Hi,
Thank you for the many encouragements and comments. They are appreciated and I will try to return to them at a better time.
Now that supper has been eaten and peppermint tea is brewing in a foldacup, I could say a few words about the opening moments of the trip.
On Saturday, Heidi and I drove via CustomSki outlet in Lahti to pick up an antifreeze spray for my trip. Despite the rush, Esa had time to serve and filled a plastic bag with the necessary items, partly in the spirit of support. Thanks for these again.
On Sunday, when we made our way from the hotel in Lappeenranta to the starting point in Virolahti, the weather was fine and clear. The cold wind was blowing and I had to begin my journey after a quick goodbye. The icy roads were, of course, appropriately covered in crushed stone, which grinded on the bottom of the skis and toboggan when crossing the village roads and skiing on the roadside.
The day is short, and when you start halfway through, you can suddenly start looking for a place for camping. Before that, I had a dicussion with the border patrol I met about the rules of the game, the equipment and where I am from. From Seinäjoki. Not the center of the city but from the countryside. I don’t know if I got their approval, but at least a business card for reporting my plans to the central control room of the Southeastern border patrol.
Decent and professional staff. Inspires confidence.
The pull-up harness with a backpack I ordered from Pekka Pasanen works great and the toboggan, which is also from his previous collection, works well. I have already hinted to him about ordering a new model, perhaps even sooner than later. Pekka’s Somaspulkka (name of the toboggan) follows its leader well and I have a precise feel for it all the time, and it doesn’t fall over easily.
The weather conditions over the last few days have been tough. There’s no point in taking a short cut across a field or to a driving track closer to the border zone. With quarries, hills, and thickets it’s impossible to ski there pulling a heavy toboggan with 3 metre skis. You can’t really get there even with normal shoes on. As the border patrol officer said, ”a great idea in itself.” Let’s follow the route to the level courage and fitness permits.
There has been a need to recondition some of the equipment. On Tuesday, I noticed that one of the ski’s another skin strip had fallen. Fortunately, Jorma made it to the place along the route, bringing screws to make sure the rest stayed. Thank you to Jorma also for taking the excess weight, which I then get as top up supplies on a rest day.
Yesterday, when I came to the shore of the lake, I turned too tightly from the border zone and one of the drawbars broke. Fortunately, I had a spare ski pole from Antti with me, so I was able to splint the broken spot with it. The day past by doing all sorts of repairs like fixing the drawbar, cleaning and lubricating the bottoms of the skis and toboggan and cutting part of the skin from the climbing skins to replace the skin that had come off earlier.
The weather was difficult even today. It sounds like it’s snowing slush.
Excursion routine tip: Put a pack of wet wipes between the camping mattress and the sleeping bag to thaw for the morning toilet trip.
-Jukka
