09.07.2018
Skaidi – Inari 280 km
This morning we did not set the alarm, slept long and missed breakfast. After our long Nordkapp adventure yesterday we woke up about 10:00. The weather was a bit grey and windy again, but the forecast was promising. The next section of our road trip would lead us south again, but into Finland and Lapland.
We checked out and left Skaidi at about 10:30 and drove the E 6 for 24 km to Olderfjord backtracking part of yesterday’s route. We stayed on the E 6 which was now turning south following the shoreline of the Porsangerfjorden. We saw reindeer again grazing along the water edge.
Along the route we stopped every now and again to find a geocache. One was near a small wooden church called Kinstrand Kirke which was one of the few buildings that survived when the Germans retreated in WW II. It was a pretty building and we found the secret box nearby quickly. Further along the highway we passed the visitor center of the Stabbursnes National Park. It was closed but we found another secret box there. The Naturhus and Museum is situated in beautiful surroundings between the Porsangerfjorden and the Stabbuselva river.
All the while we were looking out for a parking lot with picnic table to have our lunch picnic. We were hungry since we had missed breakfast. The road passed between the Porsangerfjorden on the left and the Stabbursnes National Park on the right. There were warning signs for reindeer passing the road everywhere, so we were looking out. And sure enough 2 big reindeer bulls with huge antlers were running back and forth across the road ahead of us. They tuned left on to the beach of the fjord towards a small peninsula.
I had to stop to take photos and luckily there was a parking lot. No picnic tables here, but a GPS marker for a geocache. The weather was still fresh and windy and we put our jackets on to take a short walk to the peninsula following the reindeer. They were running along the beach and then turned towards the road again. They probably could not decide, if they wanted to cross the road or rather stay on the beach.
I found the secret box quickly and we wandered back to the car. The reindeer were still near the parking lot now grazing in the ditch next to the road. Only about 500 m further along the road there was a designated picnic area right by the fjord. Our chance to have lunch! By now it was midday.
There were only a couple motorhomes, so we parked right next to a picnic table and unpacked all our picnic goodies. We had just settled and started munching when 2 big tour busses stopped and one of them parked right behind us. – Quick quick, take a photo of our view before they are all going to block it!
Sure enough the some 100 people took their lunch break right there and all – especially the ladies – lined up at the one and only outhouse. I think, they spent their entire lunch break lining up… or maybe not, because they soon blocked our view of the fjord. The bus drivers had opened their provisions trunk and were cooking lunch for all of them just behind us – Frankfurters, bratwurst, instant noodle soup. And they all made so much noise! They were mostly complaining about the cold weather, though. Since the busses had come from the south driving towards the cape, there must be warmer weather in Northern Finland, were we were headed. I had checked the weather forecast and it did announce sunny weather awaited us further south and inland. Therefore we had not put on all the warmest layers we had. But here at our picnic spot it was still grey and chilly. However, it must be true, since all those people complained about the sudden cold so much.
We quickly finished our lunch and left. A bit further south the E 6 left the Porsangerfjorden and led through forests and mountains along lakes and rivers. The weather really got sunnier and warmer and we shed a couple of layers of clothes again. When we reached Karasjok near the Finish border, it was really sunny and hot in our opinion. We found 2 secret boxes in the small town and got eaten up by huge mosquitoes. In the town we turned off the E 6 onto the somewhat smaller # 92 leading east towards Finland.
We almost missed the border crossing from Norway to Finland if it had not been for a speed limit zone and one sign “Welcome to Finland” at the end of a bridge over the river Anarjohka. There was only a small settlement at the border and we had passed it in a blink. Immediately however, we noticed being in Finland, because the clock in the car jumped one hour ahead shortly after passing the border. I am sure this car not only drives by itself – almost – but it is also online and probably transmits our position. Well, maybe not a bad thing in the middle of Northern Nowhere!
The road was absolutely straight from now on and it was 100 km/h allowed. Bliss giving the car at least a little bit more speed! I am not even sure, it actually can go faster than 110 km/h, though, because I always slowed down when reaching this limit. Speeding penalties in Scandinavia are exorbitant!
