Every now and then there comes a chance to do something slightly different, inordinary, silly even. As it has been quite a rainy autumn here in Espoo, many of the small rivers and creeks have grown in volume lately, allowing some rare opportunities for a days paddle.

Following last week’s downpours a plan was set by Janne to visit Myllypuro in Nuuksio, to find out if one can actually paddle this tiny creek. As usual, it didn’t take much to get me interested, and early Saturday morning I was sharing a bus ride with Janne and Tiina towards Kattila. From there it was a short hike to the creek, and journey downstream could start.

I was mentally prepared to portage most of the creek, suspecting heavy bushwhacking and numerous obstacles in and out of the water, and while we quickly lost count of jumping in and out of our rafts avoiding various obstacles mother nature threw on us, the meandering creek was actually quite manageable with our portable modes of transportation. Negotiating roughly 6 kilometers to Nuuksion Pitkäjärvi took around 6 hours, with a lunch break halfway, and an unfortunate detour to try (and fail) to locate a camera that fell out of my pocket in the forest. To add to the overall experience, I did my first accidental wet exit in one of the fast flowing parts of the creek, and also got the first puncture in the packraft which was fixed in situ with a piece of Gorilla tape.

Since I lost the camera, no pictures to share unfortunately, but Janne has covered the trip in his blog with maps and a video, also embedded below.