The last push of the week: Pirunkurun ponnistus trail – Pallas-Yllästunturi National Park

Pirunkurun ponnistus

• Route: Kesänkijärvi carpark – Kesänkijärvi lean-to junction – Pirunkuru – Tahkokuru hut – Kesänkijärventie – Kesänkijärvi carpark
• Length: 8.1 km
• Intermediate
• Terrain: varied, from a flat shore to a steep, rocky ascent to the highest point, a rocky path on a fell with a descent to a hut, partly steep, wide path and easy descent from the hut to the starting point. Mixed forest, open fell, old pine forest, mixed forest.
• Kesänkijärvi carpark on the map

When I arrive in Äkäslompolo, a beautiful summer day that started sunny, but windy, turns rainy. The rain continues when I park my car in the carpark of Kesänkijärvi. So, I decide to eat my lunch in the car, while staring at the raindrops running down the windscreen. 

While enjoying a tasty baguette, I wonder whether I should walk the six-kilometre Kesänkijärvi trail or climb up to Kesänki fell along the Pirunkurun ponnistus trail. Would I have time to walk the more demanding 8.1-kilometre route at an easy pace and eat before driving to Kolari railway station to catch the car-train back south?

In light rain, I get out of my car and start walking the Kesänkijärvi trail. Both routes follow the same path, so I don’t have to decide yet whether to take the easy path around the lake or head towards the open upland of the fells. 

Dark, slowly moving clouds still hang on top of Yllästunturi. As I walk along the wide, flat path towards the Kesänkijärvi lean-to, the rain stops. Between the trees, on the right side of the path, there is a view of the lake. On the opposite shore rises the beautiful, round-capped Kellostapuli. Behind it, is Yllästunturi with its ski slopes.

Rain-soaked undergrowth, glowing a fresh green, lines the path. Sunlight peeping through the clouds emphasizes the freshness of early summer in the forest. As I walk deeper into the forest, I feel my energy growing. With each step, the stiffness and rigidity of the two-hour drive drains from my legs.

I arrive at the crossroads. The Kesänkijärvi trail continues to the right, on the left Kesänki fell peeks through the trees. It entices, seduces, begs me to turn left to climb up. In my head, I calculate how many hours it would take to complete the trail. I know it will take longer than the three hours estimated by Metsähallitus. I look up the slope feeling a strong tug. 

My legs lead to the left; my body follows them. The ascent is gentle at first, getting steeper as the forest thins out and shrubs bordering the path fade away. I stop to examine the horn lichen growing under a fallen tree. Its twisting towers rise from a stone, leaning against each other, uncertain of the direction they want to grow.

I rise up. A shale gully, filled with flat stones and rocks, opens in front of me – Pirunkuru. The sky greys, raindrops hit my face. I put on my raincoat. It is not quite a “Stairway to Heaven” but the gorge seems to reach for the sky. I take a deep breath, look for sturdy stepping stones and start climbing along the gully.

The climb is steep, the ground uneven and unstable. My ankles twist from side to side. My knees counterbalance the movement; my thighs and calves push me forward. Getting out of breath I carry on, then stop, turning to look behind me. Kellostapuli peaks between the tree canopies.

I keep climbing. The rain stops, the sun begins to shine. The rocky gorge widens. I stop to catch my breath turning again to take in the stunning scenery of Kellostapuli and Kesänkijärvi. I take off my raincoat and let my sweaty shirt dry in the wind.

Gradually, I approach the upper end of the gorge, where a lonely pine tree grows on the rocky slope. It is only a couple of metres tall but is many more years older. The path winds between low-growing juniper bushes. At the tips of the branches, new male flowers will soon break out of their protecting buds to release their pollen into the wind. On one of the buds, I see a smiling face, as if it is eagerly awaiting the upcoming event.

At last, I rise over the top of the gorge. A vast upland landscape opens before my eyes. Fells on the right, in front and on the left welcome me to the highlands. I shout with happiness. After a break of a couple of years, I’m standing once again in the middle of the fells of Lapland. I smile, laugh, spin around. In an instant, I notice how much I have missed the open fell landscape. Surprisingly, that two-year break now feels much longer.

