A day off

The weather gods were against us today, as the abundance of whitecaps on the the lake made our notions of crossing up to Kangasnieni seem foolish. This could have been a problem, but fortunately we had the option of an 18Km walk to get there. This was definately a good thing, as while Ciara, Pat, Dennis & myself had enough food for another day, most of the others were starting to feel the restrictions in their diet. Some of us had a slightly longer walk than others, thanks to the quick arm on Dennis who flagged down a cab after a few Km. This meant we had a while to hang out waiting for the others to get here, so we had a good lunch then checked out the few shops, before heading to the local smarket to restock. Then back over to Pikku Paka and the very friendly Peter, where we spent a few hours relaxing, and a few euros on food and drink. Still there now. Some pics once i get back home to upload them.

What a crackin day! Woke up in my hammock staring up at a perfectly clear blue sky, then lifted my head slightly to look out onto the serene waters of lake Makiselka, with the birdsong occasionally punctuated by a distant woodpecker doing what they are famous for. So relaxed after the chance to unwind yesterday with a spot of swimming by the camp. It's 8am and there's already quite a bit of heat in the sun, so it's on with the factor 50, as the factor 30 didn't quite cut the mustard yesterday.


Todays leg is a bit longer than yesterdays, though nothing like the long hauls of the previous 2 days. We made terrific time after setting out, travelling down Makiselka onto Valivesi then Rauhajarvi and north about halfway up Paalahti before turning off onto Lasankosken kanava. We stopped and ate lunch after passing under a bridge, to give up energy for the portage we knew lay a short distance ahead. It was just as well, as several trips back &forth were needed to ferry all the boats and gear the 400 odd meters along the shore before getting back in the water.
Then we were onwards towards lake Puula. Except a one of our boats encountered a spot of bother on a rock, so we had our first swimmers of the trip. No major damage done though, and after rescuing crew, boat and gear. We were once more underway, minus 1 of our 3 water purification pumps, which had escaped unnoticed in the commotion. Conditions on Puula were windy with plenty of chop, which made the last section of todays journey a bit more challenging. I think everyone was glad to reach camp this evening at Likoniemi.

Vavesaari to Luusniemi

Woke to a hazey morning, had a hearty breakfast and set off for the day. We were spending the day setting waypoints & getting used to the gps we'd be using to find our way on the larger lake systems. As the day went on the weather cleared to blue skies, and the layers of clothes came off and the sunscreen went on.
We stopped off at Tahtiniemi for lunch and a short break to stretch our legs before heading on to Luusniemi, our camp for the night. After the previous 2 long days we were all glad to have had a short day. And a chance to rest and recharge our batteries.
Distance covered, 12 or 13Km.