Day 5: Saariselkä

After I'd finished the blog last night we went out for a meal in Saariselkä. It was very cold and snowing as we walked to the restaurant.

We both had pizza, then shared a cloudberry pancake. I'd never had cloudberries before and not sure I'd bother having them again  

When we woke up this morning, it didn't feel quite as cold outside as it had been yesterday. The thermometer outside the cabin suggested that it was minus 18.

It had snowed quite a bit overnight and so we walked straight out into fresh snow.

After the strenuous hill-climbing we'd done yesterday, we'd decided to opt for an easier walk today.

We remembered a fairly flat walk we'd done last year, towards another small village called Laanila.

The route took us on a nice wide path through the forest.

Occasional signposts confirmed we were on the right track.

Although it had been quite dark and snowing when we set off, as we walked the sky began to become a bit lighter.

Everywhere was still incredibly white, though.

And we passed plenty of trees buried under the snow.

We met a handful of other people out walking their dogs, but otherwise the path was pretty much deserted.

Whenever we stopped walking, the silence was absolute.

As we got closer towards Laanila, the sunrise (or sunset!) colours in the sky became stronger.

On the outskirts of the village we came to a path which had been freshly prepared for walking, so we were the first to step onto the crisp snow.

We established last year that there isn't actually much to see in Laanila itself.

We followed signs for a different route back to Saariselkä, which looped us back round through the forest.

This track was a bit narrower and seemed to have even fewer people on it.

We passed under a tree that was completely bent double under the weight of snow.

We also passed some tracks in the snow...

Maybe some sort of hare?

By the time we got back towards Saariselkä we'd walked about six miles in the snow.

In the distance we could see the top of the fell we'd climbed yesterday.

Today's walk was definitely less tiring than yesterday's but we've still seen some beautiful scenery