"Russian" summit sunrise, big husky love, public transit fun

It seems that there isn't anything that you can do in Lapland that isn't awesome and today was no exception. 

It started off with a solo stunning sunrise hike up Kiilopaa. Looking from the top of the fell east is Russia where the sun was coming up. The show put on by the moon was not too shabby either - I kind of went bananas with taking pictures. The colors were rocking my world. Being so far north of the Arctic circle meant that the sun and moon were closer together than I have ever seen. A willow ptarmigan made a appearance in the beginning of my hike. I heard it before I saw it - such an interesting call.

It took a while for the sun to come up so I was on the summit for about an hour. Seeing the colors 30 min before sunrise usually pays off. I was lucky that it was not super windy, but temps were hovering just above 0°F. 

You can see Russia in the distance.

Behind me is Russia (don't worry Dad, I didn't actually go to Russia).

Hello sun!

In a move of brilliance, I brought a sled up to the summit with me. 😀 Once the sun was up, I had a super quick descent to get to the bottom. Wow! That sledding run was exhilarating. It was hard to hold my camera without having my hand freeze therefore there are only a few short videos.

I made first tracks on Kiilopaa, both up and down.

My trusty sled

My sledding track from the summit.

The sun's rays are kissing the far fell.

Getting ready to sled through the trees.

Willow ptarmigan and rabbit tracks in the snow.

Back at the cozy kota at Arctic Sky.

That sunrise hike was the best way to kick off my day. Then I had to get to the business of repacking our stuff for our flights in the evening in order to meet Finnair's weight requirements for our budget tickets. It seemed to go smoother this time. But, before our flight, we squeezed in one more adventure in Lapland - a husky safari.

The sign as you enter into Saariselka

The road to Frozen Lake Husky - we may have gotten just a little bit stuck once.

The woman in charge of the safari - she was wicked rugged.

Frozen Lake Husky is a woman owned husky kennel in Ivalo, Finland. The woman in charge, Katja, gave instructions on how to drive the dog team. Apparently, after this talk, we were qualified to drive a dog team. The most important thing is to never let go of the sled (Sarah almost fell off when she was driving, but she managed to pull herself back on after holding onto the hand rail for a while). The teams were all ready hooked up to the sleds so when they sensed we were close to starting, the dogs went bonkers - they really wanted to work.

The dog teams are all ready to go. When we were about ready to go, they went bonkers.

Sarah riding in the sled first. She looks less nervous than she should given that I was her driver.

We had a team of 6 strong dogs for the 8.5km trail and I was driving first. I totally trusted that the dogs knew what to do - all I had to do was stay on the sled. I also had to stomp on the brake a lot for this crew as the team in front of us didn't have as strong of a team. Even with all of my weight on the brake, we still moved forward. The trail swooped and bumped over the landscape. I wish I could have done it all day long. My smiling muscles were tired from all of the fun.

Our dog team is ready to run!

The dogs want to know what we are waiting for.

We switched drivers at the half way point. While I loved driving the sled, I also enjoyed riding. It gave me a chance to check out the landscape and appreciate the pups. Riding on the sled through all of the bumps, turns and the sled feeling like it was going to flip over had my adrenaline pumping. When Sarah almost fell off, it was particularly "exciting". I'm not sure what would have happened if she had fallen off as we would not have had a brake -  I might have been still flying through the woods of Lapland.

Now it was my turn to ride in the sled.

I could not stop smiling. Driving the team was so much fun!

After the mushing, we were able to thank the pups with lots of big love. They seemed only a little bit tired and most importantly, they seemed happy. Each pup was unique - it was fun to see their different personalities.

After the mushing, I was able to give my appreciation to this big boy who worked so hard.

Well, hello there.

These are big guys in the back who are responsible for the pulling the most weight and getting the sled going.

This big boy reminded me of James. He worked really hard, but every time the team stopped, he laid down for a little rest.

Those eyes are mesmerizing.

There was only 1 Siberian husky at the kennel. The rest are mixes.

Once we had given the pups lots of pats, we had the chance to learn more about Frozen Lake Husky. Katja shared with us about how they cared for the dogs, what their schedules look like, how they train the pups, that everyone who works there has to know every dog's name and their personality, what goes into making the teams, how the dogs are bred, etc. She said that they are not breeding super models, but sled dogs which is why they all look unique.

The 4 month old puppies at the kennel. They only have 1 litter of puppies every year.

Alas, our Lapland adventures had to come to a close. Our flight to Helsinki was in the evening and then we worked to figure out public transit from the airport. We nailed the train to zone A and even figured out the tickets. The tram situation was not quite as smooth. We eventually found tram #4 and then needed to figure out the tickets. A sweet older Finnish man who didn't speak any English helped us understand that the ticket machine was broken and even crossed the tracks to another machine to help us. Turns out that the tickets we had bought at the airport were good for the whole ride. Furthermore, the tickets are on an honor system and nobody even checks them. There is something about having to figure out stuff like this when traveling that I just love. People were so willing to help us when we asked for it, we learned a lot about the culture, and felt accomplished once we figured it out. 

A snow groomer driving down the main road in Lapland.

Ivalo airport 

Plane from Ivalo to Helsinki 

Train from the airport to zone A 

At the Helsinki train station 

We finally got our tickets for the tram (that apparently we didn't even need). The older man who didn't speak English but still was so sweet with how he helped us warmed our hearts.

On the tram

Once at Fallon's apartment, Sherlock greeted us, we unpacked and repacked our stuff so that we would be ready to catch the ferry to Estonia early in the morning.

Sherlock was the welcoming committee at Fallon's apartment.