Day 4: Winter wonderland

Today we hoped we'd learnt from yesterday and both wore extra layers of clothing to keep us warm. We were met by our guide and taken to the dog kennels for our first activity of the day. Once at the kennels we were taught about the sleds we'd be driving, how to stand on them, how to control them, when to use the two different types of brakes and how to tell when you might need the brakes. We were also talked through what to do if you come off your sled. After that we were taken down to meet the dog teams and assigned a team and a sled.

The dog sledding was amazing. We began by heading out across the frozen river to some woodland. From there we followed a path through a winter wilderness. I was mildly disappointed that on fun bits like the downhill sections the guy in front of me was braking lots so I didn't really get to build up any speed. On the uphill parts you had to help the dogs out a little by running with one foot. Unfortunately being near the back I didn't see that the guy would move his left foot over to the right standing place so he could run with his right foot. In the end stretching to run really hurt my legs.

As we headed out across a nice flat bit my dogs needed a little help but when I tried to set my feet back on the runners I wobbled. Wobbling isn't good and next thing I knew, wobbling become tipping, quick what did they say about falling off? Hold on tight! My dogs were good and stopped running pretty much as soon as the sled fell over. I dug myself out of the snow drift I'd landed in (still holding on to the sled) brushed snow from my face and attempted to right the sled and jump on at the same time because as soon as the sled is the right way up, the dogs are off. Well, this failed miserably and moments later I'd toppled to the side. Thankfully we were being followed by a photographer for an American magazine and their snowmobile driver threw himself on my sled, held my dogs and let me get it righted and back on before letting go! Once the shock was over it was actually quite funny.

We pulled up at a large wilderness hut for lunch. My dietary needs hadn't been passed on to them but they were very good at making something that I could eat. We were greeted with hot lingonberry juice. Whilst everyone else had a creamy fish soup, I believe I may have had cloudberry soup however they were unsure about the English translation. After the soup we were given a moose stew with mashed potatoes and lingonberries. It was actually really tasty. There was then coffee and cake for the rest of the group. Before leaving I decided it probably wise to go to the toilet. At this point I found the toilet was a brief dash through the cold and it was certainly an experience at -20'C.

To head back to the kennels we took the short cut across the lake. This is the point when I realised that no matter how many layers you are wearing, you should add extra. The wind took the temperature across the lake down to feeling about -40'C and by the time we reached the kennels the wind had chilled me literally to the core! Whilst everyone else unharnessed their dogs and took them back to kennels, I was taken inside to warm back up before the snowmobile sled ride back to the Icehotel.

A couple of hours later we were adding even more layers and our own snow jackets to our outfits before setting off for the snowmobile northern lights tour. I'd never really imagined quite how big a snow mobile might be. Once we got going and The Boy understood better how much was needed to control it I actually started to enjoy it. The areas where we crossed open land and lakes was chilly but through the forest I was able to watch what was happening and really enjoyed the ride.

As we pulled up at a tiny wilderness hut, the clouds parted and we got to see a small slither of the northern lights. It was quite poor (apparently around a 4 on a scale of one to ten) but we saw a band of what at first glance looked like a section of cloud but then became obvious that it had a tinge of green to it. Unfortunately I had forgotten the one vital piece of photographic equipment... a little torch to see my camera settings. So needless to say, not even a poor photo of the lights. Oh well, maybe we'll see them in Iceland.

We stepped in from the biting cold in to a small hut lit by a fire in the centre. We were provided with a typical Swedish meal: a salmon wrap, moose goulash, apple cake and hot lingonberry. It was lovely and a nice opportunity to warm up, visit yet another freezing longdrop and then head back home. On the last stretch of the journey we travelled back across the frozen lake and were allowed a bit of freedom with the snowmobiles to go faster and do some turns. Then once back to the hotel it was bed before another early start.