Another cool light display last night outside the cabin.

We woke to a cold crisp morning. The cabins we are in are traditional Sami huts and were lived in by families until 2023. There is a fire and stove in the centre and beds around the edge. A well in located in a separate cabin and a long drop toilet at the other end of the row.

Massive pan of Porridge for breakfast for us, but only after feeding the dogs.

We set out along a frozen river, hoping to follow it all the way up to the high mountains, but the forecast soon changed that plan and we cut off towards some lower peaks.

The scenery was wild and impressive. Today we saw only a couple of folk who had traveled by snow mobile to fish in one of the lakes we crossed.

Our lunch was taken at an incredible and stunning place. The end of a long lake, with nothing and no one for miles. Only a big eagle circling overhead as we ate some pasta.

The dogs got a snack of frozen fresh salmon. Asbjörn hacked out chunks of fish – some of which would have cost a fortune in a supermarket back home!

The sun beat down while we ate! Strange to be so hot, while sat on snow!

We decided to push up to a Col to get some views and a very exciting technical descent on the other side.

It was a good sweat getting up there. Luckily my main dogs, Elvis and Willow are absolute beasts and took it in their stride, mostly with me jogging alongside trying to keep up!

I’m at the back of the line, so at the top of the climb, had un-interrupted views out across towards Kebnekaise – Sweden’s highest peak, that I had previously sledded around on an expedition in 2018.

We had two ‘technical dismounts’ on the descent, but both students managed to chase their sleds down before the dogs disappeared! The sun beamed down as we entered another long lake.

We followed the lake shore into the afternoon and around 16:00, pulled over to make camp for the night.

There was a fabulous halo around the sun (known as a Sundog). Amazing to see the rainbows it created, but concerning to know that these usually mean poor weather is on the way!

The phenomenon stayed as we made camp.

Water was sourced from the lake. The ice turned out to be about 40cm thick – I’d expected it to be much thicker!

Then all that was left to do was sit back with a cuppa and take on the views in the evening light.

It had clouded over by night fall. As everyone climbed into their respective tents, I decided to Bivi out on the ice. I made a small walk to protect me from the breeze and snuggled into the enormous sleeping bag that Asbjorn had lent me. It was rated to -32°C so I figured I’d be okay!

I bedded down on a reindeer skin for a camp mat and watched the northern lights as I drifted off to sleep. Pretty cool.

The lights weren’t quite bright enough to be picked out by my phone camera, but I was happy enough just to lie there and watch feeling snug and warm. I woke once to see a sky packed full of stars and watched several satellites pass overhead between the green lights…

Total Ride: 38.9km