February 2022
Ristikalio – Ansakampa – Jusinkampa – Siilistupa – Porontimajoki – Kuusamo
A winter snow shoe hike was still on my bucket list and what better place to do so than northern Finland. In Oulanka national park you can find endless taigas in one of Europe last remaining wilderness areas. Even though the region is vast and wild, it has a very well maintained trail, the world famous Karhunkierros trail. Best of all nice, warm and cozy wooden wilderness huts that trekkers are free to use.
In summer and especially during autumn the Karhunkierros draws large numbers of hikers. Finish and other nationalities alike. With good reason, it is most certainly in the top 10 best hikes in Europe. In winter however the trail snows in and a deep quiet falls over these forests. At this time of year Ruka becomes a great winter sport destination, but there is very few hikers venturing out on these winter trails.
Due to the fact that ‘Nunatak’, a Dutch travel agency, organized a yearly trek via this route I knew that it was nonetheless feasible to hike it during the winter period. So I selected this trail as my first long distance snow shoe trek.
Route
How to get there
You can fly to Kuusamo and from there take the bus to the start of the hike. The bus goes once a day and it does not run on a tight schedule. It can easily leave an hour later than planned. If arriving late you will need to take a taxi from Kuusamo airport to Kuusamo town, there is no frequent bus service between the two.
From Ruka there is multiple buses a day taking you back to the airport. The departure times of the buses are according to the scheduled flights.
Packing list
The huts are very nice and in winter you will likely have them for yourself, so you can leave your tent and camping gear at home. Just as sleeping bag and mattress will do.
You can also leave your stove as you will be able to cook on the heater (though you could take a stove just in case). Don’t forget a few lighters and matches in case the ones in the hut are not there or not functioning.
Snow shoes are your best friends here. Theoretically you might be able to do it without, but it is way better to bring them. The route is not suitable for langlaufs. There are many langlauf trails around in the area, but the Karhunkierros is not one of them.
Alternatives
The trek takes 6 days. There is not much choice here as there is not other huts in between and you will need to have very good reason not use the huts and go camping instead. The day between Ristikalio/Taivalkongas and Ansakampa is pretty crazy, but still I would just dash the distance instead of camping.
You can start the hike from the Karhunkierros winter start like we did, or from Hautajarvi. It seems that most people choose the winter start in winter, but by the looks of it the Hautajarvi start should still be feasible even around this time of year.
Season
Summer and Autumn are the most popular seasons, but in winter this trek becomes a real adventure and you will have the trail and huts to yourself. The experience between summer and winter are not comparable, you could do it once in both seasons and feel like you are in a completely different place. Mind that the winter season is a lot more of an endeavor and takes more precautions.
When coming here in summer you do need to bring a tent as the huts might be full.
Videos
Day 1
We had arrived in Kuusamo the day before. A small but well equipped airport with friendly staff. We had to dial up a taxi as the only 2 taxis available got snatched from under our nose š
Our hotel was a typical northern Scandinavian building. Industrial material with not much detail and furnished almost exclusively with IKEA. After our breakfast we took our bags and walked up to the fuel station where our bus was supposed to stop. It was cold and windy and the snow lay over a meter high next to the road. I was really wondering what was awaiting us on the trail. Ploughing through this kind of snow would be an absolute nightmare and not the more easy going trip I had been promising Eline…
At the other side of the road of the fuel station there was a small sign with a bus on it, we guessed this had to be it. We informed with some local people, but they did not really seem to know. Since we had to wait for about half an hour we grabbed some tea at the fuel station and waited for the bus to arrive.
It should leave at around 10, but at 10:15 there still was no bus in sight. It only went once a day from Kuusamo airport to Hautajarvi, so this was actually our only chance. I had booked the tickets online. Was I on the wrong spot? We asked at the fuel station and the guy behind the desk said the bus usually departed from there.
