was in front of me. It came so suddenly from the cloud that I almost didn't understand that I reached the top of Halti! It was snowing and extremely cold at the top. We quickly took photos, signed the guestbook, and sent messages to home as there was cell phone coverage. I also made a quick call to my grandmother.

It took about an hour and fifteen minutes to reach the top. I signed the guestbook as summit at 10:10 am.

Climbing back down required all attention as well as it wasn't any easier than going up.

Have to say that it was a pretty special feeling to reach Halti. It's not easy feat at all. First to hike 40 to 50 km and then additional 24 km to Halti and back in a single day. Add also that after doing this you need to hike another 40 to 50 km to reach Kilpisjärvi.

I won't be going back to Halti anytime soon...Read more
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Hiking to Halti Taru Viero
Day 5: Pitsusjärvi - Kuonjarjoki
August 26, 2025 in Finland ⋅ ☁️ 8 °C
I fell asleep around 9 pm and slept so deep during the night that I didn't wake until 5:30 am. Usually with a sleeping bag I wake several times in a night because the arm is numb or in a bad position. Not now. Also the wind didn't wake me either. I was a bit tired I guess.

I left Pitsusjärvi around 7:30 am and headed back from where I came, Kilpisjärvi which is about 40 to 50 km away depending on the route.

The day was really nice weatherwise. Till noon the sun was shining and in direct sun my thermometer showed +22 degrees of Celsius!

I passed Meekonjärvi around noon and was really tempted to stay there for one more night. It's just such a beautiful area. I could stay there forever!

Instead I started the long and hard climb up from Meekonjärvi. It's a really long climb away from it because the lake and river are located in a valley.

I reached Kuorjanjoki around 2:30 pm. For tomorrow I'm still a bit undecided about my direction. I would like to visit Termisjärvi wilderness cabin which is just some 7 to 10 km away through the fells. The route looks easy enough on the map except the last part which is a descent to the cabin which might prove to be a way too steep descend.

There's one girl who is also considering this route but she agreed that it looks deep descend. Perhaps it's better tomorrow to head to Kilpisjärvi and take an easier route to Termisjärvi.Read more
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Hiking to Halti Taru Viero
Day 6: Kuonjarjoki - Tsahkaljärvi
August 27, 2025 in Finland ⋅ ☁️ 9 °C
It was a cold night. My thermometer inside the tent showed +1 degrees Celsius at the lowest. It is starting to be close to the limit of my sleeping bag and fleece liner and I did wake up to the coldness. I contemplated a moment to wake up, boil some water and pour that into my water bottle to get a hot water bottle, but it wasn't that cold so I soon fell asleep again.

In the morning I headed towards Kilpisjärvi stopping at Saarijärvi to eat a bit. This section of the trail is absolutely the worst. Deep mud, water and rocks. Nothing fun about it.

I stopped some 3 kilometers before Kilpisjärvi and set up my tent next to a lovely little stream. It's a really nice spot. I've spent the evening watching reindeer crossing the stream to eat the grass on the other side.

Tomorrow I'll head to the Kilpisjärvi camping area from where I started this hike. It's about 10 km away. I need to round Saana again from the north side. A lot of climbing again!Read more
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Hiking to Halti Taru Viero
Day 7: Tsahkaljärvi - Kilpisjärvi
August 28, 2025 in Finland ⋅ ☁️ 8 °C
My camping spot for the night was also extremely popular with the reindeer. Which was nice to watch, but also a bit scary because the herd didn't sometimes see, hear or smell me behind the river and crossed right into my tent area which of course suddenly scared most of the reindeer into full speed when they saw the tent. I was afraid that some would run over my tent which thankfully didn't happen. One of them however stopped and peed right next to my tent...

I took the morning slow enjoying my last morning of the trip. Also the distance to Kilpisjärvi was quite short so I wasn't in any hurry.

The day was warm again with sun shining most of the day. The most peculiar encounter of the day was a frog. I wonder how they survive the winter here.

The hike to Halti was absolutely amazing. I will certainly come back to the Käsivarsi Wilderness Area to hike again. I wasn't expecting the area to affect me so deeply.

The total journey to Halti and back was somewhere around 130 km. This from the Kilpisjärvi camping area. It would be some 20 km less if I would have started from the Kilpisjärvi village. However rounding Saana from the northside now that the south route is closed was amazing as well. You don't usually see pictures from the north side.

I still stay in Kilpisjärvi area till next Wednesday. Tomorrow I'll climb Saana. On Saturday and Sunday I'm planning to hike through Malla Strict Nature Reserve to the Three-Country Cairn. Then on Monday and Tuesday I will still try to visit Termisjärvi wilderness hut.Read more
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Trip end
August 28, 2025