Day 37 – at Lemmenjoki (National Park)

The two main hiking adventures in the Park start at the car park I am in.

One of them is the Gold Trail. There was some minor gold prospecting here in the 1870s, the Ivalo Gold Rush. At the time Finland was part of Russia, and suffering a major famine, so the incentive for prospectors was considerable. More than 500 arrived, but due to significant fees set by the government for access, and high taxes on any finds, only 19 of the wealthiest prospectors made claims.

Any sort of historical gold rush is good for tourism though. The attraction here is a one way walk with options of 5, 16 or 25 kilometres, with a boat on the Sotkajoki river to return.

My choice though was the Joenkielinen peak and circuit, which takes in ancient pine and beech forests, as well as three kilometres above the treeline, with the best views I’ve had from high ground so far this course.

A mountain with a flat summit plateau big enough, and flat enough, for several games of cricket – after the heavy roller..

It reminds me of the old Foresters’ proverb on Great Oaks, ‘300 years to grow, 300 years to live, and 300 years to gracefully decline’.

The beech are particularly impressive at the moment as their colour has just changed, marking the start of autumn.

We were back at the van for 4:30 pm, at just over 10 miles, my longest hike of the course so far. It was great weather for outdoor activity, but a bit cold to be stood or sat still. At maximum it had got up to 10C, with occasional sun, and occasional rain from no obvious cloud overhead. It was soon evident it wasn’t warm enough to sit outside. There are a couple of others long distance travelling vans here also, from France and Germany, and it was good to chat to them, though the Germans have two badly behaved dogs, in a very small van..

So it was in to read a bit of Italian horror, and watch Lancashire come back from apparent defeat twice at Hove in the Royal London semifinal.

The remaining three photos, of the autumn colours, a rest / stopover hut on route, and the dog and I at lunch break.