At 10:30 we gave up hope and thought about lifting. Eline who had lived in Finland for a while did not give lifting a high chance. So a taxi it was. However right at the moment we started dialing up a taxi I saw a bus coming from the corner of my eye. I sprinted towards the bus stop and waved the driver down.
The driver arrived right at the point we had given up on it. We loaded our bags in the bus and we drove off towards Ruka and onwards to the starting point of the trail.
I quickly realized why the bus was so late without it being a big deal. The bus basically was used as a skiing transfer bus between the airport and the winter sport town Ruka. We were the only passengers he picked up and the only passengers left in the bus once we drove beyond Ruka.
Based on our drop off location the driver already knew that we had our minds set on the Karhunkierros trail. He tried everything in his power to persuade us not to go. He said he had called a contact of his who knew the trail and he had said the snow was way to deep to even make an attempt. He really would not like to see us go. He had taken to many bodies out of the forest in a bag he told us.
He told us to get out at Ruka and inform at the information center what to do with our week. If we tried hiking the Karhunkierros we would just waste the day he said. I was considering getting out. I did not want another snow plough adventure, I had signed up for something easier this time. I aske Eline whether she wanted to get out, and if she had told me that she wanted to our trek would have stopped right there. But she was actually feeling more sure then I was and it actually was on her determination that we drove on.
The driver dropped us off and told us he would drive past here at 5pm in the evening to pick us back up again.
It was the first time either of us used snow shoes and we were messing around for a while to get our gear right. We set the nervous first steps not knowing what to expect. Was the bus driver right and would we be stuck in the snow in no time? Or was this just of the many false alarm warnings I often used to get before starting a trip.
After about half an hour our courage improved. We had started over a bit of open terrain and the going had been doable but tough, but once in the forest the trail was actually quite ok. Sure there was snow, but there had been enough traffic over the months to give it a sturdy underground and the hiking was good. The trail was also extremely well marked. With orange dots on the trees every 30 or so meters.
It was the first time I had been on a winter hike and it felt amazing. Silent forest, deep snow and large frozen lakes. A real winter wonderland.
When 2 hours or so on the trail our courage was even further lifted as we met a Finish guy on langlaufs coming from the other direction. He had gone from the road end to Taivalkongas the previous day, but was now returning as he felt he did not have enough time to complete the Karhunkierros. He said that the snow after Taivalkongas would be deeper, but with some determination he thought one could get through.
In good spirit we continued our hike through the magical snowy landscape. After another hour or so we reached Ristikalio. A small hut next to a frozen lake. It was one of the most romantic places I had ever seen. A small heater with nice beds with tons of virgin snow around.
We decided not to push on to Taivalkongas. We had started a bit later then planned and we did not want to rush. Aside from not wanting to rush I also could not resist but spent the night at this amazing side.
Temperatures dropped quick as the sun set. It would be the coldest night we would have. Probably around minus 18. If you touched the metal door knot for a bit too long you would freeze stuck to it.
We placed a lot of wood in the heater. The hut might be small and simple but the insulation was amazing. In 30 minutes the hut was hot enough to sit around in your T shirt. As a matter of fact in our bed near the roof it was genuinely getting hot. I started to realize how they invented sauna in this country…
Day 2
Our first day had been an amazing success and we were looking forward for another day out on the trail. We would need to cover a very large distance today as we had to make up for our early stop of yesterday.
Before we reached Taivalkongas we came along another hut next to a very large lake. There was a large snowmobile track here going onto the lake. It was a good thing that we were warned by the langlauf skier the day before as it was tempting to keep following this track. This would however have diverted us way of course, instead we needed to follow a small snowed in trail into the forest.
It was around 10 am when we reached Taivalkongas. A large hut nicely situated on a steep slope next to the lake. Due to it’s size I think we would have had a hard time making it warm, so it might have been a good thing to sleep in Ristikalio instead.
