Tomorrow at 11.20 I should have been sitting on a plane to Stockholm, Sweden, to meet fellow Scandinavian UL bloggers and go for a backpacking trip with them. I checked-in online today in the afternoon, chose my seat, printed the ticket, started packing and checked the bus timetable to the airport for the morning. All looked fine, until about two hours ago as I got a text from Blue1 which told me that my flight is cancelled.



After 25 minutes on the phone I finally managed to speak to someone, who told me that Golden Air's pilots are on strike and that thus the flight got cancelled. I was able to reschedule to a flight in the afternoon at 1525, but as the pilots are likely to be on strike till Friday according to the website, it is not looking good. Golden Air operates all flights for Blue1 & SAS between Sweden and Finland, in case you're wondering.



I still have the chance of flying with Finnair, who seem to be not on strike. I will need to make the decision tomorrow morning, when I know if my flight goes or not. Until then, I will stay optimistic and hope for the best - it would suck if the SBM would take place and I wouldn't be there. Keep your thumbs up that all goes well =)

UPDATE: It seems like Blue1 hired Danish Air Transport to fly the 1525 flight, and after confirmation via phone it seems to be on schedule and will fly! So I will get to Stockholm - not just hoping that now Tornado or similar ruins it =)

Another week which just flew by. We were very lucky here in Finland, it has been sunny and above 20°C the whole of last week, sadly I spent the time inside working instead of outside backpacking. To make up for that there was plenty to read.



James from Backpackingbongos takes us on a snowy Southern Upland Way circuit and brings back the memories of winter to us.

Michael, who thru-hikes the PCT at the moment, finally received his Trailname. Also check out the video on the right about the perfect campsite.

The Bearded Git went wildcamping in the Northern Fells and besides dead sheep and leaning trees there was a acrobatic squirrel...

Steven reports life from the TGO Challenge and the problems (and beauty) he encountered - go cheer him up with a comment or tweet.

The Shed Dweller is another TGO Challenger who blogs life from the trail, thus for a different take on the Scottish Coast-to-Coast journey head over to his blog.

Q went to Corsica and brought back this trip report. Sunshine, blue skies, high mountains and the Hitchhikers Guide To the Galaxy make for a good trip report.

The Worthing Wanderer walked section 7 of the London Loop, a beautiful story of going for a day walk in one of the most busiest cities in the world. Deer, waterfowl and the signs of spring & summer are definitely making it very interesting.



Joe did a great review on the Optimus Crux Lite & Terra Solo Cook set, a highly recommended read.

Jonas now has his UL Pulka/ Toboggan ready and show's off some photos on his blog. 400 g is sweet and it is similar in nature to The Incredible Rulk from Jörgen.

Roger from Sweden took a first look at the Evernew Ti DX, probably the most sought after piece of equipment currently in the UL sphere, so go read his initial take on its performance with alcohol and wood.

Dave on the other hand compared three lightweight alcohol stoves and measured their full usage and burn times, thus if alcohol is your fuel of choice go have a look.

Benjamin did a review of his ZPacks Hexamid shelter, so if a new shelter is something you're looking for, check this out.

In other news, Ron from Walking Fort Bragg is reflecting on a spider net. Great photo and thoughts.

Dave, The Ultralighter, talks about the problems encountered by telling people about ultralight backpacking and how they'd love to try it, but can't do without any of the heavy stuff. Good read.

Finally, Jörgen from Fjäderlätt gives us some hints on how to use an umbrella but still keep your hands free - very useful for the growing number of umbrella users on the trail!

Sorry, it took me a while to choose the testers for the Monatauk Gnat Passaround. Life sometimes is like that, though as you surely know, good things come to those that wait.



The five testers will be:

- Tobias Nurmiranta
- Len the Harmonicaman
- Roman Dial
- hrXXL
- GForce

Please contact me via Email (on the right under the creative commons note) and give me your complete address, then I will pack the Gnat and make it ready for its trip around the world =) Thanks to all other participants, the next Passaround should come along during next week.