| Distance | Average Speed | Max Speed |
|---|---|---|
| 38.0 km | 6.7 km/h | 31.3 km/h |
Note: Max speed may actually be erroneous recording made whilst travelling in truck.
Gad, what a difficult day. Jussi used his huge lorry to drive me to Timo’s mother’s cabin which certainly seemed very nice. Jussi and Mrs Jussi headed off to open a trail across the lake, but just as I was about to set off and follow them they returned to say that there was too much water on the ice. We therefore developed a “Plan B” which involved them driving me North to a bridge and then Jussi opening a track over to the snow mobile trail.
Jussi opened the track OK and I followed it to the kota at Kaakkurin lampi for lunch. I then discovered that the snow mobile trail South from the kota was rarely used. Jussi assured me by phone me that the trail would improve after Pylitys, but actually things got worse. There was a 400 m section where the trail ran along a forest road which had been swept leaving a gravel surface. I manoeuvred over this obstacle by taking some dogs on first whilst carrying some bags and then leading the remainder pulling the lightened sled. This cost me a lot of time.
The trail got even worse with no sign that it had been driven for weeks and my average speed dropped to less than 5 km/h. After Syvãojansuu the trail finally became invisible. It was now getting dark so Jussi agreed to collect me at a point after Ahmo. I finally got back to Jussi’s at 2310!