2 weeks in laponia the next summer

[jacob karhu]

Hi Bushmen,

Time for me to hike towards the north !

I'm preparing a bushcraft trip with a friend during the next summer, from the 15 to the 31st of July.

We have chosen a nationnal Park, called Muddus, above the polar circle.

12718

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/06/Muddus_national_park_topographic_map-fr.svg/489px-Muddus_national_park_topographic_map-fr.svg.png

We plan to meet together on Paris, then take the plane to Stockholm and finally to Galivare (350€ for the total fly). A small town at 20km from the National Park. We'll continue by feet or by hitch-hiking.

About the park : It is 51,000hec, very flat on the centre and have many wetlands, even have waterfall on south, virgin forest included birch and pines, great fauna such as bears, wolverine, elk, deer, and lynx.
At this period of the year, temperatures are always above 7° (including at night) and the dark is only 4h long !








THEME
GEAR
WEIGHT (grammes)







Hydratation
Nalgene
200 (+2000 for the water)



SAWYER water purification
100







Cooking
Zebra billy can 1.5L
400



metallic mug
100



Ikea woodstove
200



waterproof bag and hanging rope
200



food supplies*
8500







Sleeping
Sleeping bag -3°limit comfort
800



bivy bag
300



mattress
300



3x3m tarp
500







Clothes
Wollen jacket
800



poncho
200



2 x tee-shirts
150



3x underwear
400



trouser



Other
Solar pannel
200



Gopro 3+ and gorillad pod
200



fishing gear
400



axe
300



headtorches
50



smartphone
50



soap and toothbrush
20



maps plasticised
20



rucksack
2000



medical kit
300












TOTAL

13-14kg by sharing some items




* food supplies for 2 persons : semolina, fat, flour, peas, rice, pasta, instant mashed potato, oat flakes, dehydrated meat, salt, sugar, spices.




So, i'll booked plane tickets soon, and be ready for the rest of preparation :)

If you have any suggestion, or have contacts in Lapland, please tell me !

Thanks for reading

[bopdude]

Sounds like a great trip, if there are to be large carnivorous animals in the area what are your plans for protection ?

[saxonaxe]

Looks like it could be an interesting trip Jacob. You're going early in the year so the usual problem with Midges may not affect you too much. Sometimes in low Arctic areas, depending on weather conditions, the problem with Midge/Mosquitoes can alter from year to year. I would take some decent repellant and at least a head net anyway, not too much extra weight to carry and may prove a wise move..http://smileys.on-my-web.com/repository/Animals/wasp-2.gif.......:)

[FishyFolk]

You are kitted out for a summer trip. Do you realise that in late april, it is still full winter up here?

Not that far from me that. At that time of year I hope you plan to be on cross country skis. The snow will still be deep, and dead rotten as the snow melt has started. As for fishing gear...you will need to add an ice drill, to poke a hole in the ice, that will be about a meter thick if not more.

I do not see any water proofs / wind proofs (gore-tex). You may have anything from torrential rain to blizards and up to a meter of snowfall in a day. Also on the lakes, (you will not know if you are on a lake or on a bog) you will need ice picks for safety. Stay away from ANY hill...but if you must, stay on top the ridges. and do not camp at the bottom of a hill, or on a hillside.

Anyway, here is a video of pictures from that area in april to give you the idea what the conditions may be.

So get a better sleeping bag too. -3 comfort is a summer bag, you will be in winter conditions. I would bring a larger tarp too. And a snow spade is a must. I repeat: bring a spade. You will need an exptra pair of trousers. Actually all you gear will be be soaking wet from the snow. If any of your clothes so much as touch snow, it will be wet. The snow will be like a wet sponge.

Actually I'll give you a reomedation for a kit list...it's easier...



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D52GZJmPaAM

[FishyFolk]

Clothes
Jacket and trousers (wind proof)
Wool underwear + extra shift
Socks with lots of wool + extra shift
Fleece jacket of wool sweater
Hat + balaklava
Wind proof over mittens (wind proof) og and inner mittens of wool (ull) + ekstra shift
Skiboots (BC/75mm)
Gaiters
Insulated down jacket or thik middle layer to keep warm during breaks.

Kit:
Back country skis and poles
Large enough rucksack
Water proof pack bag that fits inside the rucksack
Wind sack( survival bag/ Jerven bag)
Spade/ shovel
4 season sleeping bag
Sleeping mat
First aid kit with Compeed for blisters
Toiletries
Toilet paper
Alpine goggles
Sun glasses and sun cream!!!
Map, compass in case
Multi tool
Matches/lighters/ fire steels
Head torch
Thermos
Food
Ski wax
Cooking kit
Knife
Axe
Saw
Cooking kit


For extra safety you may bring
GPS
Fully charged mobile phone (bring and extra, cheap one)
Search pole (for finding your friends body after the avalanche)
SPOT

[saxonaxe]

:shocked: Eeek! Forget about Midges Jacob...listen to Rune...:D :D

[FishyFolk]

This is a video of me, trying to go for a walk on foot in my local woods. I am tad further north of where you will be, but in warmer climate on the coast of Norway...But conditions you will see will be worse when it comes to rotten snow.

The video is made on the 28th of april. Pay attention to what happens to me at 4:20


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kj7U2yTVKlk&list=UU9FgRZL78CerC9y9ql6HAug

[Dreward]

Great educational video, Rune...When in Rome do as the Norwegians do...!

