Back in summer 2014 I would've not guessed how great of a story the becoming travel of mine would make, almost legendary if I dare to say. I went for a week long hiking trip to "Lapland" starting from Kilpisjärvi which is located far north, in the "arm of Finland" as we call it. The main attraction there is the Saana fell, part of the Scandinavian Mountains, which is over one kilometer above the sea level. Although the height from the root of it is only about 500 meters.
It was my first hike and additionally it was my first time being in Lapland
"The Flat Bark Beetle Himself" was soon to become the symbol of our trip
Where did he come from? Patience, everything will be revealed eventually.
It's almost 4 pm, the last double checks are made before the backpacks are loaded into the trunk of the bus. Last byes were said to our parents and after 16 hours we would arrive to our destination, Kilpisjärvi. This ment we were going against the night, which was best for time management, but it didn't reward my poor gifts in the noble sport of sleeping: it resulted me twisting around my seat, adjusting my body and even lying on the hallway (silly place but it was the most comfortable one since my body could be fully extended, shame it was too loud there) being in a hypnagogic limbo: not fully awake but not at sleep either.
Still, I love long bus road trips, they have a very atmospheric quality that I enjoy, especially when in a good and familiar company. Being so close with others for a such long time makes you know your companions at least a little better.
Day 1
After arriving to Kilpisjärvi we ate a strong meal from a buffet in the hiking center. Full of energy we left next to Saana and hiked along Kalotti route that would've lead to Halti mountain (tallest mountain in Finland: 1324 m, on Norway's side it goes up to 1361 m) if went for all the way. But our plan was to make a round instead.
The nature is untouched and the water so pure that one can take it from the stream and drink right away, just make sure there are no dead animals upstream.
First camp was set up next to Saarijärvi lake (camps and lunch brakes were always next to a water source to have an easy access to cooking water) that featured an unlocked hut free to use and a lavatory (luxury, I know). Setting up our tent was a nightmare because the place was swarming with mosquitos; the constant buzzing mad me so anxious I felt like doing some kind of a rain dance in order to shake them off (in retrospect, I have no idea why I didn't have some mosquito repellent since it was well known that Lapland is full of them).
On top of the mosquitos I dropped one of my sausages into a camp fire because the stick holding it was too thick tearing it apart. That really hit me hard for there was no way to rescue it and I had to watch it burn for nothing :(
I believe an ankle was also twisted on that day but fortunately everything started to run better after the first day.
Day 2
After gathering our packs we departed the Kalotti route and followed our leader...
On the way we came across reindeers that are a common source of livelihood in these latitudes, especially for the traditional Sami people. In some regions reindeer herding is legally protected to beeing allowed only for them.
Our Day 2 and Day 3 campsite. If you look closely you might see my friend next to the lake giving some perspective on the size of the hill.
Day 3
The camp stayed untouched and it was time for a rest, unless you wanted to go for a range. Volunteers including me packed only the necessary gear into two backpacks and left for a ten kilometer hike to Saivaara and naturally the same distance back to the camp.
"Up we go"
Saivaara is a fell like the name indicates: vaara which translates from Finnish to English as a fell or a hill
"Kekkonen was here"
Atop of the Saivaara we found this memento for Kekkonen who was the 8th president of Finland. It says: "This slab has been attached on 3rd of september 1980 on the president of republic [Finland] Urho Kalevala Kekkonen turning 80 years. Every spring since 1968 he has skied here on these mighty lands.
Can't argue, the lands are definitely mighty.
On the way back I noticed this thing above the water. No idea what it is but it looks like some kind of a nest.
On the way back a disaster was close to beeing happen: Walking, I suddenly felt my pocket; my phone was gone. Fortunately our brake was kept just a moment ago. We immediately returned and there it was: lying on the exact spot (HUGE relief) I had just sit down to relieve my legs. Lesson learned: Never keep your valuables in open thigh pockets, I would've lost my new phone with all its photos (including those in this post).
A moment after this entanglement, instead of feeling my phone on my thigh (I put it in a safer pocket) I felt an ache; I'm an eager bicycler but the repetetive nature of walking still seemed to get the best of from one of my quad muscles on my right thigh. Limping back to our camp I went straight collapsing into our tent being so tired I only came out to eat.
Luckily the next day the leg was back to normal and no harm was done.
Day 4
We left our two-day camping area behind and started to head towards Termisjärvi lake...
where we came soon after going down the valley.
Termisjärvi is also a lake that canoers can make a paddling through.
A frog that has a quite good camouflage.
"Come look there's a Norwegian lemming over there", my friend came to me. He didn't have his camera around but we still got in time so I got the little fella stored in my phone.
Day 5
We divided our group into a faster and a slower one depending on how quickly one wanted to progress to the next pit stop...
Getting closer back to the Saana.
I went along with the fast hikers and we arrived in good time to our next camp site with all the time in the world. Originally we planned to take a longer route but decided to take a short cut to ease those that might've had some injuries.
My friend taking it easy after our arrival to our destination of the day.
Another tent squad donated some food to us [my tent squad] they hadn't eaten and it felt like a feast where everybody is enjoying their time, eating their remaining goodies and anticipating the upcoming high point of our trip (literally): the Conquering of the Saana
But before we go into day 6 I'm going to tell about the mysterious shaman stick...
The origin story of Itse Härö (engl. The Flat Bark Beetle Himself)
Etymology behind the name
The guy responsible for creating our group identity. Can't blame us now when he is the one that looks like a weird ball
My friend, Otto, had the honor to be the carrier of Itse Härö
Credit to Rasmus who took the picture
The Finnish word härö [ˈhærø] doesn't have an equivalent word in English but the web dictionary says a "flat bark beetle" as a direct translation. The meaning behind the word is very much like weird or strange is in English. As the flat bark beetle really is a weird translation, I find it very much suitable for describing him.
As of where the name itself came from, huge credit must be given to our group leader; somewhere in the early stages of the hike we were walking in a very unorganized form, that our leader commented being like a weird ball or a "ball of flat bark beetles" (häröpallo where pallo is a ball).
And naturally from there the name was emerged, for it was to become the title for a figure manifesting the nature of our group.
How he was born
The Flat Bark Beetle Himself's early evolution on Day 2
From there on the symbolic value of The Flat Bark Beetle Himself was only to be strengthen with the discovery of additional bones, like back and jaw, that gave him an even more refined structure (or weirder, depends how you view it).
Now getting back to where we were left off...
Day 6
In the morning we fixed our last camp and hiked the last bit back to the Kilpisjärvi hiking center and prepared for the last climb.
Finally, the time for the last ride came, for him as well.
The height is 500 meters from the ground level but the way, mostly consisting of stairs, is still 4 kilometer long uphill.
A quick brake while taking a look at the Scandinavian Mountains.
Post trip
Now in 2017 at the same time while writing this I decided to do some research if I could find any trace of him. I had done the same thing already some time after the trip and I found at least one picture of Itse Härö on top of Saana from a random user on Instagram but I didn't save it and I couldn't find it anymore. But it was definitely taken close after we left him there.
So I google saana and shamanism and guess what turned up?
The Flat Bark Beetle Himself! Or at least what's left of him
The picture is on a Instagram account of @sallastn and it was taken 8th of August in 2015 so a full year after our trip. I'll definitely let her know about the story of the skull😄
Thank you for reading!
Thank you for reading!
Oh, btw that's me in the picture, had a long hair back then. Credit goes to Otto, the carrier of Itse Härö, aka. The Shaman(?), who took the picture.