Late fall S24O to Marttila

Peter contacted me about doing an overnighter. And, it's been a long time since I was at the Wilderness of Marttila. A plan was ready.

This fall has been almost exceptionally nice. Not much rain and very beautiful 'ruska', actually so beautiful in Southern Finland standards that it was on par with Lapland. It's gone now, because in the end of the week strong northerly wind and rain played their part. But the weather cleared and co-operated nicely for our little adventure. Subzero temperatures were forecasted and even a possibility of little snow.

Peter decided to do a longer ride and rode from his home, in preparation for the forthcoming Mammoth March Impossible. We departed from my home around 7PM.

My rig in the darkness. This time I was testing a new Thermarest sleeping pad too:

It was also a full moon:

We took the more familiar road route to Marttila.

As we arrived at Marttila, we were confronted with the duckboards that were in very bad condition.

There were not many sections that were ridable, and the battery of my helmet light died just when we moved to the trails. I didn't charge it prior to this outing as I reckoned that it would last.

As we arrived at the Onnenperänrahka shelter, Peter started the fire, and I did more firewood.

We were hungry and toasted delicious sandwiches:

It was a very nice evening.

Just before going to sleep, some snowflakes came down:

Going to sleep is definitely one of my favourite moments on overnighters, as the sound of campfire creates enjoyable feeling. This time I had a dry long sleeve shirt with me and I slept fairly well.

In the morning:

Peter did proper pot coffee for us:

My breakfast: coffee, a sandwich and porridge:

After the breakfast, a photography session followed.

We decided to take the same route back home:

Peter giving his best:

The nightly snowfall was very minor, and officially it can't be rated as first snow, but it's a clear sign the the winter is near.

At home, the snow was in the form of hail:

Thanks Peter for a great outing! The weather forecast is looking for warmer weather and rain in the end of next week. Hopefully the forecast fails, at least with the rain, as we have that sufferfest on our program: the Mammoth March.