/ A word of warning: This post includes a lot of photos. They are nice and varied outdoors photos but there are many. You have been warned. / Foggy views from early 2014 at Taivalkoski. It’s time to look back on the past outdoor year and like in 2012 and 2011, photos are my media […]
I haven’t been writing “Recommended read” posts for a while as I haven’t had much time to enjoy all the great outdoor blogs out there but some time ago I read a couple of posts so good that I really have to share them also in the blog in addition to typical sharing in Twitter. […]
All new Finnish made outdoor products are rare. Especially interesting and well working ones. This post is about one of the gems: OAC Kar 147 backcountry skis, or fastshoes, i.e. something between a snowshoe and a ski. In the post there is some background information, some numbers, my initial impressions and comparison to the Altai […]
Packraft on muutaman kilon painava, repussa kulkeva koskikelpoinen yhden hengen kumilautta. Tämä ”työkalu” vapauttaa vaeltajan ja melojan perinteisistä reitinvalinnan rajoituksista ja mahdollistaa monipuolisen, vapaan liikkumisen luonnossa sulanmaan aikaan. Lisätietoa “Mikä packraft?” -sivulta. Packraft-lautta on turvallinen ja helppo melottava, mutta varsinkin virtaavaan veteen liittyy aina riskejä, jotka on hyvä tiedostaa. Lisäksi oikean tekniikan ja erilaisten käytännön […]
Pöyrisjoki and Ounasjoki watershed Pöyrisjoki river is often listed as one of the four great wilderness rivers of Finland. Like the rest of the great wilderness rivers (Lätäseno, Näätämö and Ivalojoki rivers) the Pöyrisjoki in situated in Lapland high over the Arctic Circle as that’s where’s most of Finland’s wilderness and free-flowing rivers are. The […]
As most of you already know I am soon leaving for a three-week arctic skiing expedition and for a such trip, you need to have chow food to keep you going. Energy dense, light and tasty Hauling a sled is hard work. Hauling a heavy sled is even harder work. Hauling a heavy sled and […]
Inspired by Hendrik’s post about the quest for the one rucksack to rule them all, I thought I might share my quest for perfect gear. It seems that I’m obsessed about the idea of finding the perfect piece of equipment of each job. It is not an easy job as there are at least three […]
I don’t usually feature quest posts in my blog as the focus is on “my personal views on all walks of outdoor life”. But occasionally you come up with something so great that you want to share it. This is one of those cases. This a “ghost post” by a man who I greatly respect. […]
Traditional heavyweight hiking boots are considered to be very durable. And they are, at least compared to the lightweight trail runners favoured by many, me included. Trail runners seem to last around or under 1000 km while traditional heavy weight leather boots can last for several thousand kilometers. But even hiking boots are not forever. […]
I spent most of the last Sunday wandering in the woods gathering the new soft annual shoots of spruce. These can be eaten as such, used to make tea or to make syrup. In this post I’ll explain my motives for making syrup instead of buying it and also share the recipe with you. If […]
After spending nearly half of the winter skiing and hauling and sleeping on snow and ice, it was time to kick-start the summer season in mid-June. For this I headed to Northern Karelia, near the Eastern most corner of Finland where one can find almost untouched nature in the deep woods and also excellent white […]
At this time next week I will be walking into my first serious packrafting trip, the FPE2011. Starting with a 45km walk in followed by likely the most remote and wild rivers in Finland: Valtijoki, Poroeno and Lätäseno totalling over 140km of packrafting. The Valtijoki sounds quite intimidating with its big drops, class IV rapids […]
You really want to take a look at this! (At least if you have any interest in packrafting or boating rivers in general.) Whitewater packrafting at Kymijoki in October 2012. I spotted the Packrafting 101 video series by Media Feliz from Dave C’s excellent blog but in my opinion they are so good they deserve […]
This is a review of (arguably) the best two-way satellite messaging and tracking device on the market: Yellowbrick YB v3. Yellowbrick YB v3 and Samsung Galaxy Xcover in a tent in Reisadalen valley. I’ve written about satellite communication devices earlier covering a bit of tech, the basic options and some messaging devices and later about […]