Nevertheless, we had reached Lapland!
Lapland is the largest and northernmost region of Finland. Lapland’s cold and wintry climate and the relative abundance of conifer trees such as pines and spruces led to the fact, that it is associated with Christmas in some countries. Lapland is the home of about 3.4% of Finland’s population, and is by far the least densely populated area in the country hence we did not see many cars or people. There was forest and forest and more forest. We met a lonely reindeer on the road, however. I was driving and something looked weird up ahead, so I slowed down and eventually stopped. It was a lonely reindeer which trotted along the road towards us following the yellow center line perfectly. It did not care about us at all. It just trotted past us and kept following the yellow line without taking even the smallest look sideways at us.
Later a parking lot appeared and I wanted to find the first geocache in Finland, which was supposed to be there. It was at the entrance of the Muotkatunturi Wilderness Area. There were a few wooden huts and a restaurant there. – We did not have coffee today! I need coffee! Can you go and ask if they have coffee there? – Yes Mom, we can go and see if they have coffee.
We bought 2 mugs of coffee and sat in the shade outside on the picnic tables. It had become really warm now and the mosquitoes were abundant here. In between swatting away those little buggers I pondered where that geocache could have been hidden. The GPS marker pointed in the middle of the open parking space. Terrain and difficulty ratings were both 2 and there was a big sign for the wilderness area in the middle of the open space. It must be there! I was sure! Luckily there were not many people around. Only one man eyed us suspiciously, when I was sneaking around the sign. Looking up I had an inspiration and used my telescope magnet, which I always have in my pocket when looking for secret boxes, to poke on the roof of a little birdhouse hanging inside the sign construction. The roof moved! I climbed up on the rocks lying below the sign, stood on tiptoes and happily fished the box out of the birdhouse. Success!
About 120 km after passing the border the # 92 ended in a T-junction and we turned south again onto the E 75. The road led through pine forests and we found a war monument about something in 1944. If there had not been a secret box hidden near there, we would have never stopped to see the monument, we would not have noticed it in the forest. But all monuments are there for a reason, so they should be visited every now and then.
At about 16:30 we reached Inari, a tiny village which developed where the Juutua River empties into Lake Inari. It is a robust and active market and trade centre. There are a couple hotels, a gas station, a supermarket, a hardware store and a renowned Sami Museum.
We found and checked into our Hotel Inari quickly. The hotel restaurant was seemingly the only place to eat, therefore we made a reservation to be sure to have a table by the window, because the restaurant had panorama windows overlooking the lake.
Then we went for a walk looking for a couple more secret boxes. We had rounded the small settlement in no time. The sun was still high up and it was very warm, still around 24°C or so. We met a herd of reindeer which obviously knew where they wanted to go following the traffic rules and approached the junction in perfect order, if only on the wrong side of the road.
Cars and motorbikes waited patiently until the herd got spooked and swung around to use the pedestrian crossing. They passed right close to us and did not care. Then they walked ahead of us towards the hotel and grazed there near the lake.
We walked through the forest behind the hotel along the lake. The views were nice. There were a lot of wildflowers. Here seemed to be more summer wildflowers, than we saw further north. Or maybe up north were more spring flowers and here were summer flowers.
At 19:00 we had our dinner reservation in the restaurant. Our table by the window had a beautiful view over the lake. We ordered one starter of salad with smoked reindeer to share and local beer. The salad was excellent and, quite frankly, we should have ordered one each! For main course we had a outstanding reindeer fillet. It was sooooo good and we were so full in the end.
It was too early and too sunny to go to bed already after that great meal.. The hotel room was too warm, because it had no air conditioning, of course, and the windows could not be opened either. We decided to check out the supermarket opposite the hotel and bought a couple local beers. In front of the hotel there were some benches with a view to the lake and we enjoyed our beer there while fighting with Finish mosquitoes. Nevertheless, it was beautiful.
