Weather was wet and temperature around 0 decrees of Celsius, so what a wonderful idea of going out for a winter overnight trip?

The trip itself was not that long, about a one kilometer per direction, but doing it first time on sliding snowshoes and a full backpack on my shoulders made it very interesting trip.

Especially the narrow walked paths downhill were very interesting and adrenaline filled fear factor experience, as I haven’t skied like about never before and especially I have not done downhill skiing. – Yes I’ve done some cross-country skiing and downhill skiing, but that was like over 30 years ago. – Did fall over couple times, but cleared the snow from my gear, checked that nothing was broken and kept going.

Also, like I said in the beginning, the weather was about +0°C and I was wearing a merino wool layer underneath my shell jacket and trousers, so when I finally got to the lavvu I was soaked in sweat.

Temperature went couple decrees below zero during the night, but basically there was no chance that my underlayer would dry during the night as the humidity was so high. – But I was prepared with two extra sets of under layer clothing, so I did survive.

The view from the lean-to lavvu in the morning to the wet and warm weather out there.

Only downside of the trip was the firewood.

The wood at the shack were wet and moldy. So trying to make fire was a horrendous task.

Even tho I did very small kindles and twigs, the flame was struggling all the time and didn’t burn properly. Not even with decent fire starters and me fanning some air on to the flames.

The firewood just said no…

After cooking this was the scene in the fire pit.

Got barely some water boiled and a sandwich heated up. – Luckily I had some hot water in the thermos with me, so got the hot chocolate with some treats in the evening while watching the snow.

The night was cozy and spent most of the time watching the Finnish national qualifiers for the Eurovision Song Contest from my cell phone while tucked into my sleeping bag.

At the morning light I took a look around…

Addition to the lean-to lavvu the place had an outhouse…

A small sauna that fits four persons quite nicely, tho didn’t warm it this time.

And an ice hole to dip into, and to get water for the sauna.

The way back to the car was also a interesting test to see how me and my body and my gear shall adapt to the warm winter conditions.

As the weather was maybe +2°C, I did start my way back with light merino wool underlayer and a shell jacket on, but I very quickly come to a conclusion that the outer layer was too much. There just was not enough vents in that jacket to open, so I took it off completely. – And later when arriving to the car, I threw the merino shirt of as well, as I was very comfortable with bare skin against the weather, as I was so warm from the exercise.

And the three underlayers were enough. One for the trip to the Lavvu. Second to spent the evening, night and get back to the car. And the third to wear while driving back to the city. – Just According to Keikaku…

So my first overnight trip with sliding snowshoes ended in a positive mood and Linda and Pete got to represent Finland in the Eurovision Song Contest in Austria.

So, untill next time…