Avtor: jkregar

Our group, The Speechless, consists of Laura Viktorija from Latvia, Dovile from Lithuania, Tom and Seline from the Netherlands, Barbara from Czech Republic and Živa from Slovenia, along with our leaders Vilma and Ligita and our Finnish assessor Timo. We were very excited about the expedition and were happy when the planning finally started.

Our starting point was Tievatupa, the camp site, and we decided to go eastward to Luirojarvi. At half past eight on the 4th of August we left, equipped with our 15 kg or more heavy backpacks. Our path first led us through forest to Niilanpaa, where we had our first break, from where on we continued uphill over a bare hill, where we encountered a herd of reindeer, including youg ones. As this was our first meeting with these animals, especially on such a small distance, we were really happy to see them. We carried on and at the next stop we met another group, which had almost the same route as us, so we were looking forward to seeing each other often many times. Also, Barbara and Tom were making marks on the path for the other group to know the path.  Soon later, we had our first larger river crossing, where we had to take our shoes, which proved to be a lot of fun. We arrived to our sleeping place, where there was a small shelter and a fireplace, at around 5 pm. We cooked our dinner and put up the tents and spend the rest of the evening chatting, especially when the other group  arrived to sleep at the same point.

Next day we continued our journey over some hills which gave us a nice view on the surrounding landscape. As the distance we had to walk was much shorter than the previous day, we had a lot of breaks, giving us the chance to sleep and enjoy the warm sun and nice weather. We reached Luirojarvi in the late afternoon, which was really beautiful and surrounded by hills. There we made use of an open hut where we also cooked our dinner. After the dinner, we enjoyed swimming in the lake, which was of a nice temperature. Some people also made use of the sauna, which was available close by.

Next morning we started our way back to Kiilopaa, which was our final point. That was the most tiring leg of our expedition, as we were first following a path that did not exist, then it was raining strongly for two hours and our paths turned into muddy streams and we were completely wet. At the end on the day we also had to cross another river, this time a really deep one with a strong current. Tired, we finally came to our campsite, where we were really grateful for a warm and dry hut,where we dried our clothes and ate dinner. The last day it was also raining in the morning, but later on the weather got better, even sunny, which made us more motivated for hiking. We were all also looking forward to getting back to Tievatupa, where a sauna, delicious dinner, soft beds and a shower awaited us. Therefore, we were walking quickly and at last arrived to Kiilopaa at half past four, all of us very happy that we succeeded at the expedition. The bus picked us up at five o’clock and a nice reception and a delightful dinner awaited us.

-Speechless

We started our adventurous journey on Thursday. Beforehand, of course, we prepared our backpacks and planned our route so we started our hike full of energy and motivation. First few clicks of walk were quite quiet because we needed some time to realize we were left of the chain after whole week of waiting. That spirit quickly turned to amazement and joy and we reached our first checking point chill and fresh as we just came from sauna. We ate baked, smoked expedition tuna and continued our trip unaware of future obstacles waiting to ruin our good mood. Soon we arrived to a huge swamp, bigger than anyone could imagine in their wildest dreams. We almost gave up trying to cross it when we excellent idea rushed through our mind. We rolled up our sleeves and built a magnificent bridge across the swamp. It resembled on Golden Gate Bridge in US. We were a little behind of our plan so we almost run to our camp. Then a great disaster occoured. Tabea’s shoes couldn’t follow our fast tempo so they were litteraly torn apart. At camp we cooked dinner which tasted as it was prepared by worlds best chefs. We learned how to throw knives and we set up a hammock.

We slept like in heaven and we woke up in even better mood as we went to sleep. We headed to the great lake of Rautulampi and even Tabeas shoes couldnt stop us to reach our destination. We ate a lunch there and continued our hike even quicker then before. We soon stumbled upon some really difficult terrain but our good physical preparation was paid out and we had no difficulties finishing our day two. At the camp we met our beloved friends, Anka’s angels. We had perfect evening together exchanging stories, singing songs and all that comes along.

Day three started well, we had good rest and leaved the camp at ten 30. Difficult path was in front of us, our navigation skills were on put on test. We dodged the swamp and picked the shortcut directly through the woods. We arrived to Rautulampi and took a nap for two hour because hail and rain started fall from the sky so we couldnt see two metres in front of us. Immediately after weather stabilazed we climbed the highest mountain we saw at the moment. There we saw tonns o reindeer and even more blueberries. We arrived at the camp just at the right time because few drops of rain fell again.

We started our last day in the early morning, at 6 oclock. In fog we climbed another huge mountain and quickly finished our journey at Kiilopaa. We there long before lunch at ten. By the way we jumped to the mountain of Kiilopää where we stumbled upon some really magnificent reindeer with horns bigger than our backpacks. When we came down the hill we realized that the whole trip was nothing so we didnt even waited for bus but just walked to our resorts. So we came back alive and healthy and it felt as we just finished a Sunday walk.