We took some quick lunch at the hut. We still had a long way to go and we knew it would be through tougher terrain so we did not put on a fire or cook. Instead we ate toast with cream cheese and humus. It was really great that we could eat this kind of fresh foods because the temperatures were so low.
We checked out the guest book and saw that about 4 other groups had made a winter trek around the Karhunkierros this winter. Under which the Dutch Nunatak company from whom we had ‘stolen’ this itinerary.
The first thing we had to do after the hut was crossing the snow covered bridge. It was quite funny, there was so much snow on the bridge that the rails only came till our knee…
The snow was a lot deeper and there were some more up and downs on this stretch of the route. But below the around 30cm of snow lay a more solid layer of ice so the going was still ok.
It was around 3:30pm when we started to get close to the road. In summer there is a campsite here and most people stay overnight at this location. However to our dismay there was no accomodation available in winter. We asked around for a bit but even if we got the shy Finish to talk they all told us that Ansakampa hut further up trail was the only place to stay overnight.
Well that gave us 3 options. 1 We would get a lift or taxi to Ruka sleep there and get back the next day. This option would kind of break the mood. 2 We would stay overnight in a shelter next to the trail. This option might be pretty cold. 3 We would dash to Ansakampa which was about 10km further. This option could leave us stranded in the dark.
With none of the options being very attractive we kind of half halfheartedly tried all. With none of them really working out swiftly we found us hiking towards Ansakampa. We marched on as we knew we did not have much daylight left. We were lucky with the fact that the route to Ansakampa was a well trodden langlauf trail in winter. This meant that we could walk pretty fast and we arrived at the hut about 10 minutes before it was truly fully dark.
Our muscles hurt prety bad, walking through the snow with snowshoes uses different muscles than regular walking and our legs were complaining about that heavily.
Day 3
Jusinkampa was only 7km away. A distance so small that it almost made no sense to spent a day on it. The spacing of the huts is a bit weird in many respects, especially since there is no winter accommodation around the road at Kiutakongas.
The upside is that we could give our legs some rest and take a relax morning. We rose late and chopped some wood later in the morning. The hut was large and very well build. It was impressively well insulated as well. Despite it’s size we had it warm in not time. We checked the guest book and saw that someone had stayed here the night before. That probably explained why the hut was still feeling warm when we had arrived. The langlauf trail was probably a nice long weekend getaway. I wondered how long we could keep following this trail.
Aside from short the route to Jusinkampa was also very easy. Our legs were still tired of the day before but even with that we made it to the hut in no time. The only obstacle on the way was a 100 meter gentle hill we had to climb across. For the rest we could just follow the rather flat langlauf trail.
The Jusinkampa hut was an exact copy of the Ansakampa hut. It had recently be built as like the Ansakampa hut it had burnt down a while back due to overheating. It was a good hut to spent a free afternoon in. The weather was nice and we still had lots of good food in our backpack.
In the evening we got a small glimpse of the polar light, but unfortunately it did not come through. Maybe we would get lucky later in the week… It would have been a really good place to see the lights, as we could look far to the horizon over the large frozen lake south of us.
Day 4
We had a choice today. Either we would keep following the langlauf trail or we would follow the actual Karhunkierros. The actual Karhunkierros trail lay under rather deep fresh snow. About 40 to 50cm of fresh snow until you got to the well frozen under layer. However the langlauf trail was not very interesting to follow. Provided with a hard adventure or an easy out we of course went for the adventure…
For the first 2 hours of the day we moved slowly through deep snow. In thick forest it was ok, but when we got to more open areas it going was hard and we had to put in some effort to find the trail every now and then.
We had lunch at a day hut, but we did not stay long, we had quite a way still to go and we did not know the conditions up ahead.
After lunch we first followed the Oulanka river upstream. Sometimes along the river and sometimes on the frozen river itself. The Oulanka river was thusly large and powerful that it had not been completely frozen. It was the first running water we had seen since the start of our trek…
After a while the trail climbed the steep hill next to the river and we started to make our way up. I was glad to be on snow shoes and not langlaufs at this point. Once up the trail was not really visible anymore, luckily the orange markers still indicated the way. I guess that it was too windy on top off this hill, causing the trail to be blown full of snow.