We contemplated what to do the next day. Our next hotel was in the Pallas-Yllästunturi National Park – a lot of nature and hiking possibilities there. Mom was not for hiking, though. However, I had read about boat cruises here on the Lake Inari and we also had seen a sign in the hotel. They told us, the boat started at 13:00 and would take 3 hours. Since it is light 24 hrs I did not see the point in rushing to the next stop, if we would not go hiking there. The decision was made quickly. We would hang around Inari in the morning and drive on after the boat cruise.
10.07.2018
Inari – Pallas-Yllästunturi National Park 285 km
We had breakfast at 08:30 and got going by 09:00. We checked out and packed up the car. At reception we bought our boat tickets for € 23 per person and then went exploring. There were a few secret boxes hidden around the village, so there was plenty to do and this morning would be a geocaching morning.
We drove the E 75 a few kilometres east just out of town. The first box was near a parking space just off a hiking trail. It was just to get started. Next was one further off the main road. There was a gravel road leading up to Tuulispäät at 360 m altitude. A TV antenna stood up there and a secret box was hidden at a nearby viewpoint. We parked the car and then walked the last 300 m up. Mom stayed on the track, but I went off the small hiking trail for a few hundred meters to find the box and was successful. The view from up by the TV antenna over the Lake Inari was fantastic and Mom made it all the way up huffing and puffing and lamenting, but she made it!
Back in the village we went to fill up the car at the only gas station. They had Lapland Lager Beer in the station shop. I am a sucker for local beers – and I collect the lables! We bought a couple bottles for later. I packed them in the suitcase to keep them as cool as possible in the hot car. The weather today was hot and sunny again. Blue sky and 26°C. Leaving the gas station we saw the herd of reindeer again – sure it was the same herd as yesterday. They trotted along the road again this time crossing the junction in perfect order and following the traffic rules.
Next we stopped at the cemetery. Lapland has a great gold mining history, therefore there was a section on it called the “Prospectors’ Lot”. It held graves of legendary gold diggers who had been active in the region. A multi station geocache was located here and while I am not a friend of multi stage caches, because it is necessary to collect numbers and then calculate, I attemted this one.
We visited the gold diggers’ graves and collected numbers of birthdays etc. Cannot be that hard to calculate …. quickly I did it following the formula given in the description of the cache and got the coordinates of the final cache location. There was no geochecker provided, meaning I could not check, if those coordinates were correct. Also, the mobile phone GPS is not always very accurate. The location pointed just outside the cemetery in the forest and I found it more or less instinctively. It was hidden under a reindeer scull in a tree trunk.
Later we parked the car near the boat pier and the Sami Museum. Neither me nor Mom are too keen on visiting museums. There are very few museums that I find very interesting. We did go to see the museum shop … mainly because there was a public toilet…. Just when we browsed the shop and contemplated, if we should have a look at the museum, 2 tour groups arrived and the decision was made. Instead of getting educated indoors, we went for a little hike. From the boat pier a path lead across a small peninsula on the Lake Inari and at the very end of it there was a secret box hidden. That would be a nice walk to find it. Before we set out, I had the good thought of getting the beer from the car – it was not too cold anymore, but atleast it was not boiling hot. . We would find a good spot to rest and enjoy it!
The walk was beautiful and at the end of the path I parked Mom on a rock with a nice view of the lake and climbed over the last big rock to search for the box near the water.
I found it quickly and climbed back. I was ready for the beer! – You want to keep sitting here or shall we go a bit further to find another place, Mom? – It is a bit uncomfortable on this rock, but there were no benches along the way. – Well, there is no benches in the wilderness! But wait and I go check out this way over there, see if I find a better spot! ….. OK Mom, look over here! You see this ledge by the water? You think that is better? It is a bit of a higher ledge, easier to sit. – It looks the same, but it is closer to the water. – Give me your hand I lead you. – Aaah ja, it is more comfortable!
We had a couple more hours before the boat trip and having a beer was in order. The spot I had found was perfect. We sat right by the water’s edge with the small ripples of the lake touching our feet. Sitting in the sun with 26° C North of the Arctic Circle having a Lapland Lager! The ultimate slow down! What more could you want in this moment in time?