-VITEMS: Vid, Ieva,Tabea, Erkki, Mirna & Saulė

The journey of our curious fellowship, Anka’s Angels, began at Tievatupa Youth Center, from where we had set off to the settlement of Kiilopää. We were granted a good weather, and well maintained roads nearby Kiilopää provided the best environment to get used to walking with our heavy backpacks and hiking shoes. On the hills above Kiilopää, herds of reindeers started to accompany us, and, sadly, mosquitoes joined them once we got down the hill to the valley. The character of the landscape changed – swamps and rocks appeared soon after we entered the deeps of the Urho Kekkonen National Park. We spent our first night nearby a hikers’ hut of Laavu, we prepared our meal on a proper bonfire, we washed our faces in ice-cold and ice-clear river. During this very pleasant evening, some of us had undertaken an epic flip-flop journey over misty bogland and sharp rocks, just to greet our friends in another camping spot across the hill.

The next day started with a river crossing – done in all caution and safety. A romantic path through a river canyon unfortunately also caused a muscle injury of one of us: Ieva had no option but to leave us at another camping spot. We continued in four, map and compass in hand, raincoats always ready, songs on our lips. In the evening, after getting through another canyon, so silent that only our breath was being heard, we found a much-needed bridge over a large river of Suomujoki, and joined another group of travellers at camping spot of Kotaköngäs. What a pleasant evening – swimming in the river, a good meal, heath of bonfire and friends around.

The good weather started to change the next day. After a little navigation problem in the forests near Kotaköngäs, heavy rain struck us on the road, and we were lucky to find shelter in Tuiskukuru, the eastest point of our expedition. Fortunatelly, the sun hurried to dry our things off soon after we came. Next, we climbed hills covered with young birch trees, and we headed to a beautiful lake area with some most romantic views and places. The sun shining through Anka’s hair confirmed that the name of our group, Anka’s Angels, was indeed chosen correctly. We left our leaders and assessors, who followed us in a distance, letters in every hut we passed by, and in the evening, we finally built our tents nearby another hikers’ shelter. Before we went to sleep, a national park ranger travelling aimlessly from hut to hut shared some good stories with us.

To our surprise, the last day of our expedition was filled with energy. Looking forward to the shower and proper food, we had set off earlier than ever before and in incredibly fast pace, we crossed the rest of the hills and swamps to reach Kiilopää and our beloved youth center, Tievatupa.

-Anka’s Angels: Greta, Katarina, Anouk, Vojtěch & Ieva

We are international youth group. We are from Slovenia, Czech rebublic, Netherlands, Lithuania and Finland. We spent four days hiking in Urho Kekkonen National park.

We started in Kiilopää and we went to suomunlampi where we spent first night. On second day after 20 kilometres hiking we slept on Luirojärvi. There were many beautiful views that we could enjoy.  After good night we started walking to kataköngäs where we spent last night. Our stop point was also Kiilopää which offered challenging road.

Everyone learned a lot. Hiking in international group was challenging but memorable. We had some problems acrossing rivers and swamps. It was fun to walk barefoot. Environment was different than in our home countries so that was a new experience. We were happy to walk in silence and just think about everything.

Best wishes UVB

Moi, Sveiki, Hallo, Ahoi, Labas, Zdravo,

Today was the last day of our 4-day expedition in Lapland. We were a group of 6 people, who were all of different nationalities. Because we had such a diversity in our group, we had to communicate using english, suprisingly it wasn’t as difficult as we had thought. We had an amazing time together, sharing stories, making jokes all the time and helping each other complete our golden adventure.

At the beginning of our adventure, we didn’t know what to expect. Quickly we began sharing stories and getting to know each other. We were a really positive minded and helpful group and that’s what made our expedition to be extremely fun. We discoverd new things about each other and ourselves and we are very grateful to have participated in this program and to have met so many amazing people.

We hope that people all over the world will be encouraged to join the Award Program because we found to be an amazing experience and one that we will never forget.

Thank you all and we wish you all the best,

Goodbye, Houdoe, Heihei, Viso gero, Adijo, Na shledanou, Visu labu,

TEAM SOPULIT

Three out of five groups have already arrived in Tievatupa. Surviving in the wilderness was a positive challenge for everyone and all of the hikers were enjoying their time in Urho Kekkonen National park. Participants were showing exemplary team work and I am sure that everyone learnt a lot in these multicultural groups. As a leader I was happy to follow my team’s working, great team spirit and how they helped each other in every situation.

We are waiting now the two last groups to arrive and will then have dinner together <3

-Mari

Today we had a very informative day, everyone was preparing for our hike with their subgroup. We practised with navigation, packing our bags (without forgetting something), the basics about cooking and the very important first-aid lesson ;). After that we drew the routes we were going to walk during the expedition. After a very long meeting, everyone was finally finished making the routes. The groups are almost ready to go on the hike! But first we will have a very fun evening program!

-Dutch team: Seline, Margriet, Anouk, Mirna, Paul & Tom