[jacob karhu]

@bopdude,
Carnivorous animals are often afraid by humans. We will be really fortunately if we have the chance to observe a bear !
Nevertheless, we'll take some measures : hanging our food supplies every nights, never keep a snack with you during sleeping, be noisy, don't surprise an animal, etc ...

I'll be more anxious about little carnivorous animals, that is to say : mosquito and midges !




@saxonaxe
indeed, I forgot to mention the repellent !
I ever have a mosquito net since my last expedition in Canada. So i know what it is to be invade by midges :guns:





@Fishyfolks,

I'm sorry for the mistake and all the long answer you wrote but i was wrong on the month ..... :Sorry:

I would mean : From the 15 to the 31st of JULY. ........

However, nice vids :)

[FishyFolk]

In that case...leave the skis at home, bring gore-tex, you may have anything from torrential rain for 2 weeks to 35 celcius in the shade...and there will be midges.

else: Bon voyage :-)

[happybonzo]

@bopdude,
Carnivorous animals are often afraid by humans.


- that's what we were told... during the night I had an "interesting" dream featuring the ever-lovely Mrs B. I was even aware of her sensuous Greggs-trained body pushing against my back...

In the morning, we found the tracks of a Wolverine that had been pressing against the tent :)

happy days ...

[midas]

[QUOTE=jacob karhu;123693]@bopdude,
Carnivorous animals are often afraid by humans. We will be really fortunately if we have the chance to observe a bear !
Nevertheless, we'll take some measures : hanging our food supplies every nights, never keep a snack with you during sleeping, be noisy, don't surprise an animal, etc ...

and keep your Rifle or shotgun,handy n loaded.BEWARE THE BEAR!!(They are not cute n cuddley)
Be most careful if you observe a young bear that looks alone..Mummy will not be far away!!

[FishyFolk]

[QUOTE=jacob karhu;123693]@bopdude,
Carnivorous animals are often afraid by humans. We will be really fortunately if we have the chance to observe a bear !
Nevertheless, we'll take some measures : hanging our food supplies every nights, never keep a snack with you during sleeping, be noisy, don't surprise an animal, etc ...

and keep your Rifle or shotgun,handy n loaded.BEWARE THE BEAR!!(They are not cute n cuddley)
Be most careful if you observe a young bear that looks alone..Mummy will not be far away!!

If someone spots him with a rifle in a national park in July, he better be ready to come up with a very good explanation for it...and the presence of bears does not meet the cut :-)
Actually...the only people that get attacked by bears seem to be those that are armed. As every attackk report I have ever seen has been a hunter (and sadly the bear) as victim...

[jacob karhu]

@happybonzo,

I forgot to mentionned that Wolverine is one of the less afraid by human. Also call the Devil, he'll not hesitate to steal your food even if you are next to, or to track you during miles and miles. But they are fewer and fewer wolverine in the world, that's give us little bit more luckyness ...


@FishyFolk,

I agree with you, it's risqiuer for my friend and I to take a gun than bringing anything, cause no one of us know how to use it properly ! No permit, no knowledge, heavy, no question to carry one.

[OakAshandThorn]

[QUOTE=jacob karhu;123693]@bopdude,
Carnivorous animals are often afraid by humans. We will be really fortunately if we have the chance to observe a bear !
Nevertheless, we'll take some measures : hanging our food supplies every nights, never keep a snack with you during sleeping, be noisy, don't surprise an animal, etc ...

and keep your Rifle or shotgun,handy n loaded.BEWARE THE BEAR!!(They are not cute n cuddley)
Be most careful if you observe a young bear that looks alone..Mummy will not be far away!!
Coyotes here have been known to come a little too close for comfort around a camp at night, 'course it helps a lot if you set up far from a den and don't cook any meats over a fire, otherwise you'll have uninvited guests for dinner :p. Yogie bear and Booboo will leave you alone, provided you keep the food tied up in a bear bag. Yes, indeed....Stars have mercy on he who gets too close to a cub, for mom will be nearby and shred you to pieces. :eek:

T^ Great advice, Rune - always best to get guidance from someone who is familiar with the region ;).

[FishyFolk]

It so happens that this is one of the few areas left where there are wolverines. You may also encounter Lynx. But I doubt you will meet either of the two in summer. Plenty of small game for them to snack on and they avoid people. It's newspaper headlines when people have seen any of the predators, bear, wolf, lynx and wolverine.

I would vorry more about the most dangerous animal of them all...for humans that is...the moose. Wolf there is no record of wolf ever having hurt anyone up here. Bear sometimes will charge a hunter that unwittingly comes to close. Lynx and wolverine...never happened. But people get attacked by moose very year :-)
Unless you have very good tree climbing skills, and are prepared to stay up there for a day or two, do not find yourself between the moose cow and her calf!
If you see a moose, just stand still. Do not walk towards it. It will spot you and if you are looky it will stand there and look at you before it walks away. If it starts to stamp it's feet and snort, you walk away...but keep an eye on it while doing so. Because that will be half a ton of meat and muscle chrarging you.

It's not the horn you will have to worry about. It will kick you. And one kick in the head will snap you neck!

[jacob karhu]

But I doubt you will meet either of the two in summer.
Pefect ! At least not for being stolen ...
However, I hope to observe other great animals, symbols of Lapland.


Unless you have very good tree climbing skills, and are prepared to stay up there for a day or two

lol, I didn't imagine that ! But yes, we are good at this skills ^^

Thanks for the advice, I thought moose were totally pacific :camping: