Autumn colours charms

A lot of stories have been told about Lapland's autumn colours and beautiful photographs have been shared every autumn. Our first autumn colours adventure to Äkäslompolo finally came true this year.

First, a little background about the autumn colours. The word "ruska" (autumn colours) is an old Finnish word meaning brown and reddish. When after summer the amount of light and the temperature decreases, it is time for the autumn colours. Chlorophyll in trees and bushes breaks down and other colours in the leaves appear in shimmering red, orange and yellow. The plants store chlorophyll in the roots and trunks and clean themselves at the same time. What a very smart ecosystem!

The autumn colours appear on trees and shrubs. When the weather is colder and drier, is the colours shine more stronger. The best autumn colours time in Lapland is in mid-September and lasts about two weeks. Warm weather does not postpone the time of autumn colours, because plants have good genetic memory, which they follow year after year.

We were able to travel Äkäslompolo on the third week of September and there was a little bit excitement if the autumn colours time was already over. When we arrived it was cloudy, a bit foggy weather and by the roadsides I was eagerly looking for the colours. After we had unpacked our baggage and the most important things were done, the sun began to shine in the sky. After this I was in in a hurry to go out and look for the colours.

I went walking towards Varkaankuru and I was surprised that colours were so strong on ground. I walked along the path and I was admiring beauty of at the colours. I took photographs and walked through the Kellostapuli's gorge to the backside of the fell Keskinen Laki. While I was wondering about the colours, the time stopped, and I enjoyed for hours about few kilometres colorfully walking route. After the sunset I was able to go back and even at dusk, the colours shined strongly. I admired the beauty of the colours and at the same time I understood that all the colours must be experienced by walking, so that them are not passed too quickly.

In weather reports in a one day, a very red sunset was forecast for a night because the smoke from the California's forest fires would reach as far as Finland. There was also cloudless weather for that evening, and we decided to climb to the Fell Kellostapuli to admire the colours and red sunset. It was a clear evening, but it was also very windy. The ground colours glowed in red and we climbed up the windy Fell. Higher in the Fell were more rocks, but between the rocks, the colours still conquered space.

We found a good place and ate a little snack while we waited for the sunset. The wind was still strong and luckily, we had dressed warmly. However, the photographer's hands were very cold and I remembered that the warmer gloves for shooting were yet to be purchased.

On cloudless skies, the sunset was clear but the clouds of smoke did not reach Äkäslompolo and the sun set as a warm yellow. The red sunset did not matter, and I was more than happy that effects of smoke did not reach the cleanest air in the world.

During the Autumn color week, we took many walks to the fells and forests. Even though we've been on those routes and paths many times, we still found new routes. I'll tell you more about them in other stories.

We both like autumn's bright and clear days when you can go outdoors and move around in fresh weather. We also like the twilight of the evenings. The incredibly great color experience confirmed us to be "autumn persons". It is clear, that we will return to enjoy the autumn colours in the next years, and we were completely charmed by this first experience.