Reindeer, and moose, and grouses, oh my! - Part 2

On to day 3 of the Lapland adventure.

Day 3 started with some childhood flash-back time, sledding down an enormous hill. Trudging up it in giganto boots was exhausting, but luckily we only did it once because Tatu got a snow mobile to pull us up after every downhill run. The top of the hill had an amazing view:



Jonathan exploring:



trees at the top.



After getting chilled to the bone from having cold air blowing in your face, we stopped for lunch at a Sami cabin. They call them teepees because they're round, and because traditionally Sami live in teepees, but they are permanent, wooden structures. They're tucked into the woods all over Lapland; the owners of the land, or volunteers if it's government-owned land, will build one and leave it unlocked year round so people have shelter and a place to make a fire. They also almost always come with a nearby outhouse, which is thoroughly unenjoyable to use in the cold, but better than nothing, certainly. We stopped at a different teepee each day for lunch. Lunch was always some kind of hearty soup, usually made from yesterday's dinner leftovers. Each teepee has a fireplace, and Tatu would hang an iron pot over it to heat up our soup. It was also a great chance to dry out some outer layers of socks and gloves.

Me outside a teepee:



Inside a teepee:



Me warming up by the fire.



After regaining feeling in our toes and stuffing ourselves on soup and Finnish breads and coffee, we went back out to try cross-country skiing. The Finns are pros at this, so keeping up with Tatu was a challenge, but it was fun. The worst part- going uphill, when, unless you have freakishly strong arms and can pull yourself, you have to cross-hatch your way up. The best part- going back down the other side. Unless there was a curve in the path. That's the weird thing about cross-country skiing; as long as someone has gone in front of you, you end up with some pretty deep tracks, which makes things more efficient on a level, but when you're screaming down a hill and the tracks turn, your skis don't want to. I never wiped out during my one day of downhill skiing, but I fell plenty during cross-country skiing, going both up and down hill.

Skiing in tracks:



Me on skis.



Our day ended again with a sauna, awesome dinner, and sleeping like a rock.

Day 4: Santa's Village. Lapland is considered the home of Santa Clause, specifically just outside of Rovaniemi, right on the arctic circle. Santa has quite a racket going up there. He's open to visitors 365 days a year, he sells a LOT of souvenirs, and his elves read letters to him year-round. You can even request a letter from Santa, including a special postmark. There's also a big marker at the edge of the arctic circle, providing a great photo op to commemorate officially stepping onto the north pole:



Look kids, this is where Santa lives!:



Santa's mail room. Notice the elf in the back, reading letters.



We did see Santa, although we were not allowed to take pictures of him unless we stood in line behind a million people and paid $20 or something for an official photo. We were satisfied enough to see him from afar. Although there was a very excited Russian basketball team waiting in line to see him; seeing a 7-foot-tall Russian sitting on Santa's lap was highly amusing.

The best part of the day was the incredible reindeer meat kabob we had for lunch, served gyro-style. Mmm-mm.

After buying some reindeer-horn odds 'n' ends at the enormous gift shop, we were taken to the Arktikum, the museum of the Arctic and its people. It had a lot of cool Sami artifacts, as well as a stuffed moose.

The Arktikum:



Inside the museum:



Another sauna, stuffing ourselves on fresh fish, end day 4.

Day 5 we went snowshoeing. On the way to our take-off point, we got to see some local wildlife. Here's a couple moose; I had to take this picture through the fogged-up window. Moose have extremely good hearing; the second we rolled down the window to get a better shot, they ran. Those things can move for their size.



We also saw more that were far enough away that they didn't run when we opened a window; too bad I don't have a better zoom.



Also spotted on the way were some grouse, also photographed through the window. Apparently they can puff up their feathers quite a bit to trap air for warmth; this gives them the goofy appearance of looking much too heavy for the branches they sit on.



Eventually we arrived at our destination, the base of mount Katkavaara. We hiked to the peak, the highest point in the area, overlooking the Pisavaara Nature Reserve. Walking in baggy shoes in knee-deep snow is really quite difficult, so having snowshoes keep us on the surface of the snow was immensely helpful.

Here we are, working our way up the hill:



Here's me at the top.



It being January, and being quite far north, made for some really cool sunrises at about 11:00 AM. Here's the sun just coming over the horizon:



And shortly after lunch, it was already starting to go down again:



And this is fun- this is one of the roads in the area. Essentially paved with snow. Notice the stick in the snow next to the road- they line both sides of roadways in the area. As the snow gets thicker during the winter, the sticks help you follow where the road is.



By now you know the routine- sauna, dinner, bed. Actually the sauna got a little more interesting today because we were able to stop and pick up some beer. No sauna is complete without drinking a good Finnish beer while inside. And you'd better be careful, because it goes straight to your head. Traditionally you should also roast little sausages over the hot rocks. Mmm. We didn't have the sausages in the sauna, but we did have them each morning at breakfast, along with hard-boiled eggs, yogurt, granola, toast and jam, cereal, oatmeal... mmm.

Alright, all this talk of sausage is making me hungry. One more break for dinner in real life... then the rest of our adventures.