2016.03.13 - Urho Kekkonen, Finland. D1: Kiilopää - Lankojärvi
Trail photos
Author
Trail stats
- Distance
- 11.05 mi
- Elevation gain
- 712 ft
- Technical difficulty
- Easy
- Elevation loss
- 1,175 ft
- Max elevation
- 1,638 ft
- TrailRank
- 46
- Min elevation
- 656 ft
- Trail type
- One Way
- Time
- 6 hours 13 minutes
- Coordinates
- 1628
- Uploaded
- March 21, 2016
- Recorded
- March 2016
near Saariselka, Lappi (Suomi)
Viewed 1953 times, downloaded 54 times
Trail photos
Itinerary description
|
Duration: 6 hours
Departure: Kiilopää mountain center (333 m)
Arrival: Refuge 1 - Lankojärvi varaustupa (198 m)
Distances and cumulated altitude: 17.8 km; +220 m / -360 m
Difficulty: 2/5
Full route: 2016.03.13-20 - Urho Kekkonen National Park, Finland (8 days)
Sunday 13.03.2016 - Stage 1: Kiilopää - Lankojärvi
Pulkeros: Kim, Ferran & Valentí
I've been awake for some time when today the alarm goes off. It is 6 o'clock in the morning and it is already day; the sun rises soon at this latitude. It's our second day here, in Kiilopää. Yesterday, we had our first contact with Finland with the ascent to Mount Kiilopää, a "river" as the comrades say, being rather a hill than a mountain and being easily accessible. What nerves! We are eager to start this journey that we have been preparing for months. We are a group of 9 friends, starting from Barcelona, with 3 sledges or pulkas: one of ours, and two rented here in Kiilopää, with about 200 kg of material among which about half of the food, for 8 days.
We went down to the common kitchen of the building-hostel that we occupy in the mountain center: a small space that at that time we only take breakfast. Cereals with mueslis, milk powder and a good coffee prepared by Elena, with some bread and sausages. The backpacks are already prepared and the pulkas closed since yesterday: 3 pulkas for 9 people, that is, 3 teams of 3 people, with the heavy material and the dinners and pre-packaged breakfast for 8 days, plus the "attack" food for the lunches (about 800 to 1000 g of protein: sausages, cheese, half a kg of bread, chocolate, nougat and nuts for 9 people). It remains to leave the suitcases with the remaining material and spare clothes for the return (25 euros for 6 packages) and ready! At 8:15 p.m. we get going. The weather is gray, it is 5 below zero and with a slight wind.
We leave Kiilopää for the cross-country skiing track that leaves in the southeast. As we gain height, little by little, we enter the fog. The landscape is spectacular, drawing ghostly shapes in the semidarkness of the day. The sun at this time of the year does not exceed 50% over the horizon; a tundra with gentle slopes forms a landscape of trees laden with snow and frost shaped by the wind.
We progress to a first hill (500 m) and enter the valley of Rautuoja, immersed in the fog. The pulkas weigh and although the slopes are soft, we must all help in the ascents. After about 5 km a detour with a sign to the right, "Rautulampi - 7 km", indicates the direction to follow. From there we leave the cross-country ski trail and we enter a dense forest of birches, with the sun facing us. At the eastern end of the valley we find a small lake covered by snow and the free shelter of Rautulampi päivätupa (355 m): a rudimentary hut with 3 benches on the walls, a central table and a stove just entering the right. When we enter, it is off. Two groups of Finns have just taken lunch and quickly leave us alone at the shelter. First attack food: white bull with cereal bread and chocolate. It's cold outside and we prefer not to entertain. Francesc leaves a story next to our names in the book of the refuge and we leave the place to follow our route. Full east, in a pine forest that becomes denser every time. The weather has risen and we tightened our pace to warm up. Touch down now: 8 km of a gentle descent, traced by both cross-country skiing and a snowmobile. Shortly before 3pm we reach our destination: the Lankojärvi varaustupa (198 m), where we will spend the night.
The refuge is divided into two parts: a free or "self-service", another reserved or "varaustupa", of which we have the key. Even so, it is a rather small space equipped with the strict minimum for cooking and spending the night: a stove, a countertop with two gas hobs, a frying pan, two pans, cubes to melt the snow, a table with two benches for 3 people and 3 trunks as stools. In short: a space for 9 people, a little tight. Against the wall, finally, the superimposed bunks and 8 mats, one less than what they would touch; we must squeeze! Order ... much order for each one to take care of a task: first turn on the stove, go to look for snow water, cut wood, and order the space with so many backpacks, boots and clothes to dry! What it has to be 9 people in a space of 25 m2. When more or less we are all organized, the level of agitation goes down; the atmosphere relaxes. Coffee smokes in cups, instant soup or Avecrem, or some rehydrated Colacao. Outside the light goes down while inside, little by little the temperature increases ... we can start to remove "layers". Candles in the center of the table give warmth to the environment: we give love to our home for one night. The conversas begin. The comparison of the data of the GPS and the duties of some, taking notes on the route of today while others take the opportunity to clean up. From the outside, the shelter with the windows lit looks like a fairy tale: now it is fine. For dinner: Serrano ham, fideuà and turrón. With a Blanc Pescador de la Vito and Toni! We finish the day with a game of Rummikub and at 11pm, we are all in bed.
- - - - - - - - - -
Note on reservations: The mountain center of Kiilopää, 250 km north of the arctic circle and half an hour from the city of Ivalo, ensures reservations in the National Park shelters and delivers the keys to the varaustupa (closed shelters) . It is also the main information point in the Saariselkä.
