Day trip to the Repovesi national park – checking out the new bridge

Nice sunny Sunday, clear sky and the temperature around -10°C; what a wonderful reason to go out again.

Got the news that the famous Lapinsalmi suspension bridge was finally opened this weekend, after been closed for repairs since early 2024.

The place was the Repovesi national park. Drove to the Lapinsalmi parking and walked from there the Kaakkuri’s trail, that takes on to the sightseeing point at the one of the highest points in the park, with a beautiful view over the lakes and forests. I calculated some 230 steps on the stairs when climbing up to the vantage point.

The route was about 4 km long to walk. Paths were in decent condition and saw only couple people in the park during the whole trip. In the summer time the place is very popular, but during winter months a bit more quiet and one can have good time alone in there. Took about three (3) hours to walk around the route, with a short campfire and food break at the last part.

In the pics that follow are still destruction visible caused by the Hannes winter storm that felled trees and cut electricity from almost 200 000 of people in Finland during the days between Christmas and New year. In the Lapland wind speeds of over 40 m/s were measured inland. The storm also caused much damage in northern Norway and Sweden.

What follows is a dump of pictures that I took with my cellphone, so don’t expect epic nature photo collection. I’ve been lazy and not carrying my proper camera with me. I should toughen up and pack the camera with me more often, as the picture quality is just worth the effort. And with proper lenses one can play around with DoF, bokeh and light much better than with a mid-range cellphone camera.

In the first pic below is still a sign telling to to enter the construction site, as the bridge was under repair for a long time. But it’s now open for crossing.