Saariselka

The hotel is really quiet which is lovely, but I didn’t manage a good night sleep however nobody ever died from a poor night’s sleep. We have a lovely view from our room and little balcony at 7 in the morning.

Breakfast downstairs in our lodge and then straight over to Lapland Safaris office to get kitted out for the -30 degrees weather we will experience on our husky sled ride! Woo hoo. It took quite some time for everyone to get appropriately attired. I had 5 top layers, 3 pairs of socks and 3 pairs of pants plus 1 pair of gloves and 2 pairs of mittens. Had those wonderful little hand warmers inside my gloves so I was feeling very toasty. What we looked like was less desirable.

We all board a coach, which was no mean feat trying to lift each leg sufficiently high enough to clamber up the steps, and then an even sillier walk required to sideways walk down the aisle to eventually fall into a seat. Putting on the waist seat belt was a production as well, because gloves and mittens had to come off and then be put back on. However we all managed this with varying degrees of success. Once at the husky farm we are briefed on how to operate the sled. Well knock me down with a feather and call me Gloria, because I had assumed that we would be taken for a ride in a sled driven by someone who knew what they were doing!!!

Everyone had to pair up so that one was the driver and the other was the passenger. SB and I agreed to let SB drive first. I figured if we were going to have a disaster, then let’s get it over and done with. So off we headed with a skidoo in the lead, Foggy driving Captn D next, and us after them. It certainly was cold and my eye lashes were freezing, but the rest of me really was warm. SB did a great job and when we got to the half way point we changed positions so that SB was now bundled up in the sled and I’m in the driver seat, so to speak. You operate the brake by standing on the brake bar, which I was doing, but our dogs (6 of them) were so keen to take off that every now and then we would jolt forward a bit due to the dogs’ eagerness to get going. Who knew that I could have done with a few more kilos to hold them in check?

Anyway, just as we get underway, the dogs behind our sled are actually coming alongside me , and as we are a one lane track and meant to keep our sleds 5 metres apart, I’m yelling to whoever is behind me to put both feet on the brake. Finally I stopped as did the sled behind, even though their dogs were alongside us. What had happened was that when they changed positions , Amy the grand daughter became the passenger, and Margaret the grandma became driver. As soon as she went to get off the brake, rather than put each foot on the side sleds, she simply stepped back and the sled took off. Amy, Indiana Jones style clambered over the seat and stood on the brake herself when she realized yelling out to her grandma to slow down wasn’t producing any results!
But wait... there’s more. We then all took off again with grandma back in the passenger seat and Amy driving. Our lead dogs were consistently hugging the left of the track . The snow had been piled to each side of the track to form an embankment and clear marking of the snow track. We had to yell to each other to be heard, but I said to SB that I wished our lead dogs would run more in the middle of th3 track so that we weren’t always hugging the left embankment which was powdery snow. Very shortly after that as we were tracking along at a fair clip, we approached a bend, I saw the lead dogs way to the left in the powdery snow embankment and there automatically followed the sled and me so that we started tipping over to the right. I knew not to jump on the brake on corners but didn’t know how to keep the sled upright so in trying to put my body weight against the way we were tipping, I lost balance and as I knew I was about to fall off, I’m yelling at SB that I can’t keep it upright, I’m falling oooooooooooofffffff.
Plop, sideways full length in the snow embankment I go, with my runaway sled soon out of view! Getting up to a standing position wasn’t easy but I somehow managed it, and started hurrying in the direction I last saw the sled! Thankfully Amy was soon on scene so I got in the very front of their sled and they took off in pursuit of SB. Our lead fellow in the skidoo became aware of my unprogrammed departure from my sled and had stopped Foggy’s sled. Apparently when my dogs reached the rear of Foggy’s sled they automatically stopped and so when we pulled up SB had gotten out of the sled and was standing on the brakes. She hadn’t initially realized I’d come off the blasted thing. She knew the sled was tipping, but then it righted itself (probably when I fell off). Anyhow, the hardest thing was getting out of the front of Amy’s sled as I was squeezed in, in front of her grandma with my knees up to my neck and no way of standing up straight, so I did what I now had priors for, and I just trolled sideways out of the sled, straight into the snow! I’ve also perfected how to get up out of the snow without too many grunts and groans.
So with that little bit of excitement out of the way and no bones broken, just a slightly bruised ego, SB is back in the passenger seat and I’m back in the reigns to take us back to our starting point without any more dramatics.
This is the only time I’ve ever wished I had a Go Pro to capture the beautiful scenery of the forest we wove our way through, plus ofcourse my nosedive into the snow! I actually gave myself a 7 for it, as I didn’t jump up out of the snow and do the arms up in a V at the end, so I think I’m being fair in my scoring that my dismount needs some work...
Once back to our starting point and dogs tethered to their posts we are able to pat them. They are incredibly fit dogs and clearly well looked after.

