On Levi Fell

Since growing up in the Appalachian Mountains, I have delighted in exploring mountains.  Levitunturi was no exception. I have explored Levitunturi by snowmobile, car, ski lift and snowshoe.

A fell, tunturi in Finnish, is not a mountain by Rocky Mountain or Alps standards, but it is definitely more than a hill.  It's most distinguishing characteristic is how it rises from directly from the surrounding flat plains. Thus it is more like the peak of the more major mountains rising up from a valley. In the Kittila area it is impossible to see the peak from the base. The well-worn fells are like wedding cakes with many tiers.

Approaching by snowmobile from the rolling foothills of the northeast, the rather icy snow of the river bottom became very soft and powdery toward the crest.  The trip down is not so gentle.  At times the trail parallels the downhill ski slopes!

It was nearly noon with scattered clouds this day as I stood on a plateau near the top of the fell in the photo at left.  The colors of the snow and sky were a soft pastel.  A pale salmon glow on the horizon demarcated the end of sky and the beginning of earth.