NPL Day 21

NPL Day 21: Friday 7 July 2023

Čoalbmejohka-Pitsusjärvi via Peak of Ráisduottarháldi, Halti - Finland's highest point

Considering we went to bed so late, we didn't start very late which is surprising. It was a very beautiful morning and we started the day by walking a few hundred metres to the ATV track, then followed it for 5.5 km listening to a podcast.

We had breakfast below Halti, at the parking by a shelter. There we met two German women that gave Lukas a cup of coffee.

Then it was time to start the ascent. First there was a pretty regular path, then it became more rocky and more steep. There was no marked trail, despite the signs saying there was a marked trail, but there were a lot of cairns that sometimes sometimes were going in different directions... We had to constantly look for a good way, because sometimes the cairns weren't showing the best way past tricky rocky parts.

Slowly and steadily we moved up, and after 4 hours we reached the top. There we had a "Top Snickers", wrote in the book and then moved on towards Finland's highest point. Here we had to find our own way, and we ended up walking a majority on the snow which was easier than walking on the rocks.

After some time we found the other peak, but no border cairn? Looking around, we saw that apparently it was even lower!

Here we did a Kippis with a raspberry-liquorice skull candy, found a geocache and signed the book before going down on the Finnish side.

On our way down on the snow we met a Finnish guy carrying a big backpack. He was coming from Kilpisjärvi and going back there by Sunday, so maybe we will see him again. This side of the mountain was easier and less steep, so it was a lot quicker to go down here.

Kim has had some issues with her achilles tendon that was starting to feel not quite so good by now. But the good thing is that the sore throat and the feeling of having a lump in her throat - a feeling she's had since day one, is finally gone!

We moved on a little further and had dinner by a cute creek. We also looked at the GPS tracks and realised that something was weird with the time. The watch was saying we started much later than we actually did. And then it dawned on us. It was because we were in Finland now, so the watch was in Finnish time!

We passed two couples on the way also, and Lukas asked Kim if an episode of P3 Dystopia was of interest and of course it was! So we walked on a little further.

We passed a beautiful small waterfall and 4 km later we reached some huts. There Lukas went to the dass and then we ate chocolate 🍫

In the evening when lying in the tent, suddenly we heard grunts from reindeers in the distance, and angry jaegers. We thought it was weird that it never got silent, and we thought the sound would make it hard to sleep. But then the noise got even louder and when we looked out it was sooo many of them, pretty much surrounding our tent, quite close too. It was the biggest herd of reindeer we've seen ever seen.

Today's

Distance: 22.09 km

Start time: 09:07 (Norwegian time)

End time: 20:55 (Norwegian time) / 21:55 (Finnish time)

Ascent: 746 m

Descent: 711 m

Tent nights: 19/22