I did a 5 day hike with a friend in Suomussalmi, near the eastern border of Finland. The weather was not the best possible, we had some heavy rain, but we had a lot of fun anyway. Daily distances were light, since the hike was more about having fun then performance. Roughly, we hiked 'round 4 to 7 miles / day.
The "knife of choice" for the trip was Roselli Grandfather. I've had it on numerous hikes, and Im sad to report that during some battoning the blade came a bit loose and developed a slight rattle, so I'll propably have to retire it.
Anyway, here's some pics, hope you like 'em.
We decided, for practice, to only make fire with firesteel (of course we DID have other means of making fire, for emergencies. I worked, mostly. On one occasion when we were soaking wet I did kinda throw in some hand sanitizer though. Btw, that worked like a charm
Rain all day. Getting soaked sucks, but on the other hand it makes one value good weather that much more, and drying shoes and gear beside a fire is always kinda relaxing.
Due to the conditions shown in the previous pic, I had to make a choice: either to shiver in soaked clothes, or look stupid with my pants down beside the fire before getting back on the trail. I chose the latter. Even with decent rain gear, it was impossible to stay dry from time to time.
My friend notching a fireboard. Didnt work though - too wet.
A view from our camp. We drank from nearly every lake and river we passed, without purifying the water - absolutely no problems. Northern Finland is nice that way; I've never had any problems with the drinking water there.
Me trying out a figure 4. Didnt make it functional with a heavy rock etc, just checked if I could make one.
It kinda worked
Yay, snack.
Setting up a 1 person tent. My friend camped with a 2x3 tarp, except for the last nigh, when he chose to sleep under a spruce tree
The terrain in the last pic was the most typical camping ground... blueberry and lingonberry bushes surrounded with pines and spruces. The mosquito net was a necessity in some parts: it is absolutely unbelievable how many mosquitos there were in those woods.
A few more pics can be found from my blog.
The "knife of choice" for the trip was Roselli Grandfather. I've had it on numerous hikes, and Im sad to report that during some battoning the blade came a bit loose and developed a slight rattle, so I'll propably have to retire it.
Anyway, here's some pics, hope you like 'em.
We decided, for practice, to only make fire with firesteel (of course we DID have other means of making fire, for emergencies. I worked, mostly. On one occasion when we were soaking wet I did kinda throw in some hand sanitizer though. Btw, that worked like a charm
Rain all day. Getting soaked sucks, but on the other hand it makes one value good weather that much more, and drying shoes and gear beside a fire is always kinda relaxing.
Due to the conditions shown in the previous pic, I had to make a choice: either to shiver in soaked clothes, or look stupid with my pants down beside the fire before getting back on the trail. I chose the latter. Even with decent rain gear, it was impossible to stay dry from time to time.
My friend notching a fireboard. Didnt work though - too wet.
A view from our camp. We drank from nearly every lake and river we passed, without purifying the water - absolutely no problems. Northern Finland is nice that way; I've never had any problems with the drinking water there.
Me trying out a figure 4. Didnt make it functional with a heavy rock etc, just checked if I could make one.
It kinda worked
Yay, snack.
Setting up a 1 person tent. My friend camped with a 2x3 tarp, except for the last nigh, when he chose to sleep under a spruce tree
The terrain in the last pic was the most typical camping ground... blueberry and lingonberry bushes surrounded with pines and spruces. The mosquito net was a necessity in some parts: it is absolutely unbelievable how many mosquitos there were in those woods.
A few more pics can be found from my blog.
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They are one of the reasons why i prefer fall/winter hiking instead.
