Adorable Dogs - Dog Sledding Part 3

I had a spectacular time dog sledding. We went for two nights which I highly recommend. If you have the time, longer would have been great.

Here is my dog sled.



If you think you won't have to work, think again. To start, you stand up the entire time. You have to steer (by leaning to each side) to make sure your sled turns along with the dogs. You also have to break sometimes to stop your sled from going faster than the dogs (especially when going downhill). When going up hill, you either stand with one foot on the sled and push with the other or you run behind you sled to help your dogs out. You actually get quite a good workout.



The sled the other people took. One person sat in the front and the other stood on the back.



I didn't take any photos the first day (busy getting used to sledding). I also never checked the temperature but I'd guess between -10C and -15C.

My dogs with the sled. The first day we went across the lake fairly directly to where we were staying.



You can't really see it but the second day was around -11C. A bearable cold.



You are provided with a snow suit and boots. There are also hats and gloves if you don't have any. They provide sleeping bags. Along with my regular clothes, I wore thermals and my wool coat under the snow suit. I was warm enough the first two days as long as my scarf was covering my face. The first day was worse than the second because it was also snowing so you get snow in your eyes.

We started the second day by going back to the main  base to drop off the other people.



One of my dogs taking a rest.



 



 



After a short break we went on a rather circuitous path through a forest and then around the lake.



The dogs got tired so we took a break.



 



Some rolled around in the snow.



Others sat and rested.



We stopped and ate lunch while they all rested.



Taking a nap in the middle of a lake.



The snow was very deep.



We ended up switching some of the dogs after lunch before going sledding again and then back to where we were staying.



Back by the cabins.



 



That night, while we looked at the Northern lights it was -24.5C.

The third day I was really cold. At first I couldn't find the line marking the temperature. It was -26.5C! No amount of clothing could make this bearable.



Despite being extremely cold it was really pretty. By this point I'd gotten the hang of dog sledding so these pictures were taken while we were moving.



Again, we took the long way back, going through the forest and across the lake.



Here's some video I took while dog sledding. Of course my camera battery decided to die which is why it's a bunch of short clips. It should be noted that batteries don't last as long when it's cold so make sure to change your batteries even if you think they're okay.



And that was my dog sledding adventure. I'd definitely do it again if given the chance.

Northern Scenery and the Northern Lights - Dog Sledding Part 2

A fairly quick post with lots of pictures.

Northern Sweden is gorgeous and also very cold. Our tour guide guessed that the like was at least a metre deep.

The lake.



The snow was very deep.



 



Another dog team going across the lake.



 



In the evening.



 



 



 



 



At our camp, there was a number of birds.



 



One of the cabins.



 



 



 



 



 



We got to see the Northern Lights! At first they were really boring, just a slight white glow. Sometimes is was slightly green or blue.



 



The third time we went out they were amazing. They looked much better than this picture. I did fiddle with the last two photos to make them look more like what we saw. It started out as stationary light, mostly white, and then all of a sudden they started moving and changing colour directly above us.



This is from when the light exploded outward and went from white to a mix of colours. We got really lucky.



Tomorrow will be the actual dog sledding.

Train Rides to Kiruna, Water Holes, and Candles - Dog Sledding Part 1

The weekend before last I went dog sledding with another exchange student. This post includes most of the non-dog sledding parts like getting there.  Part 2 will be some scenery pictures and then part 3 will be the actual dog sledding.

If you want to go dog sledding you go North, specifically to Kiruna, the most northern Swedish city. The yellow lines on the map are the country borders. Norway has the most Northern point on the land but Kiruna is about as far North as you can get while staying in Sweden. The red line is the Arctic Circle.



A map showing where we were compared to where I live in Uppsala.



Flying from Stockholm to Kiruna is two or three times more expensive than taking the train... so we took the train. If I were to do it again I'd fly. Going there, the train left around 7pm and didn't get in until noon the next day. Coming back I left at 2pm and got in at 5:30 in the morning. Another thing to note is that with snow comes train problems. You'd think that for a country that gets snow every year, and lots of it, they would have worked this all out by now. When we were 15-20 minutes from Kiruna station the train suddenly stopped. We were told that there was no power in the station and seeing as it was an electric train we had to stop. After waiting an hour we were redirected to another station. This was our train station.



There was no platform; you just hopped off into a very deep snow bank. A bus then brought us to Kiruna station. Thankfully, the dog sledding people waited for us and picked us up at the station (we were originally going to go to them because we were suppose to have an hour from the time our train got in to the start of the dog sledding.) So on that note, also make sure you have time between arriving in Kiruna and the start of the tour, just in case.

The company we went with does week long tours and overnight tours which you can add extra nights to. We went for two nights which I would recommend. If you can afford the time, I think going for a week would be amazing. The first night two other people joined us along with the guide tour. We went by dog sled across a lake to the company's cabins. They have quite the little village - albeit with no running water (freezing pipes) and no power (I'm not entirely sure why not). It being a Saturday night, there were lots of other groups there, each with their own tour guide. The second night it was just my friend, the tour guide, and myself.

The dogs sleep outside in adorable little house. The first night all the houses were full.



Snow makes for great insulation.



You are expected to help out which includes using an axe to break up the frozen dog food.



And getting water from the water hole in the lake.



Our tour guide breaking through the ice.



My friend making the hole bigger.



It's a very big lake.



Looking at the lake with the water hole. You are in the middle of nowhere with no running water, electricity, or much cellphone reception.



Because there is no power you use candles for light. Not lanterns but actual open flame candles. My friend (from the USA) and I talked about it a lot because it seems that in North America we are collectively afraid of open flames and would never use candles as the main light source. Our tour guide thought it was absurd that we used fake candles. So I got to wash the dishes by candlelight and on the second night when I went to the outhouse, I had to light a candle in the dark.



Our tour guide made all of our meals. We had delicious reindeer and potatoes the first night, and salmon and rice the second. Yogurt and sandwiches were for lunch.

After we got back from our tour we had some time in Kiruna. I saw several people use a sled when grocery shopping.



There was also a snow sculpture competition.



In Uppsala, the response to snow is to throw down some gravel and go: "now you have traction!" In Kiruna they don't even do that. It was hard to find where the side walk ended and the road began. In the back you can see part of the iron mine. The entire town of Kiruna has to be moved because the mining is weakening the ground. Along with tourism, mining is the base of the towns economy.



The train ride back was thankfully uneventful, I was just very tired during my 8am mandatory seminar. Tomorrow lots of scenery pictures.