It’s hot today, you know

Reindeer 1

Reindeer 2

Here are two more photographs taken at Kilpisjärvi, on July 20th, when we drove by car south to Rovaniemi. A reindeer walked past our accommodation in the morning.

Yesterday was hot, +29 °C, and today will be also. On Monday and Tuesday I went swimming with my daughter, today I might ride the bicycle, have to see how that goes. I haven't taken many photographs recently, but there are still plenty remaining from the 11-day trip to Lapland.

(Posting title is from the poem Deer Dance Exhibition by Ofelia Zepeda.)

I sing of dews, of rains, and piece by piece

Rapids 1

Rapids 2

Rapids 3

I had today the annual vehicle inspection for my car, which is 14 years old. I had some worry that maybe expensive repairs would be needed, even though the car performed well during the 2100 kilometers I drove during the trip to Lapland and Norway.

But all was well, and the vehicle inspector even commented that the car model I have (Avensis) is reliable and as expected everything is okay.

In the photographs you see rapids in the river Rovvejohka, a.k.a. Rovijoki, which is by the road between Skibotn and Kilpisjärvi. The photographs were taken on July 18th, when we returning from Tromsø. The rapids are also known as Morsiushuntuputous, Bridal Veil Falls, and rather impressive they were, thanks to the rainy weather earlier this summer.

(Posting title is from the poem The Argument of his Book by Robert Herrick.)

I mean, outside the raw experiences of your life?

Malla

I'm jumping ahead to July 18th 19th, when we walked for 4 1/2 hours in Malla Strict Nature Reserve, all the way to Kitsiputous, which one of the highest waterfalls in Finland. It was hot, over +25 °C, and almost no wind at all. Big biting insects were interested in the hikers.

I don't usually do panoramas, and the technical merit of this one is far from flawless, but I feel that this photograph hints at the open vistas all around us when we were walking on the Malla fells. The fells you see near the horizon, behind Kilpisjärvi lake, are part of Sweden.

The panorama was stiched from 22 portrait-orientation photographs in PTGui. These days some cameras have software which allows stitching panorama photographs straight in the camera, which might be rather nice to use in situations like this one.

Next, I'll return to the scheduled program with the postings, using photographs taken in Norway on July 17th 18th.

(Posting title is from the poem Beautiful Poetry by Camille Guthrie.)

Of beings, stars, and this unriddled wonder

Flower 1

Flower 2

Flower 3

Flower 4

Flower 5

Flower 6

Here are some flowers seen on the fells near Kilpisjärvi, photographs taken on July 17th, near lake Tsahkaljärvi.

Today I rode the bicycle for almost two hours, 32 kilometers. It wasn't too hot, +26 °C, which was fine.

(Posting title is from the poem Don Juan: Canto 11 by Lord Byron.)

Stuff of dreams: everywhere I inquired

Clouds

Sign

Water

Blue

Saana

Saana

On July 17th there was some rain, but that cleared by evening, and I went for a walk with my daughter to lake Tsahkaljärvi. Saana fell was mostly covered by clouds, but otherwise it was sunny and the sky was clearing up.

A 50 km trekking path leads from Kilpisjärvi to Halti fell, which is the highest fell in Finland, at 1,324 meters, and thus the highest point in the country. The path was rather busy. Hikers were carrying big backpacks, walking towards Kilpisjärvi village.

(Posting title is from the poem Blue by Carl Phillips.)

As if sliding down the green, scuffed face

Larvae 1

Larvae 2

There were plenty of these little green things at Kilpisjärvi, eating birches and other green stuff. Some years the Epirrita autumnata moth larvae have defoliated square kilometers of birch forests in the fells of Lapland.

(Posting title is from the poem Möbius by David Gewanter.)

