One of the most famous forests in Finland is Riisitunturi which has been made famous by the way the snow piles up on the trees leaving them in strange and distorted shapes.  It is in central Finland and is one of the main tourist attractions in the area, however we visited on a Saturday morning in mid March and were lucky enough to have the place to ourselves.  Perhaps that was due to the fact we got up at 4:00 am ready to start walking at 5:00 to ensure we got the sunrise and good light for the images.  The temperature can be very cold and the thermometer in our vehicle stated - 35 Deg Centigrade.  It was certainly colder outside as we walked up the mountain side and our thoughts were that it must have been at least - 42 Deg. C.

Riisitunturi National park is a famous winter attraction in Lapland, but is relatively small in size covering an area of 77 just Sq Km. (approximately 30 sq miles).  It is close to Oulanka and was designated a Finnish National Park in 1982.  It is named after the twin peaked mountain of Rissitunturi which rise to 465m in height.