April is pretty much a “deserted month” when it comes to travel here in Hossa – but for no reason! During this time the cold, clear and still dark nights are great for watching the stars and the mostly sunny days with close to zero- temperatures call out for you to go on a skiing or a snowshoeing trip on the easy to walk, hard covers of snow. Ice-fishing season is at its best during this time also and the area is so full of varying destinations from river pools to remote wilderness lakes that you could spent the whole month going on a different location each day – for real.
So the wilderness area is vast and ice-fishing can be practiced more seriously, really focusing on it or it can be done as part of a nice snowshoeing or forest skiing trip with a picnic-lunch around open fire for example. As I mentioned earlier, the winter season is pretty much over so bumping to other travelers is rare. And for the real fishing enthusiasts, the possible catch can also end up being quite remarkable as you can see from the pictures in this post. Fresh self-caught fish makes a delicious meal! The more serious ice-fishing trips demand patience as the catch is not always a foregone conclusion and work has to be done to find the fish.
Spring time happenings
The spring time with snow still on the ground is the time when many locals start making some preparations for the next winter; as many houses are, at least partly still heated with wood, firewood has to be cut down, transferred near the woodshed, dried out, chopped and finally stacked inside. Actually this kind of physical work and activity in an outdoor environment with a clear, far-reaching and meaningful objective is a disappearing resource and unreachable thing for many and it´s constantly inspiring new forms of therapies and methods around the world, especially for young and at-risk people that help them develop confidence, trust and social skills. It´s great to notice that the value and appreciation of natural surroundings and simple, local community based life is taking new forms!
Yet again another winter with reindeer is over as the animals were released to the wild two weeks ago with some pregnant females left inside the corral to make sure that the calves are born in the safest possible environment. Now the reindeer will head to the wilderness and graze on their natural pastures for around eight months. More information about reindeer will follow latest when the first calves are born!
Following the migrating birds return in large numbers is one truly uplifting experience after the winter and the birdsong in the forests is a pleasant sound to hear after a long time. The black woodpeckers (Dryocopus martius) are tapping the trees, whooper swans (Cygnus Cygnus) announcing their territories and herring gulls (Larus argentatus) stalking a share of the ice-fisher´s catch. Different falcons, Eurasian cranes (Grus grus) and white-tailed eagles (Haliaeetus albicilla) can commonly be seen flying in the sky during this time of year. The surrounding is coming back to life again and the most explosive growth is just behind the corner!
All in all, April is a great month to visit northern Finland and Hossa because the surrounding is beautiful and peaceful, weather mostly great, cross-country skiing, snowshoeing and ice-fishing very enjoyable and last but not the least; you´ll get in touch with the local community and support the small-scale entrepreneurs of this remote area!