The builder of the Arpaiskämppä wilderness hut

The current Arpaiskämppä wilderness hut was built in 1925 by Kaarle Leppäkangas (b. 1873, d. 1973) a.k.a. Old-Kalle from Leppäkangas of Vehunkylä village in Ähtäri.

Kaarle Leppäkangas lived there under the same roof with four different generations, with his daughter-in-law and the family of the daughter-in-law’s daughter, until the age of 100.

Leppäkangas was a farmer, hunter, logger, and boat builder. He was also the one who took the dead from Vehu to the church in a horse-drawn carriage all year round. He had to get going in the night, just so that he could make it to the church in the morning (having travelled a distance of 35 km).