Snowshoeing at Katkajärvi

 

What a marvelous day for a hike! When we began our journey to Katkajarvi (Lake Katka) by snow- mobile, I was a bit disappointed the salmon rim along the horizon was not so prominent as it had been the day before. 

Upon arriving at Katkajarvi, though, I looked up and saw a truly magnificent sight - a sky more blue than I had ever seen! Deep blue. Pristine blue. Primordial blue. Could this have been what the earth was like in ancient times?

The safari was billed as a snowshoe hike "in the middle of nowhere".  Save for a small farm village on the opposite bank of the lake, this was true.  

Katkajarvi is a lake south of Katka Fell. The only sign others had been there earlier were a few snowmobile tracks followed closely by animal tracks.  Later we met the makers of these tracks - a resident of the village across the lake who was running his dog the easy way!

We made our hike into the surrounding forests on a ski trail. This was my first real excursion into the Arctic wilderness.  

Slender firs laden with snow anchored the lacy branches of a coppice forest.  The low mid-day sun skimmed the tops of the tallest trees.   We walked in the shadows at the forest floor while the bright day and brilliant blue sky provided a canopy of light overhead.

We hiked for what seemed only a few minutes and a few hundred meters before turning back, but upon checking a map it turned out to be four kilometers. Another example of how time becomes timeless in the Arctic. 

Gallery of a snowshoe hike in Lapland

Place cursor over thumbnails below to see more images of the hike.