I let the wind blow through my hair, wrap around my body. Space, freshness, dryness, sunlight, all at the same time. The simple beauty and bareness of the emptiness revive my mind. I’m happy!

On the right rises Lainiotunturi, in front of me a line of fells continues north to Pallastunturi. I stay for a while to enjoy the rugged beauty of Lapland. Clouds move quickly in the sky, painting the fells with their shadows. I follow them, wait for the right moment, press the shutter button. The image is saved to the memory card. 

The nearby terrain is dominated by rocks, with yellow map lichen growing on almost every one of them. I try to make out the map of Kesänkitunturi on the surface of one of the rocks but all I can see is the beauty of the yellow-black spotted lichen. 

Suddenly, amongst the rocky terrain, a short-growing spruce spreads out to the sides like a small Tapio-table. Wind and frost have combined to prevent it from growing tall. Despite them, the spruce perseveres and thrives in its open habitat.

While wandering on the open fells and enjoying the shapes and patterns there, I realise that I have strayed from the marked route. As soon as I climbed the fell, the scenery took my attention, and I stopped looking out for the marker posts. I descend across the north slope back to the marked path.

As I descend, crowberry, alpine bearberry and short-growing bilberry bushes cover the bare rocks with their green blanket. Spruce trees grow among the small mountain birches. Gradually, I reach Tahkokuru hut, where I rest my legs. I follow the activities of a green hairstreak butterfly as it flies from one bilberry flower to another. It lingers on each flower only for a moment, then moves on to the next. I wait. When the butterfly stops to drink nectar from one of the flowers, I snap a photo before it flies off again.

The wider trail starting from Tahkokuru hut is also a mountain bike trail that descends gently down the fell slope. On a flat gravel path, I don’t have to look at where I place my feet. My ankles can rest but for once, my neck muscles get to do more work, as I look constantly from left to right and back again. 

From the trail, I study the structure of the forest. Candle-shaped spruces stand proudly, their trunks straight, horsehair lichen, swaying in the breeze, hangs from their branches. Great pines reach above them. Next to the path, a shorter pine sports recently opened male flowers. The pine pollen season is just beginning in Lapland, whereas in the South it had ended before I left a week ago.

Fallen trees in different degrees of decay lie all over the place. The youngest, with grey trunks, gleam in the lush green carpet. Other trunks with their green moss cover try to blend in with the forest floor. One former tree is a just a shadow standing out as a straight, dark green crowberry-covered line in a sea of light green bilberries. 

Movement attracts my attention. I follow a hopping creature. I move slowly, cautiously, closer. Through my camera with a 600 mm lens, I can make out a colourful bird; a brambling. It is collecting food for its young. As it moves further away, I return to the path.

Now I walk faster, stopping only when I notice something interesting, i.e. often. A growth of large arctic kidney lichen looks like light green ears lying on the ground. A soft, orange patch covers part of a stump. Only up close can I see the coral-like growth of tree fringewort.

All the time, silver-trunked birches peek between the conifers. Some grow from an unusual substrate. A birch with a twisting trunk grows from an anthill, another from a stump covered with lingonberries. Of its twin trunks, one is delicate, the other sturdy. From the trunk of an ancient birch, hang many dangling beards of lichen.

So much to marvel at, with the freshness of early summer making my walk through the old, natural forest very enjoyable. I feel an energetic peace in my body and mind, refreshing me at the same time as I get tired. I don’t want the walk to end. My legs certainly chose a suitable, varied route. 

I arrive at Kesänkijärventie and walk along it. After a short distance, I come to a crossroads, behind which rises the round-capped Kesänki. I turn right to walk a short distance to the carpark. The sunlight is warm and from the edge of a small bog I take one more photo of Kellostapuli and Yllästunturi. 

Walking at a leisurely pace, I managed to complete the Pirunkurun ponnistus trail in four hours. My timing is perfect. I have time to eat a well-deserved dinner before the long train ride south. My stomach growls. I’m hungry. What could I eat?

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