A long while later we wandered back to the pier and since it was still some time until the boat departure we checked out the souvenir shop. We had not yet bought any souvenirs at all. They had everything Northern Scandinavian – even reindeer skins! But I already have one at home – Yes! I do! And I bought it from the Finnish stall at the Rüdesheim Christmas Market of the Nations years ago.
We bought a couple souvenirs and also a small can of moose paté. We still had not tasted moose so far on this trip. I tried moose roast once before while visiting a friend in British Columbia when hitch hiking through Canada and Alaska in 1994 and it had been very good. Now was the chance to try again! Anyway, I think it was a myth that there are moose in Lapland! We were still waiting to see one crossig the road ahead of us! Nothing! …. Plenty of reindeer, though ….
They also had bear paté in the shop, but the small can was twice as expensive as the mouse paté, which was already € 10. So we decided it was not worth it. Still regret it ….. Probably my only chance to ever taste bear meat again. I did taste bear meat once in 1993 when visiting an Inuit friend in the vastness of Ontario. That was also the first time I tasted reindeer, by the way. And yeah, I had travelled – hitchhiked, bussed, trained and walked Trans-Canada in 1993 and 1994 for several months each time and it had been a fantastic journey as well.
Well, we had an ice-cream instead. It was the weather for it and we had another few minutes until the boat cruise. Then we lined up for the cruise. The boat was a small catamaran style boat with 2 decks. There was no outside sundeck. The Upper panorama deck filled up quickly and we did not want to go down below. But being an experienced boat person I spotted an outside space in the very front and we squeezed in there taking a couple chairs from the inside with us. There were some more people having the same idea and the viking looking boat guy had to climb over all of us to untie the boat. But he seeemed to be used to it. I guess he had done this cruise a few times …
It turned out we had the best spot on the boat. We were sitting right in the sun with the best view ahead.
The boat seemed to be an electro boat, it was very quiet and slow. The cruise was pleasant. We treated ourselves to another draught beer from the boat’s bar and enjoyed the sun. The wind on the lake was still fresh, because the water temperature is even in summer only approx 15°C.
Lake Inari is the largest lake in Lapland and the third-largest lake in Finland. It is approx 119 m above sea level. Normally it is frozen from November to early June. The lake covers 1040 km² and there are over 3000 islands in total in the lake.
The best-known islands of the lake are Hautuumaasaari “Graveyard Island”, which served as a cemetery for ancient Sami people and Ukonkivi “Ukko’s Stone”, a historical sacrifice place of the ancient inhabitants of the area. Ukonkivi is approx 11 km from the village of Inari and our cruise took us there. The island is about 30 m high, 50 m wide and 100 m long. We could see it from afar.
The boat docked there and everybody got off to climb to the view point. There was a boardwalk and stairs leading up. Mom did not want to climb the stairs and while lamenting about it she missed one step of the boardwalk and landed head over heels in the bushes. Many people were quick to help her up. Nothing had happened. Her glasses were bent, but I straightened them up again. One man said – No problem, the Finnish forest ground is soft! – She decided to go back to the boat while I climbed up quickly. The view was spectacular over the lake and the many islands.
On the way down I quickly collected the answers for another virtual geocache. For this type of cache it is required to collect certain answers on site and usually also to take a photo. The photo I had taken, the answers collected – sucess! Another cache in the bag! When I came back down Mom was already defending our seats in the front of the boat again.
On the way back we passed the Hautuumaasaari “Graveyard Island”, but did not stop, because it is sacred and may not be entered. The boat also took a detour to Pielpavuono Bay and dropped off 4 hikers who wanted to go see the Pielpajärvi Wilderness Church. We had opted against visiting this church because the hike from the village would have been 7 km one way.
