Submitted by Anonymous on Fri, 05/31/2013 - 13:29

Your hike sounds fantastic! Thanks for sharing the beautiful photos. The reindeer guards reminded me of cattle guards on the farm. I am wondering if you have "skeets" in the wetlands. Fairbanks has been hit with three days of 80+ degrees. The leaves are out, but the ground cover is still brown. It has been an interesting, but late green-up season. Our pollen counts are very high and many of us are having allergy issues. Do the Finns have issues with the birch pollen? Thanks for the great updates!

Carol Scott

Hello there, thanks for the message! I am in Rovaniemi now, about sixhours drive south of Kevo. All across this part of Finland (including
Kevo and Rovaniemi), there have been really unseasonably warm
temperatures. In Kevo the temperatures were in the high seventies, and
here they are even hotter. All Finns I have met are just shaking their
heads in wonder at the sun and heat.
At Kevo the mosquitoes had not yet appeared when I left yesterday, but
it is only a matter of time. They will probably be out when I get back
there in a few days. Here in Rovaniemi, there are a lot of mosquitoes -
just like home in fact!
Although there are a lot of birch around, I do not think the pollen
counts are as high as Fairbanks. The mountain birch, common around
Kevo, tend to propagate vegetatively, so there are few male catkins to
create the pollen. Here in Rovaniemi, the birch are a lot taller, and I
am not sure if they are the same species as in the Kevo area (I have yet
to meet anyone here in the town to ask questions of). I did see pollen
in the puddles after a rain earlier today, so I know there is some
pollen here.
Thanks for the questions, and I hope you are not suffering there too badly!
Carol