Day 37, 38 & 39: Saariselkä & Inari

Day 37

As a disclaimer upfront, this day and the next were mentally very difficult days due to the suicide of a friend of mine and as such I don’t want to dive into them too deeply. I’ll focus on the less personal things and keep it brief.

I started out quite early in Sodankylä, knowing I’d have a long stretch ahead of me. To be honest I wasn’t too thrilled about the prospect, knowing that 119km in absolute wilderness could become quite a drag without water to refill and places to get a proper snack like a cinnamon bun or something. And it turned out to be just that. A very long stretch. There are a couple factors that contributed to it turning into nothing more than a torture where I had to mentally just keep forcing myself to keep going even though I just didn’t want to anymore. The first was that after just about 30km my left knee started to hurt quite badly whenever I’d apply any downwards force into my pedal. That turned out to be extremely tough as I made it into the land of the fjells and long, quite steep climbs were very prevelant. To further add to this very painful experience there was a constant, very strong headwind forcing me to pedal in second gear when cycling downhill. That’s just not fun. The last aspect is not just a negative but parts of it are. The absolute wilderness. Nothing like I’ve ever experienced. I started to see the scope of this planet, started to feel like a tiny atom in the great infinity; insignificant but yet part of everything. It was honestly an amazing experience and feeling but to come back to the negative aspect of it: No chance of ending it earlier, to call it off. It was either spending the night without water and only uncooked food and get back on the road the next day without energy or keep going. So I kept going, kept pushing, kept forcing myself to get back on the bike after taking breaks in an almost ten minute interval by now. The whole experience was further underlined by a extremely loomy sky, dark grey clouds stretching out into every direction, blocking the sun giving you the feeling of thunderstorm just around the corner, even though that never came. A slight edge of doomsday. Paired with the now more and more sparse surroundings; shorter, further spaced fir trees, dark grass and rolling rocky hills it really made for quite the epic and memorable experience that if not pushed past my limits would’ve made for an awesome day!

The timing of my two motorcyclist friends couldn’t have been better. We knew that we’d cross paths on the road again today, since there really only is one road further up north and so just as I was really starting to lose it, around five kilometers out of the camping I aimed for, they drove past me waving and pulling up on the side of the road for a little chat. Absolute legends! I hope you have save travels and a wonderful time! But yeah, that gave me the uplift to kill the last 5km as well and just crash at the camping there. Aaaaaand… The camping was closed. At that point I was really not doing well anymore, physically as well as mentally and as I used my phone to check my possibilities I got word of the passing of a friend. At that point I was 10km out of Saariselkä and I just booked a room at an inn there, the world being too much to handle right then and there. After a mentally just as painful last 10km as it was physically I crashed at the inn, sobbing and being done with the world for today. Mindfulness exercises in the sauna and a phone call with my sister as well as my parents were the best thing to fill the remainder of the day with.

Already back then, but even more so now, I’m torn looking back at this day. It was filled with milestones that make me incredibly happy and proud, having broken the 2000km mark and entered Inari, the last municipality I’ll be cycling through in Finland. But it was also filled with grief and incredible mental strain. I suppose it is a good reminder of life – never black and white and the best way to get through it is to laugh and celebrate every little fleck of white, no matter how dark it’s gotten around you.

Route: Sodankylä – Vuotso – Saariselkä
Distance covered: 131.69km
Total distance covered: 2119km

The last one of those I’ll be passing. All the more meaningful since Inari holds a very special place in my heart. More on that later.

Day 38

This was a very personal day. Spent mostly thinking and reordering things in my head. And resting my knee I suppose. I stayed in Saariselkä one more day. I’ll just focus on my impression of the little village. Because it is so worth talking about. I completely fell in love with this place. Located on what you could call the top of the “mountain pass” (as a Swiss guy I can’t help but smirk calling this 350m hill climb a mountain pass) it’s a winter resort. Visiting there in the summer is the best accident that could’ve happened. There was such a magical air to the place, like it was resting, in a deep sleep, recovering from the bustling winter days, waiting to bring people joy again over Christmas. Everything seemed slowed down. There were mostly locals and not a lot of them, the street lamps still had their Christmas lights strung onto them, everything advertised various winter activities, there were skilifts on the hills in the distance and all the winter cottages stood there, remnants of another time it felt like. And throughout that whole picture there would be the odd one or two reindeers with full antlers just calmly strolling across the streets and in between the cottages. One even put its snout into my window. It was like the whole world had slowed down, taking slow calm breaths. I’ve rarely felt that at peace and home somewhere. Saariselkä I think you stole my heart.