Without a trail we only made very slow progress, the Pieni Karhunkierros trail (small bear trail) was however very nearby and we knew that at that point we would probably meet a well maintained trail.
It took us over an hour to reach the Pieni Karhunkierros but once there we could relax on a well trodden snow trail and take a bit of well deserved rest near a fire place.
The remainder of the route to the hut lead via the Piene Karhunkierros trail. This trail is frequented as a day hike and it is easy to see why. All major sites of the Karhunkierros come together here. The river, a nice wooden bridge, cliffs, waterfalls and endless taiga forest.
The hut of that day, Siilistupa, was small and a bit more shaby than we were used to (I guess this hut was too easy to reach and therefore less clean). The hut however made up for it with a great view over the waterfall further south.
Day 5
We had to follow the Pienie Karhunkierros for a little while longer after which we had to follow a langlauf trail. Langlauf trails are not too interesting so I was happy when the trail diverged again. Once off the langlauf trail we had to plough through rather deep snow. It felt like the further in the trek we got the fewer people had made it that far in this winter.
Although we still hiked through deep forests the terrain was definitely more open than at the start of our hike. This definitely further added to the snow cover on the trail. The more the wind has free reign the worse the snow condition tended to be.
After 2 hours of hiking through the snow we met a langlauf trail again. It was another boring 2km till a small exit with a small trail taking us to the Porontimayoki hut.
The hut was actually two small huts. With a camp fire place. It was a cozy place. The hut was easy to heat up and there was actually a bit of running water in the stream. The first and only time we have had running water at our hut.
Day 6
The final day! Today we would make it all the way to Ruka, the end of the Karhunkierros. We still had quite some way to go and we did not want to arrive too late as we had reserved a really nice small hut next to the lake.
The route was not clear cut. After just a few hundred meters it was pretty clear that the trail and the markings did not correspond. The markings went deeper into the forest and was covered in extremely deep snow. It looked like no one had gone that way since the snow had begun. There was however a small trail through the more open terrain that entered frozen creek. Maybe this was a winter detour to avoid some difficult sections.
As the stream entered a large lake the trail naturally disappeared, there was simply too much wind here. Some times the ice cracked a bit and we could see water. This worried us a little. Later on we learned these worries were unjust, at this time of year you can drive a truck over the lakes, the ice can be up to a meter thick.
I checked my satellite phone for our location. It looked like the trail was 500m into the forest. That does not sound like a lot, but as there was a hill right next to the lake and the snow was very deep, there was no cell in my body considering ploughing off trail back to the main Karhunkierros. I also spotted a road on the other side of the lake on the map. Once there we could follow this road down till we would meet the Karhunkierros again. That sounded like a more reasonable plan.
We hiked over the lake to the south. It was about 2 kilometers and a really nice experience. Later on when studying the route description of the Nunatak travel agent I saw that the routew we took was actually the precise thing we were supposed to do…
Once on the other side of the lake we arrived at a small village next to a nice sealed road. We considered taking a taxi to Ruka from here. It looked like a natural place to stop and the way ahead would take us for 4km along this road, which did not look all to interesting.
But in the end we figured that there must be a reason that the Nunatak itinerary did not stop here. And the hill ridge we would need to hike over to get to Ruka indeed sounded interesting. It was early anyway, so we decided to finish the Karhunkierros completely.
It was a good thing that we decided to hike the whole trail. After a boring our on the road we were treated with what is probably the best part of the Karhunkierros. We hiked steep up through snow covered trees with wondrous shapes. Then we got to enjoy rather great views over the vast taiga all around us and it’s many frozen lakes.
Once on the top there were many people. All making day tours from Ruka.
Last frontiers on foot 