November S24O

At long last, it was time for a fatbikepacking overnighter. Peter asked if I was interested for a short S24O on Friday-Saturday night. Timing and weather (subzero in the evening and early night, a possibility of slight rain in the morning) looked good, and we decided to head to the Wilderness of Marttila, a short distance from my home. Also, I had swapped the wheels of my 9:Zero:7, and it was back to fat again. We would both ride our fatbikes.

We have been there a handful times before. Back then, the route from my home to Marttila has been always a boring tarmac road section. I knew that it's possible to ride there on small gravel roads too. This time I planned the route with Google Maps.

We started around 19.30 (7.30PM). I had a printed map in front of me.

The route was indeed nice with small twisting gravel roads. 

Actually it was so fun that there was even a short section without a road at all, just a narrow ridge along a field.

Our plan was to camp at the lean-to of Onnenperänrahka. On the trail:

Peter riding the boardwalks, which were icy and slippery, and in bad shape:

The evening was nice, temperature dropped to -6°C.

Destination reached:

My rig:

Peter's new Salsa Mukluk:

We started a campfire and warmed delicious ham-cheese sandwiches:

Some of the wood was wet, so the fire needed some help from Peter:

A hot tea was very nice before sleeping:

A campfire feels so nice in the dark and cold of November:

My sleeping system for the night:

It was nice to crawl in to the warm sleeping bag and the only sound was our campfire. So calming.

I slept really well. This time I had a 3-season sleeping bag, Marmot Wave III. Alpkit Numo sleeping pad further extended the comfort.

The usual morning chores with good coffee and future plans with Peter.

Peter with a warm down jacket. Cold is not an issue for us.

A view from the lean-to:

The campsite:

Packed and ready to go:

The weather forecast was pretty much correct. Temperature was above zero in the morning and occasional rain. The boardwalks were insanely slippery!

But Peter, as usual, rode on them. I didn't. :)

What's that? Bear poop?

We took a slightly different route on return trip. The trail was hardly visible.

Trails were really wet and soft, but our fatbikes were fantastic on them.

Our little adventure was reinforced with a nice dose of misery. Hard wind, rain and icy, slippery gravel roads. I liked it, it's a nice feeling to experience also bad conditions. Of course, this would have been perfect with lots of snow and blizzard conditions.

Thanks Peter for a very nice overnighter. It had all the nice elements. Check out Peter's report too.