Mountain Center of Kiilopää
Kiilopääntie, 620
FI-99830 Saariselkä - FINLAND
Tel: +358.16.670.0700
Mail: kiilopaa@suomenlatu.fi
Connections by plane, train and bus
.
Departure: Kiilopää mountain center (333 m)
Arrival: Refuge 1 - Lankojärvi varaustupa (198 m)
Distances and cumulated altitude: 17.8 km; +220 m / -360 m
Difficulty: 2/5
Full route: 2016.03.13-20 - Urho Kekkonen National Park, Finland (8 days)
Sunday 13.03.2016 - Stage 1: Kiilopää - Lankojärvi
Pulkeros: Kim, Ferran & Valentí
I've been awake for some time when today the alarm goes off. It is 6 o'clock in the morning and it is already day; the sun rises soon at this latitude. It's our second day here, in Kiilopää. Yesterday, we had our first contact with Finland with the ascent to Mount Kiilopää, a "river" as the comrades say, being rather a hill than a mountain and being easily accessible. What nerves! We are eager to start this journey that we have been preparing for months. We are a group of 9 friends, starting from Barcelona, with 3 sledges or pulkas: one of ours, and two rented here in Kiilopää, with about 200 kg of material among which about half of the food, for 8 days.
We went down to the common kitchen of the building-hostel that we occupy in the mountain center: a small space that at that time we only take breakfast. Cereals with mueslis, milk powder and a good coffee prepared by Elena, with some bread and sausages. The backpacks are already prepared and the pulkas closed since yesterday: 3 pulkas for 9 people, that is, 3 teams of 3 people, with the heavy material and the dinners and pre-packaged breakfast for 8 days, plus the "attack" food for the lunches (about 800 to 1000 g of protein: sausages, cheese, half a kg of bread, chocolate, nougat and nuts for 9 people). It remains to leave the suitcases with the remaining material and spare clothes for the return (25 euros for 6 packages) and ready! At 8:15 p.m. we get going. The weather is gray, it is 5 below zero and with a slight wind.
We leave Kiilopää for the cross-country skiing track that leaves in the southeast. As we gain height, little by little, we enter the fog. The landscape is spectacular, drawing ghostly shapes in the semidarkness of the day. The sun at this time of the year does not exceed 50% over the horizon; a tundra with gentle slopes forms a landscape of trees laden with snow and frost shaped by the wind.
We progress to a first hill (500 m) and enter the valley of Rautuoja, immersed in the fog. The pulkas weigh and although the slopes are soft, we must all help in the ascents. After about 5 km a detour with a sign to the right, "Rautulampi - 7 km", indicates the direction to follow. From there we leave the cross-country ski trail and we enter a dense forest of birches, with the sun facing us. At the eastern end of the valley we find a small lake covered by snow and the free shelter of Rautulampi päivätupa (355 m): a rudimentary hut with 3 benches on the walls, a central table and a stove just entering the right. When we enter, it is off. Two groups of Finns have just taken lunch and quickly leave us alone at the shelter. First attack food: white bull with cereal bread and chocolate. It's cold outside and we prefer not to entertain. Francesc leaves a story next to our names in the book of the refuge and we leave the place to follow our route. Full east, in a pine forest that becomes denser every time. The weather has risen and we tightened our pace to warm up. Touch down now: 8 km of a gentle descent, traced by both cross-country skiing and a snowmobile. Shortly before 3pm we reach our destination: the Lankojärvi varaustupa (198 m), where we will spend the night.
The refuge is divided into two parts: a free or "self-service", another reserved or "varaustupa", of which we have the key. Even so, it is a rather small space equipped with the strict minimum for cooking and spending the night: a stove, a countertop with two gas hobs, a frying pan, two pans, cubes to melt the snow, a table with two benches for 3 people and 3 trunks as stools. In short: a space for 9 people, a little tight. Against the wall, finally, the superimposed bunks and 8 mats, one less than what they would touch; we must squeeze! Order ... much order for each one to take care of a task: first turn on the stove, go to look for snow water, cut wood, and order the space with so many backpacks, boots and clothes to dry! What it has to be 9 people in a space of 25 m2. When more or less we are all organized, the level of agitation goes down; the atmosphere relaxes. Coffee smokes in cups, instant soup or Avecrem, or some rehydrated Colacao. Outside the light goes down while inside, little by little the temperature increases ... we can start to remove "layers". Candles in the center of the table give warmth to the environment: we give love to our home for one night. The conversas begin. The comparison of the data of the GPS and the duties of some, taking notes on the route of today while others take the opportunity to clean up. From the outside, the shelter with the windows lit looks like a fairy tale: now it is fine. For dinner: Serrano ham, fideuà and turrón. With a Blanc Pescador de la Vito and Toni! We finish the day with a game of Rummikub and at 11pm, we are all in bed.
- - - - - - - - - -
Note on reservations: The mountain center of Kiilopää, 250 km north of the arctic circle and half an hour from the city of Ivalo, ensures reservations in the National Park shelters and delivers the keys to the varaustupa (closed shelters) . It is also the main information point in the Saariselkä.
Mountain Center of Kiilopää
Kiilopääntie, 620
FI-99830 Saariselkä - FINLAND
Tel: +358.16.670.0700
Mail: kiilopaa@suomenlatu.fi
Connections by plane, train and bus
.
Waypoints
Wilderness hut
Intersection
1,133 ft
Desvío a Rautulampi tupa (346 m)
Mountain hut
1,092 ft
Kiilopää (333 m)
Lake
1,245 ft
Lago Rautulampi (348 m)
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