Events aligned in a fortunate way yesterday. I will be out guiding on my first paid gig as a wilderness guide starting on Sunday for a whole week, returning to the beautiful Hossa Hiking Area where I spent two weeks earlier this year during the winter.
The last time I was in Hossa, there was plenty of ice and snow around.
It was on pretty short notice - a text message yesterday afternoon asking me if I could jump in and guide a tour, starting this coming Sunday, for a whole week. A call to my wife, a look at the programme, a call to Urpo at Upitrek, another call to my wife, and it was settled - I will be going Sunday up north to guide for Upitrek for a whole week! I was a bit skeptical, as I have a bunch of work cut out for me at the moment, but after my wife encouraged me, I decided to go. A chance like this doesn't come along that often, so better take them when they appear! It is also a splendid opportunity to practice my guiding skills, and make these important connections in the very small guiding business circles in Finland.
Weather-wise I hope it is a bit better than this longterm forecasts predicts.
The tour I will be guiding will operate with a base camp, and small excursions in the surroundings of the Hossa Hiking Area will take place every day. Hiking, canoeing, a visit to a reindeer farm, bear watching and visiting 4000 year old rock paintings are on the itinerary, together with a warm Sauna (and swimming!) each evening. It will be quite the opposite to sitting in a office in downtown Helsinki, where I am this week.
Best of all: I will be camping the whole week out under my new Gossamer Gear CubicTwinn and be sleeping in my new BPL Vapr bivy! As the weather will be wet but warm, I reckon the BPL Cocoon 240 quilt will be what I take, and I also will bring my tenkara fly fishing gear along - Hossa is a popular fishing destination, and I wasn't able to go out fishing a lot yet this year. Maybe even try a new stove? Oh, and while I will be "roughing it" outside in bivy and tarp, the guests will sleep in a beautiful log cabin. Probably they more comfortable and smart way, looking at the weather forecast =)
As you might guess, I am pretty excited about this! Being outdoors with guests, showing them the beauty of the Finnish forests and lakes which I love so much, is what I set out to do as I did the Wilderness Guide education. Most of all I am very proud and happy that my wife actually encouraged me to go - Kiitos rakkani!
So, there will be some radio silence here while I am out, obviously. You always can browse past trip reports and articles, or take a peak at my Youtube and Vimeo videos. Or, a really extreme proposition: You could go out hiking yourself ;)
Happy trails!
The last time I was in Hossa, there was plenty of ice and snow around.
It was on pretty short notice - a text message yesterday afternoon asking me if I could jump in and guide a tour, starting this coming Sunday, for a whole week. A call to my wife, a look at the programme, a call to Urpo at Upitrek, another call to my wife, and it was settled - I will be going Sunday up north to guide for Upitrek for a whole week! I was a bit skeptical, as I have a bunch of work cut out for me at the moment, but after my wife encouraged me, I decided to go. A chance like this doesn't come along that often, so better take them when they appear! It is also a splendid opportunity to practice my guiding skills, and make these important connections in the very small guiding business circles in Finland.
Weather-wise I hope it is a bit better than this longterm forecasts predicts.
The tour I will be guiding will operate with a base camp, and small excursions in the surroundings of the Hossa Hiking Area will take place every day. Hiking, canoeing, a visit to a reindeer farm, bear watching and visiting 4000 year old rock paintings are on the itinerary, together with a warm Sauna (and swimming!) each evening. It will be quite the opposite to sitting in a office in downtown Helsinki, where I am this week.
Best of all: I will be camping the whole week out under my new Gossamer Gear CubicTwinn and be sleeping in my new BPL Vapr bivy! As the weather will be wet but warm, I reckon the BPL Cocoon 240 quilt will be what I take, and I also will bring my tenkara fly fishing gear along - Hossa is a popular fishing destination, and I wasn't able to go out fishing a lot yet this year. Maybe even try a new stove? Oh, and while I will be "roughing it" outside in bivy and tarp, the guests will sleep in a beautiful log cabin. Probably they more comfortable and smart way, looking at the weather forecast =)
As you might guess, I am pretty excited about this! Being outdoors with guests, showing them the beauty of the Finnish forests and lakes which I love so much, is what I set out to do as I did the Wilderness Guide education. Most of all I am very proud and happy that my wife actually encouraged me to go - Kiitos rakkani!
So, there will be some radio silence here while I am out, obviously. You always can browse past trip reports and articles, or take a peak at my Youtube and Vimeo videos. Or, a really extreme proposition: You could go out hiking yourself ;)
Happy trails!