The path to today's Geocache of the Week

Kiilopään huippu – Aslakin Taigametsä 4 — Geocache of the Week

Traditional
GC1YV19
by Aslak, Adoted by exu, nix00
Difficulty:
2
Terrain:
3
Location:
Finland
N 68° 20.501 E 027° 30.207
Path to the Geocache of the Week
Path to the Geocache of the Week

Finland. Land of the midnight sun and Land of a thousand lakes. Finland should really be known as the “land of tens of thousands of lakes and islands” because there are actually 187,888 lakes and 179,888 islands in the country (side note: who counts these things?).

Land of a thousand lakes... and then some
Land of a thousand lakes… and then some

Finland recently celebrated its 100th anniversary of independence. Many places around the world celebrated by lighting their own famous landmarks in Finland’s national colors of blue and white. Here some additional fun Finnish facts:

  • The sun does not set for 73 consecutive days during summer and does not rise above the horizon for 51 days during winter at Finland’s most northernmost point.
  • There are over three million saunas in Finland.
  • There are no payphones in Finland.
  • Forget about Seattle — the average Finn consumes 5 cups of coffee per day.
  • The concept of “freedom to roam” allows folks to pick berries, camp, and fish almost anywhere.
Midnight in the middle of summer
Midnight in the middle of summer

We thought we’d highlight a wonderful geocache within Urho Kekkonen National Park, a picturesque nature preserve in the northern region of Lapland. Many geocachers wait to log this cache at the stroke of midnight or host events at the witching hour, bathed in the midnight sun.

Midnight events at Kiilopään
Midnight events at Kiilopään
The logbook (or loghide). Get it? Log? Hide?
The logbook (or loghide). Get it? Log? Hide?

This geocache is located at the top of one of the highest and most barren hills, also known as a “fell”. Named Kiilopää, it rises to 546 m (1791 ft) and is reached by walking 2 km (1.25 mi) along a series of wooden stairs, planked walkways, and well-worn paths. The route is challenging towards the end due to the elevation gain, but the views from the top of the surrounding area are well worth the effort.

Incredibly windy, sometimes foggy, but on a clear day, you can see for miles and log a well-earned smiley.

Incredibly windy...
Incredibly windy…
Sometimes foggy...
Sometimes foggy…
...but on a clear day you can see for miles and log a well-earned smiley.
…but on a clear day, you can see for miles and log a well-earned smiley.

Continue to explore some of the most amazing geocaches around the world.
Check out all of the Geocaches of the Week on the Geocaching blog. If you would like to nominate a Geocache of the Week, fill out this form.

Kind to animals. Loved by children. Excels at DNFs.