Saarijärvi, 28km

Made it all the way to Saarijärvi. Toughest part was the river crossing where the bridge has been destroyed. It’s a long stretch with large boulders submerged under water and slippery like hell. You don’t want to slip there. Getting real wet would be the least of your problems. It’s not because of the water but you might get your leg stuck deep down between the rocks. Ugly to just think about it.

After this otherwise beautiful valley with those sparse birch trees that I love so much you start a real long climb which has a huge basin in between that almost looks like desert. Almost nothing grows there, no higher than a few centimeters. Conditions are rough up there and just to underline it started to snow.

In contrast to that the valleys are filled with scree and boulders you have to climb or hop over. Exhausting.

Met a nice Finish couple that were super interested in my tiny backpack and couldn’t believe how this is possible to still have a tent and everything.

This stretch is crowded with people on their pilgrimage to Halti. They start their 40km journey from Kilpisjärvi, stop every 10km at one of the cabins and after climbing Halti do everything in reverse. This while carrying gigantic backpacks. Rain covers make them look even bigger. And you can spot them from the very distance wobbling from one foot to the other. I have a hard time imagining how they all master this tricky river crossing. I’m impressed.Read more