keskiviikko 8. elokuuta 2012

My mission statement



Duckboards are evil (period, stop).

Ok, I do have a point here..

Traditional way of backpacking in Finland and I guess everywhere else also is to pick up your ultraheavy +25kg backpack with all the necessary items ( 2 rolls of toilet paper, three flanel shirts ,hilleberg tunnel tent, coffee pot, etc.) to make you feel secure. Walking along heavily stomped well marked trail to the next dedicated camping spot with toilets and firewood.

It's all very nice and I have also hiked this way but slowly I found out there's something lacking for me. Surely you are outdoors but walking along marked trails it's like walking in a museum, you are not in the woods or in the wilderness you are just passing by and looking at it. You are missing the essence of what backpacking means to me: Adventure!

So what if you feet gets wet, so what if you get lost for a while and so what if you spend a little chilly night. Bogs should be crossed jumping from dry spot to an another. Firewood should be gathered and not carried from the shed. Trails should be found and followed if they go to your way, then skipped and look for an another one.

To me backpacking is not about getting from a to b. It's about getting an adventure.

So what is wrong with duckbords? To me they kill the that sense of adventure in the wilderness. I want those white spots back to maps, HERE BE MONSTERS!

Ok I know trails and camping spots protect the nature by reducing erosion caused by the masses. And is it even possible to have adventures anymore? Well I think it is. I live in the capital of Finland, Helsinki just a stone throw away from the center and the most densely populated area of our country and I know it's possible to start a wilderness adventure right from my doorstep. In the future I'll try to share with you my views on how to make an outdoor life more interesting.

PLUS: Duckboards can be damn slippery!

3 kommenttia:

  1. Great posts so far and look forward to reading more. My Finnish is so lousy I'm not very good at finding out about good places to ride in Finland from Finnish sources, so you've already given me some new ideas - thanks very much! You may well have ridden it already, but if not - here's my report on riding the Seitsemän veljeksen vaellusreitti: http://lightfromthenorth.blogspot.fi/2011/06/bikepacking-7-brothers-hiking.html It's a fun trail by bike.

    VastaaPoista
  2. Hi, thanks for the comment! I' m quite excited there are people actually reading these. I haven't ridden seven brothers trail but I have read about. From your blog! There are already plans that the next trip might follow seven brothers trail atleast partially. There are nice trails and terrain around Nurmijärvi.

    VastaaPoista
  3. Peter from http://www.yetirides.com/ tweeted the link to your blog this morning, so I'm sure you will have a few new readers today. Keep up the good work - knowing people are reading gives you some incentive. :-) I haven't done any bikepacking this year, and I have just this week got my new cyclo-cross bike, so I really should do at least one over-nighter on the new bike before the weather turns to ice climbing weather. Maybe I'll try Hämeen järvilylänkö - I bought the Häme outdoor map on a family hiking trip to Torronsuo earlier this year, it has lots of possibilities on it.

    VastaaPoista