King of the hill, on the border of UKK national park and Suomen Latu Kiilopää area in northern Finland.

Looking forward to these kind of views again. A sea of endless space and calmness, just being.
Also looking forward to running into some of these guys again, either standing tall regally or fleeing clumsily because ohmygosh-aaah! :) What a fascinating animal.
As I tried to take a picture of this particular reindeer, I followed it over the top of the hill, where it led me to a sort of hidden gorge. Well, 'hidden' is a big word. 'Gorge' is also a big word. But it was a large crack in the earth, not visible from the path, that I would have missed without my reindeer guide. On the bottom of the kuru was still some ice, dry like cardboard, Some startled partridges made their presence loud and clear. Big mossy rocks lined the crack, making it easy to climb down. It all felt so untouched, like I stepped into a world that had been isolated for ages. I know this is not the case, but the feeling is nice anyway.
Looking forward to all of this.
Patience...


#finland #suomi #suomenlatu #kiilopää #reindeer #lapland #lappi #tunturimaisema #inarisaariselkä #saariselkä #luonto #nature #naturephotography #hiking #retkeily

Some scenery from the Urho Kekkonen National Park, finnish Lapland

The UKK park is one of the biggest national parks in Finland. It's very open and accessible with entrances from many sides. But although it's also a very popular park, once you get away from the trailhead you can roam for hours and hours without running into anybody. With body = people, because no shortage of animals here: reindeer, plovers and kuukkelis galore. I've read there are bears and wolverines here too, but I've never run in to them. I haven't run into moose either, but I did see at least one heap of small chocolate easter eggs. Exhibit A :)

The landscape is a combination of old pine forest and treeless fjells intersected by rock gorges and small streams. Along the paths you can run into some old huts as well, as there was quite a bit of gold prospecting activity here in the beginning of the twentieth century. Actually, nearby at Laanila, there is still some small-scale prospecting going on.

I've been to this park many times now, but honestly, I like it best when the weather is shite. It adds some extra mystery to this magical pure fjell landscape. A bit of fog accentuating the depth of field, the soothing sound of raindrops falling in a fresh brook. This nature, with a sense of timelessness and a feeling of melancholy, it's just perfect..

#finland #suomi #urhokekkosenkansallispuisto #inari #saariselkä #lapland #lappi #finnishlapland #luonto #landscapephotography #tunturimaisema #moodyscenery #nature #hiking #luontokuvaus