I took some photos on my phone but they fail to convey the true atmosphere and so I’d rather leave you with my description so you can paint your own picture in your head.

Day 39

What a day yet again. After a wonderful breakfast at the cozy restaurant of the inn, I set out again, knowing today would be special. The last full road day in Finland, the day I’d arrive in Inari. Now what’s so special about that? Well, Inari is the place of my dreams. It’s been the place I’d dream about when my mind would wander off, Inari was the beacon, the lighthouse of my stretch in Finland, knowing it would all lead there. Inari is true north, Inari has a place in my heart that no other spot on this planet has. And now I’ve made it. I can’t even begin to describe how proud and overjoyed I am. But let’s wind back a bit because the way here was already a dream and packed with memorable events, be it not all of them for reasons you would want. The road led me up the final few meters of elevation over the “mountain pass” and then came the most wonderful descent of the trip so far. Multiple kilometers of just letting it go, no force needed. Accompanied by a scenery that stayed true to what made me fall in love with Saariselkä. This land seemed to breathe slower than the rest of the world, seemed to be in a peaceful slumber. Soon this scenery, that is now me strongly connected to Lapland for me started to mix with what I’ve seen in lakeland further down south. Bodies of water wherever I’d look, mixing in with this sleeping beauty of a landscape, dotted with islands and rocks. But unlike what I saw in lakeland, these lakes just fit right in with the rest of the scenery, seemingly rippling at a slower pace than they should, more quiet, more tranquil. It felt like Finland wanted to give me a last, warm, long embrace before letting me leave for Norway and I can say without a doubt that today’s stretch has been the most magical and beautiful ride I’ve ever had. Not once did I feel so at peace and home on the road. I already know that my heart needs to go back to this area more than once in my life as I’ve left a piece of it there.

Now to the negatives, that today really get outshone by all the beautiful moments and feelings. But I feel they are worth mentioning anyway. There are mainly two. The extremely strong headwinds (technically the wind blows from northwest to southeast) with gusts that make it really hard to stay on your bike. Cycling becomes a whole less fun when you have to work to get downhill and when you almost can’t get up any hills anymore because even before the elevation hits, you’re already forced into a low second gear. And it becomes even less fun when a gust hits you so hard on a downhill that you crash and fall onto the side of your head. Which is what happened. Luckily I had long sleeves and trousers on due to the wind so I don’t have any flesh wounds but a few bruises and one hell of a ringing head. It was quite the shock and not too pleasant, not going to lie. But I was almost at Inari by then so after making sure I’ve got my wits together and am actually road ready I got back onto my bike thinking I’d might as well make use of the adrenaline and get there before it wears off and the pain gets worse. Turns out even without adrenaline the arrival in Inari is more than enough to brush over any physical pain. Very exhausted from all the cycling in the wind I made it to the church of Inari where, overwhelmed by a feeling of pride, joy and coming home, I started laughing, just admiring the fact I’m standing there, having made it all the way from the South in Helsinki to here with nothing more than my bicycle. Then I went to go into the church and was greeted by a sign saying free water and cookies. At that moment I don’t think there could’ve been a more pleasant sign there. It felt like even the church wanted to give me a warm welcome and congratulate me on my feat. In fact the stunning, simple but incredibly gorgeous inside of the church felt very much like what I always thought the function of a church should be. A humble home for everyone, providing kindness, comfort and support to anyone who needs it. And in that moment it provided me with exactly that.

Afterwards I wanted to go set up camp, just to get told that I can’t erect my tent today due to the gusts and so I just asked if I could get one of the small huts instead. But nope – they’re all occupied. So I have yet again landed in a hotel straining my budget. Quite bummed about that but I think today literally nothing could hamper my mood. I made it home, so far from home. It’s the most magical feeling I know.

Route: Saariselkä – Ivalo – Inari
Distance covered: 72.36km
Total distance covered: 2191.36km