Finding the Coordinates of Nature

In paid collaboration with - Ruka-Kuusamo Matkailu ry - Gateway to Land of National Parks -project

The coordinates of nature lead us to Ruka- Kuusamo at the beginning of this summer!

I have always thought that the key for a successful summer trip is a combination of rich nature, local food, fun activities and relaxation. Ruka-Kuusamo area is the perfect combination of these all, offering a great variety of services and activities regardless the season you decide to go for a visit.

Time of the visit: Mid June Weather: Sunny/Rainy/Cloudy Temperature: +12 - +15 Length of stay: 5 days

We started our trip cruising around Ruka with e-bikes.  The diverse repertory of trails allowed us to enjoy the beautiful landscapes around us.  We made our way to the top of the ski hill, which was fun with the e-bikes. For those who love biking, you may want to know that `Ruka Bike Park´ will be completely ready during autumn 2021.

More on the Bike Park here!

We continued enjoying Ruka-Kuusamo while fishing in the beautiful and peaceful Kuusinkiriver on a guided fly fishing tour. I had been wanting to visit this river for a while.

Our awesome guide Mika showed us around and it only took us a minute to land the first fish. It can be easy when you’re with a local professional! After fishing for a while, little rain shower forced us to come out of the water for a bit to to enjoy a quick lunch by the fire. Definitely a memorable experience!

More on Mika’s guiding services here!

After a fun day fishing we rushed to Isokenkäisten Klubi, where a nice gourmet meal was waiting for us. Our dinner was served in a traditional Lappish hut ”Kota”, where we got to enjoy local delicacies and some of their own secret recipes! I could have stolen their “carrot caviar” recipe… It was amazing! One of the most exciting food experiences I’ve ever had!

And of course, what would a day be without a sauna? Isokenkäisten Klubi is located by a lake, so it was super nice to take a dip after their wonderful smoke sauna!

More about Isokenkäisten Klubi

Overnight canoeing trip at Oulanka National Park was our next activity. 25 kilometers of diverse nature with unique forests and beautiful sandy shores provide a perfect setting for an amazing canoe trip. Kiutaköngäs-Jäkälämutka section of Oulankariver is good even for beginners and can be done in one day. However, we decided to divide the trip into two days and camp overnight in Nurmisaarenniemi in our tent.

Our adventure began with soft rain and ended with a beautiful foggy sunset. We were the only ones at Nurmisaarenniemi until the sunset and it was a good place to stay with designated place for a campfire with wood service. We woke up to a beautiful sunny morning and got to enjoy nice weather throughout the whole way out to Jäkälämutka.

Our canoes and transfer was organised by Rukapalvelu.

Last but not least, we decided to go for a morning hike to Konttainen. The hike takes about 15-25 minutes from the parking lot and gives you amazing views from the top. A few other of my favorite little day hikes in Ruka-Kuusamo area are Valtavaara, Pyhävaara and Riisitunturi.

Ruka has definitely fascinated us and we cannot wait go back soon!

Google maps spotting

I had seen this weird looking place on Google Maps a long time ago. Now I had my camera with me and I decided to go and check this place out. Me and our friend Jolle took a tram and made it to Kallio, where this courtyard is located. We got in and it actually ended up looking better than on the satellite images I had seen.

Another cool little place that I didn't know existed in Helsinki. "Kallion tuubi" was found.

-Daniel

#Kaamos2015 - Ylläs

We did a cool cooperation with Visit Ylläs and Visit Finland to promote Ylläs and Finnish Lapland. We were able to invite six of our favorite Instagrammers from around the world for an unforgettable stay in Ylläs ski resort.

Visit Ylläs and the local companies surpassed all of our expectations as they had organized four awesome days filled with fun activities.

After talking on instagram for a long time, we were finally able to pick up the crew from the airport and meet face to face. Everyone was super excited about the trip. We took the guys to our beautiful villa, Eriklinna, to drop of their luggage. We didn’t spend too much time settling in as we were so eager to explore and take some photos in the nice weather we had. Snow Fun Safaris provided us with snowshoes for the whole stay in Ylläs, which was awesome as snowshoes are a must to get around in the deep snow. 

Jounin Kauppa provided us with the breakfast in the villa. We started hiking up from the scenic route of Ylläs. Unfortunately we didn't make it all the way to the top of the hill, but it was a lot of fun and besides, we got to see a beautiful sunset. After hiking it was time to show our guests some Finnish traditions back at the villa. We heated up the sauna and made sure that everyone jumped into the snow as well. It was a lot of fun and it was cool to see how the first timers handled it.

Next day we woke up to a windy and snowy weather, which was a nice change to the day before. We started the day with a presentation about Ylläs ski resort and the national park at the Visitor Center Kellokas. After the presentation, with new knowledge about the area, we headed out to the woods to explore and take some photos. The guys were excited about the new snow that was slowly falling down from the sky. In the evening we went to a sauna again, this time by the lake, where we also were able to try ice swimming. This was a fun experience for the guys!

Tuesday started of with a tour around the Snow Village close to Ylläs. It was crazy to see this big complex totally built out of snow! There were many hotel rooms for rent and an ice bar inside. Make sure to check it out if you are heading to Ylläs! In the afternoon we had a fun snowmobile safari with our awesome guide Pekka from Kylmämaa Tours. It was something different to ride deep in to the woods where we were all overwhelmed by the beauty of the nature that we got to ride through. At the end of the safari, Pekka took us to their kota (goahti) to warm up and have some coffee and cinnamon buns. This was one of the most memorable moments of the trip as we sat down and enjoyed the treats by the fire in the dark goahti. For the dinner we headed to Pihvikeisari to enjoy delicious Finnish treats.

On our last scheduled action day we all went for a husky safari with Rami’s huskies. It was once again such a memorable moment for all of us, and we were also able to capture some amazing pictures. After all that we headed up to the ski resort and took the gondola up to the top. There was a VIP-sauna with an outdoor jacuzzi waiting for us. That in itself was an amazing experience and we really enjoyed it, but that wasn’t all. They had heated up the world's only gondola-sauna for us! We took turns and went up and down the ski hill in the gondola-sauna! To finish this perfect adventure we were treated a nice dinner on top of the fell in a restaurant called Ylläskammi 718 with the whole Ylläs crew.

The whole trip was a successful collaboration with Ylläs Ski Resort's marketing team and all the great local service providers in the area.

You will find more amazing photos of the trip under the hashtag #kaamos2015.

The Insta Crew: @markclinton, @hirozzzz, @hannes_becker, @kpunkka, @jordanherschel, @kdkuiper and @scottborrero