Events aligned in a fortunate way yesterday. I will be out guiding on my first paid gig as a wilderness guide starting on Sunday for a whole week, returning to the beautiful
Hossa Hiking Area where I spent two weeks earlier this year during the winter.
The last time I was in Hossa, there was plenty of ice and snow around.
It was on pretty short notice - a text message yesterday afternoon asking me if I could jump in and guide a tour, starting this coming Sunday, for a whole week. A call to my wife, a look at the programme, a call to Urpo at
Upitrek, another call to my wife, and it was settled - I will be going Sunday up north to guide for Upitrek for a whole week! I was a bit skeptical, as I have
a bunch of
work cut out for me at the moment, but after my wife encouraged me, I decided to go. A chance like this doesn't come along that often, so better take them when they appear! It is also a splendid opportunity to practice my guiding skills, and make these important connections in the very small guiding business circles in Finland.
Weather-wise I hope it is a bit better than this longterm forecasts predicts.
The tour I will be guiding will operate with a base camp, and small excursions in the surroundings of the Hossa Hiking Area will take place every day. Hiking, canoeing, a visit to a reindeer farm, bear watching and visiting 4000 year old rock paintings are on the itinerary, together with a warm Sauna (and swimming!) each evening. It will be quite the opposite to sitting in a office in downtown Helsinki, where I am this week.
Best of all: I will be camping the whole week out under my new
Gossamer Gear CubicTwinn and be sleeping in my new
BPL Vapr bivy! As the weather will be wet but warm, I reckon the BPL Cocoon 240 quilt will be what I take, and I also will bring my
tenkara fly fishing gear along - Hossa is a popular fishing destination, and I wasn't able to go out fishing a lot yet this year. Maybe even try
a new stove? Oh, and while I will be "roughing it" outside in bivy and tarp, the guests will sleep in a beautiful log cabin. Probably they more comfortable and smart way, looking at the weather forecast =)
As you might guess, I am pretty excited about this! Being outdoors with guests, showing them the beauty of the Finnish forests and lakes which I love so much, is what I set out to do as I did the Wilderness Guide education. Most of all I am very proud and happy that my wife actually encouraged me to go - Kiitos rakkani!
So, there will be some radio silence here while I am out, obviously. You always can browse past trip reports and articles, or take a peak at my
Youtube and
Vimeo videos. Or, a really extreme proposition: You could go out hiking yourself ;)
Happy trails!
Events aligned in a fortunate way yesterday. I will be out guiding on my first paid gig as a wilderness guide starting on Sunday for a whole week, returning to the beautiful
Hossa Hiking Area where I spent two weeks earlier this year during the winter.
The last time I was in Hossa, there was plenty of ice and snow around.
It was on pretty short notice - a text message yesterday afternoon asking me if I could jump in and guide a tour, starting this coming Sunday, for a whole week. A call to my wife, a look at the programme, a call to Urpo at
Upitrek, another call to my wife, and it was settled - I will be going Sunday up north to guide for Upitrek for a whole week! I was a bit skeptical, as I have
a bunch of
work cut out for me at the moment, but after my wife encouraged me, I decided to go. A chance like this doesn't come along that often, so better take them when they appear! It is also a splendid opportunity to practice my guiding skills, and make these important connections in the very small guiding business circles in Finland.
Weather-wise I hope it is a bit better than this longterm forecasts predicts.
The tour I will be guiding will operate with a base camp, and small excursions in the surroundings of the Hossa Hiking Area will take place every day. Hiking, canoeing, a visit to a reindeer farm, bear watching and visiting 4000 year old rock paintings are on the itinerary, together with a warm Sauna (and swimming!) each evening. It will be quite the opposite to sitting in a office in downtown Helsinki, where I am this week.
Best of all: I will be camping the whole week out under my new
Gossamer Gear CubicTwinn and be sleeping in my new
BPL Vapr bivy! As the weather will be wet but warm, I reckon the BPL Cocoon 240 quilt will be what I take, and I also will bring my
tenkara fly fishing gear along - Hossa is a popular fishing destination, and I wasn't able to go out fishing a lot yet this year. Maybe even try
a new stove? Oh, and while I will be "roughing it" outside in bivy and tarp, the guests will sleep in a beautiful log cabin. Probably they more comfortable and smart way, looking at the weather forecast =)
As you might guess, I am pretty excited about this! Being outdoors with guests, showing them the beauty of the Finnish forests and lakes which I love so much, is what I set out to do as I did the Wilderness Guide education. Most of all I am very proud and happy that my wife actually encouraged me to go - Kiitos rakkani!
So, there will be some radio silence here while I am out, obviously. You always can browse past trip reports and articles, or take a peak at my
Youtube and
Vimeo videos. Or, a really extreme proposition: You could go out hiking yourself ;)
Happy trails!
Wilderness Guiding
Congrats. Best of luck.
ReplyDeleteHey if u need some bushcraft related things to do while guiding,hit me up :).
ReplyDeleteGood luck and have fun!
ReplyDeleteAll that training is paying off for you. Well done and have a fantastic trip.
ReplyDeleteBet you're nervous, good luck and hope the weather gurus are wrong yet once more. :)
ReplyDeleteWhat a way to make a livin'! Best of luck to you chief.
ReplyDeleteHave fun out there, and get that network going!
ReplyDeleteHmmm, your lady was always referred to as your "fiancée" or something similar before. Now referred to as wife.
Somethings changed? Are congratulations in order?
/ Karl
Hendrik, Have a great trip. The weather forecast looks similar to the NW of Scotland where I am at the moment. The weather won't dampen my spirits the scenery makes up for it !!
ReplyDeleteCouldn't think of another person I'd look to for a guide in Finland. Can't wait to hear the details.
ReplyDeleteThanks JGG - I had a blast!
ReplyDeleteWe had no time for bushcrafty things to do - next time!
ReplyDeleteBedankt! How was your five weeks up here?
ReplyDeleteThank you Martin, had a good time with very nice clients!
ReplyDeleteThe weather gurus were only slightly wrong, much to our happiness! Was indeed a bit nervous about the paddling, though it and everything else went very well.
ReplyDeleteGracias Don Newton!
ReplyDeleteThank you Karl!
ReplyDeleteYes, things changed in July and I increased my basweight by nine gram, carried around my ring finger =)
I hope the weather was kind to you, Mark - we had only a few wet days, which we enjoyed, though - it adds a bit of extra adventure and one has a good reason to go to the sauna =)
ReplyDeleteThanks George! Shall have a short post on it this week =)
ReplyDelete