We all then returned to a hut, with a very welcoming wood fire, where we could have coffee or hot berry juice. I opted for the berry juice which was lovely and helped warm up my insides. The only think really cold on me was my toes so lesson learnt. I need to get some toe warmers. We then had lunch provided which was a lovely vegetable and ground meat soup. Then a ham and cheese roll plus a cinnamon scroll. The owner of the husky farm (he calls himself a ‘musher’) came and spoke to us for almost an hour, answering all our questions. He had about 112 dogs at the moment. A pup can cost about 800 Euros, but a fully trained good lead dog can be worth thousands. He cited a friend who has recently bought a dog for 6,500 Euros and it will cost him about another 1,000 to transport it to him. The dogs work from about August to April and then they are rested. These dogs love to not only run, but to pull loads. The visit was a fabulous experience, even though I did fall off my sled. While we were having lunch the guy who had been in the skidoo with our sleds sought me out to make sure I was okay, and then sign some forms that I was uninjured. I think he was pleasantly surprised that I was so okay about it as he knew when he approached me out on the ride, I kept asking him if SB was ok as I had no idea how I was ever going to explain to the princesses back home how I had managed to lose her in Finland and that she was probably still sitting in the sled letting the dogs take her wherever they wanted, and she was having a ball! I apologised to him for my unscheduled dismount, which he thought was hilarious and is going to use in future!

But now it’s time to go and as we walk back to the coach, we see the afternoon dog sled tours heading back to base. This has been a great adventure sledding through arctic wilderness.

Back at the office to work out how to now get out of all the layers and then back to our hotel room for a much needed Irish coffee. We have sufficiently thawed out, so rug up again and head out for a walk to the local shopping centre, where we both buy warmer neck and head coverings because the nylon ones we are currently using to cover our mouth and nose is freezing as soon as it gets moisture from our breath on it in the icy wind! Note to self: if in future I ever head to the Arctic Circle and beyond, bring only woollen jumpers and head wear. Also bought a couple of souvenirs and then headed back to our room for a lovely hot chocolate.

SB is going to go snow shoe hiking with Kelli and Foggy for an hour or so. I initially said I would do it too, but I’m pooped and am a bit over getting really rugged up and going out in the freezing cold, to then tramp around in said freezing cold, to come back to a warm room and attempt to thaw out yet again. I’m sure the cold wind in my eyes all the time outdoors is making them tired too. Not planning a late night tonight, that’s for sure.
So while SB goes for her snow shoe hike in the forest I catch up on the blog and attempt to repack my suitcase in readiness for tomorrow’s departure. I even have time to do a bit of last minute washing to put in our cupboard dryer which is in our room. SB arrives back in the room, advising that she had a good time snow shoeing and didn’t fall over!
Time for dinner in the main restaurant and then back to the room to complete suitcase packing in readiness for our departure tomorrow morning. And then it’s time for bed.