At 16:00 we were back in the village of Inari and got in our hot car to drive south. We took the # 955. The road was again an absolutely straight asphalt track. It was 100 km/h allowed and there was only forest around us. Alongside the road were wildlife fences, though. It kind of looked like moose country … like any minute there should be a moose walking out of the forest and across the road … No such thing happend, though.
We passed small lakes and rivers on the way. And we met some lonely reindeer walking the road again. About half way down this straight road we found the first picnic spot at the entrance of the tiny settlement of Pokka. We had no lunch today, so we munched on our picnic hungrily while fighting off horseflies and mosquitoes.
From Pokka the road now changed into a gravel track with 80 Km/h speed limit, but was still absolutely straight. There was very little traffic since we had left Inari. Wilderness all around us! Closer zu civilisation we found a couple more secret boxes along the road. In Köngäs we turned onto the # 956 and were on asphalt again. By the road side we found a very cool geocache. It was actually very obvious to geocachers, but just a nice decoration for regular people. See if you can spot it!
In Sirkka we reached a main road again, the # 79. We took a detour to the Levi Ski resort, because there was a rare geocache type there, a webcam cache, and it was only about a 10 km detour. Of course we had to find this one. Not much is happening in the ski resort in summer, nevertheless some hikers were around. We quickly parked the car and walked around the ski lift building to where the web cam was located. Taking the online photo was as usually somewhat tricky, because waving to the camera and saving the photo at the same time is complicated. But we did it and secured the 4th geocache type found today! We had found many traditionals, one multi, one visual and now a webcam cache – 10 caches in total today! A successful geocaching day!
That done we drove the #79 northwest and turned then onto the small # 9572 which was already skirting the Pallas-Yllästunturi National Park and led along the Lake Jerisjärvi . Only a few kilometers on we turned onto # 957 into the national park and lucky there was soon a sign pointing to the Lappland Hotel Pallas. It was located right next to the visitor center in the middle of the park. The complex was sitting on a little hill overlooking the bare mountainscape. Already in the parking lot we saw the first herd of resident reindeer which did not care about people … or our car …
Pallas-Yllästunturi National Park is the third-largest national park in Finland and was formally established in 2005, when Pallas-Ounastunturi National Park, which was established in 1938 was joined with Ylläs-Aakenus protected area and is covering 1020 km². Most of the park consists of primeval forests and various types of bogland.
Check in was quick and our room was on the ground floor overlooking the parking lot. It was around 20:30 and we only took a very short walk around the complex to look at the herd of reindeer. Then we parked ourselves on the porch of the bar in the last sunny spot and I organized a cocktail.
For dinner it was too late and anyway we had a very late picnic. But it was cocktail time! Since I did not want to order the regular run-of-the-mill Gin & Tonic, I ask for the house special. That is another one of the … things … I do – have the signature or special cocktail in the coolest places wherevery I go. Here on my question the bartender mentioned – amongst others – a Kiulu Bucket which was for 5 people. – Well, it is for 5 people, but I can mix it for only 2 as well, if you want! – How much is the bucket for 5, you said? – € 29 – No problem! I take it and I pay in cash! – You sure? It is for 5 people! – No problem! We are German! We will have it! What the heck, there is probably not much alcohol in it anyway. – Well, it has 10 cl Koskenkorva Viina, which is the most common clear spirit drink (38% vol) in Finland. The barley alcohol is commonly called a vodka in English, in Finland it is not called a “vodka”, but viina, although the word “vodka” is found in the label due to EU regulations. Then I put 10 cl De Kuyper Sour Apple in which has 15% vol and some lime juice. I fill it up with Ginger Ale and top it with mint leafs. Of course there is plenty ice in the bucket as well! – Sounds great! Give me!
We sat on the porch sipping the yummy cocktail and watching the reindeer. The herd seemed to be circling the complex sometimes in this, sometimes in the other direction.
Mom went to bed after, but finished the bucket and sat outside until 23:00 when they closed the bar and apparently also the hotel door. The sun was still up and I had contemplated going for a short hike up the hill to find another secret box, but I did not want to risk getting locked out. Therefore I went in and to bed as well.
Tomorrow we are off to Sweden!
