{"id":20954,"date":"2020-04-11T10:00:33","date_gmt":"2020-04-11T17:00:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/community.nrs.com\/?p=20954"},"modified":"2020-04-07T16:20:42","modified_gmt":"2020-04-07T23:20:42","slug":"69-degrees-north-paddling-holiday-land-of-midnight-sun","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/community.nrs.com\/duct-tape\/2020\/04\/11\/69-degrees-north-paddling-holiday-land-of-midnight-sun\/","title":{"rendered":"69 Degrees North: A Paddling Holiday in the Land of the Midnight Sun"},"content":{"rendered":"

As a landscape photographer, I\u2019m heavily drawn to remote and special places where you can feel the wild and almost untouched nature. That\u2019s why Finland, one of the northernmost parts of Europe, is perfect for a quick paddling holiday.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m lucky enough to have a wife who shares this passion for nature and the outdoors with me. Although we are quite new to paddling, we really enjoyed the slow feeling and soundless movement of a small boat right from the start. The combination of being out in nature for ten days without seeing a person, spending any money or sleeping in a proper bed, sounded just right to us. The wide-open water of Finland\u2019s Inarij\u00e4rvi with at least 3,500 wild islands and our well-loaded inflatable kayak blended together perfectly.<\/p>\n

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We spent our first night on the Ivalojoki River, which feeds into Lake Inari, camping on a beautiful sandbar with loads of reindeer hoof prints and temperatures just slightly above zero. In the morning, we loaded the kayak in the rain and started moving to get warm. After a few kilometres, the weather grew more pleasant and our mood enlightened, too. Continuing the trip on the eastern part of the lake, we discovered the first of many islands and enjoyed a coffee with a few pieces of chocolate we had packed.<\/p>\n

On day five, the wind picked up and Lake Inari showed us its wild side with quite impressive waves. The conditions forced us put in a lot of effort to make progress. And, suddenly, at probably the worst timing imaginable, a fish bit our dragging line. Trying to get it out of the water with our busted fishing rod was quite a challenge. Meanwhile, Conny had to keep the boat on track as I tried to find all I needed to take care of the fish. We had hopes to grill it for dinner at our next camp.<\/p>\n