The weather in northern lappland was fine, considering it was late May. Patches of snow were here and there, but mostly ground was clear of snow. Sun was shining, temperature was about 17 degrees Celsius.
I was walking in the forest with my girlfriend and another couple, our friends. The other man was my longtime friend and the young woman his girlfriend. This girl was from northern Finland herself; her parents owned the cabin in which we were staying.
The plan was to go to a deep ravine, kuru. We wanted to walk along its bottom for some kilometers. Ahead of us was a narrow river that we would have to ford before we could get to the ravine. The water was extremely cold and the river was flowing swiftly. I cut a stick to support me and we managed to get on the other side.
We saw some Willow Grouses on the way, some Reindeers too. Then we got in to the ravine. I soon noticed I had chosen wrong boots for this hike. The bottom of the ravine was very rocky. I almost sprained my ankle several times. This was my first stupid choice of the day. Maybe it was not such a smart idea to go there in the first place.
I looked at the walls of the ravine. On both sides there was a steep slope of scree and a short vertical wall on top of that. I started to be tired of constant stumbling on the rocks and told the others that I would climb on top of the slope. To me it looked easy. I promised I would wait them on the top.
Climbing the scree, was relatively easy. I got to the vertical wall. There were plenty of handholds, or what looked like them. Anyway the wall was only about 3 meters high. I had very little experience of climbing but I was young and extremely stupid, as I was about to see.
There the climbing was more difficult than I had thought. My stubbornness and pride prevented me from doing what would have been the right choice, to go back down. I got on top of this wall with some difficulty. I thought that it would be easy to get to the top.
The wall had another, shorter slope before I could get on the top and since it was late May, the slope, that was a northern wall, was covered in ice and snow. I noticed I could not get a secure handhold to pull myself on the slope, it was too slippery.
My knees started to shake. I thought about going down, but I could not find the support for my legs anymore. I thought I was stuck. If I fell on the slope below I could be injured or killed rolling downhill on the rocky slope.
I had a short, stout-bladed Puukko with me. I managed to pull it out of its sheath with one hand. I started hacking at the ice and digging handholds. If the blade broke I knew I would be in deep trouble.
The blade held and I managed to get some handholds in the ice. The snow was coarse and I had to dig with my fingers through it. My fingertips were soon cut and bleeding.
Using the puukko as an icepick I finally pulled myself on the slope. Crawling on my belly and then all fours I got on top. I was covered in cold sweat, my legs were trembling. The tip of the puukko was blunted but otherwise it was fine.
I met my girlfriend and others on the top. They asked where I had been, they had waited for long time for me. I could not tell what had happened for a while, I was too ashamed.
The lessons learned in this are obvious. Anyway having a puukko saved my life and limb, I am certain of that.
I was walking in the forest with my girlfriend and another couple, our friends. The other man was my longtime friend and the young woman his girlfriend. This girl was from northern Finland herself; her parents owned the cabin in which we were staying.
The plan was to go to a deep ravine, kuru. We wanted to walk along its bottom for some kilometers. Ahead of us was a narrow river that we would have to ford before we could get to the ravine. The water was extremely cold and the river was flowing swiftly. I cut a stick to support me and we managed to get on the other side.
We saw some Willow Grouses on the way, some Reindeers too. Then we got in to the ravine. I soon noticed I had chosen wrong boots for this hike. The bottom of the ravine was very rocky. I almost sprained my ankle several times. This was my first stupid choice of the day. Maybe it was not such a smart idea to go there in the first place.
I looked at the walls of the ravine. On both sides there was a steep slope of scree and a short vertical wall on top of that. I started to be tired of constant stumbling on the rocks and told the others that I would climb on top of the slope. To me it looked easy. I promised I would wait them on the top.
Climbing the scree, was relatively easy. I got to the vertical wall. There were plenty of handholds, or what looked like them. Anyway the wall was only about 3 meters high. I had very little experience of climbing but I was young and extremely stupid, as I was about to see.
There the climbing was more difficult than I had thought. My stubbornness and pride prevented me from doing what would have been the right choice, to go back down. I got on top of this wall with some difficulty. I thought that it would be easy to get to the top.
The wall had another, shorter slope before I could get on the top and since it was late May, the slope, that was a northern wall, was covered in ice and snow. I noticed I could not get a secure handhold to pull myself on the slope, it was too slippery.
My knees started to shake. I thought about going down, but I could not find the support for my legs anymore. I thought I was stuck. If I fell on the slope below I could be injured or killed rolling downhill on the rocky slope.
I had a short, stout-bladed Puukko with me. I managed to pull it out of its sheath with one hand. I started hacking at the ice and digging handholds. If the blade broke I knew I would be in deep trouble.
The blade held and I managed to get some handholds in the ice. The snow was coarse and I had to dig with my fingers through it. My fingertips were soon cut and bleeding.
Using the puukko as an icepick I finally pulled myself on the slope. Crawling on my belly and then all fours I got on top. I was covered in cold sweat, my legs were trembling. The tip of the puukko was blunted but otherwise it was fine.
I met my girlfriend and others on the top. They asked where I had been, they had waited for long time for me. I could not tell what had happened for a while, I was too ashamed.
The lessons learned in this are obvious. Anyway having a puukko saved my life and limb, I am certain of that.
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