How she cannot help abundance, even as it leaves

Malla 1

Malla 2

Malla 3

Malla 4

On July 17th we went for a walk in Malla Strict Nature Reserve at Kilpisjärvi. When we started walking, it was sunny, but rather soon dark and dense clouds appeared from southwest, and it started to rain, so we returned back earlier than planned. The photographs show lake Siilasjärvi and the Siilaskoski rapids.

(Posting title is from the poem The Lake by Sophie Cabot Black.)

How often have I paused on every charm

Silene acaulis

Cassiope hypnoides

Lake

Down

Birch

Here are some more photographs taken at Saana fell. Climbing to Saana was something to remember. And there were a lot of other things to explore near Kilpisjärvi.

I think we'll return there next summer, if at all possible, and preferably a bit earlier so that we can see how spring and early summer look like. We only explored a tiny corner of the wilderness, there is so much to see within a couple of hours of walking.

(Posting title is from the poem The Deserted Village by Oliver Goldsmith.)

And that ideas were governments turned into men

Saana 1

Saana 2

Saana 3

Saana 4

Saana 5

Saana 6

The clouds started to get thinner when we came back from the summit of Saana fell. We explored spots of snow and the little lakes, and had picnic, before walking down from the fell. In all, we walked for over 4 hours, gaining a little bit of understanding of the landscape in Lapland.

(Posting title is from the poem i wanted to overthrow the government but all i brought down was somebody's wife by Charles Bukowski.)

To pace the ground, if path be there or none

Saana 1

Saana 2

Saana 3

Saana 4

Saana 5

Saana 6

Saana 7

Saana 8

These photographs were taken on top of Saana fell on July 16th, while walking to the summit which was inside a cloud. The fog allowed 50-100 meters of visibility, so there was no danger of getting lost provided one stayed on the marked trail.

The moisture condensed on clothes, hair, and other cool surfaces, but the rocks were dry. I discussed this with my daughter, and we realized that the rocks were rather warm, because of the warm weather earlier, and thus the air was cooler than the ground. And because the rocks were dry it was easy walking, no danger of slipping on wet rocks.

Today we had +27 °C. I rode the bicycle for two hours and 35 kilometers. It wasn't bad, but I don't like weather this hot. In any case, at some point it will get cooler.

(Posting title is from the poem Most Sweet it is by William Wordsworth.)

And the fog from the ocean is cool, for once again it is July

Saana 1

Saana 2

Saana 3

Saana 4

Saana 5

Saana 6

On July 16th I climbed with my daughter to the summit of Saana fell in Kilpisjärvi. The summit was inside a cloud, and you could see only 50-100 meters ahead. Thus we couldn't have a look at the splendid Lapland landscape at large from the summit. But being inside a cloud was interesting in itself.

Saana's summit is 1,029 meters above sea level, and the summit is 556 m above Kilpisjärvi lake which is next to the fell. For Finland this is quite a climb, as the Finnish landscape is mostly rather flat. Geologically Saana is part of the Scandinavian Mountains, and thus younger rock than elsewhere in Finland.

There is a nature trail by Saana, and our original intention was to explore the trail. But when we saw the steps ("longest steps in Finland") going up the hill, we decided to go up, and in the end - on my daughters insistence - we walked all the way to the summit, and wrote our names to the guest book there.

The trail was well marked, with the next marker always visible in the fog, so there was no danger of getting lost. These photographs were taken on the way up.

I've been a bit lazy since returning from Lapland, but yesterday I explored the forests in Vaakkoi for 2 1/2 hours. It isn't quite as hot as on the previous days, but we got some rain, which pushed humidity to above 80% 90%.

(Posting title is from the poem A Magic Mountain by Czeslaw Milosz, translated by Czeslaw Milosz and Lillian Vallee.)

I saw a denier sitting outside

Trollius europaeus

Cornus suecica

Myosotis decumbens

Trientalis europaea

Pedicularis lapponica

Here are some flowers to be seen at Kilpisjärvi. The photographs were taken on Salmivaara fell on July 15th.

(Posting title is from the poem On Returning to My Hometown in 2035 by Idra Novey.)