Five Fabulous Finnish Days: by John Edwards
As a Signy Fid I was extremely fortunate to be one of the few who was able to enjoy a sledging & camping trip on Coronation Island, something no longer possible in these Health and Safety conscious days when people only spend summers there without boats. However, in spite of the 3 week man-hauling expedition 4 of us enjoyed, I felt I'd missed out on the doggy-experience enjoyed by Fids at Halley or Peninsula bases, something that applies to any post-1994 Fid, as well as most of those serving on "Banana Belt" bases.
This was something I was determined to rectify if I could and for a long time it looked like a company called Arctic Odysseys that would be the likely providers. I got an annual email and the occasional catalogue of their trips up in the Canadian Arctic where sledging on sea ice and building igloos sounded great but something - family or the expense - always seemed to get in the way.
Then by chance in 2015 I watched an episode of "The Dog Rescuers" on BBC1 and saw how a Husky called "Tala" who had been roaming free in Sweden for weeks ended up being taken in by a Husky Farm in Finland. The RSPCA inspector who featured was clearly impressed with the farm set-up and I made a note of the name ‘Hetta Huskies’ so I could find out more. As in the TV programme, it shines out of their website that they really love and care about their dogs and that clinched it for me. Blow the sea ice (it might never form properly anyway!) I was going to go dog sledging for 5 days in Arctic Finland.
So 50 years on from first going South with BAS I got off the bus at 3.20pm on Saturday 25th Feb at Enontekio (N 68o23’ E 23o 33’) whose tourism slogan “remote but reachable” was certainly true in my case - I’d left Birmingham 36 hours earlier to fly from Heathrow to Kittila via Helsinki and spent a night sleeping under the stars near the airport (my choice) to catch the 1.45pm bus the following day. Also getting off the bus were Karl & Sabine – a couple in their late 40’s from Alsace, Tessa – a 33 year of from Zurich and Lydia – a 53 year old Italian from Sardinia. The following day we were joined by Francesco – a 27 year old Italian from Ancona. Throughout our sledging safari we conversed in English and French as Lydia spoke no English and Francesco no French.
Straight away we were ushered into the veterinary store where, surrounded by 4 recuperating huskies, we were given a hot drink and some cake. We then had any gear we had brought with us checked for suitability and were issued with any arctic clothing we needed. I had brought my Buffalo salopettes & Big Face shirt, which keep me warm on the Scottish hills in winter, but decided to opt for their Snowmobile gear as I would be standing still much of the time on the sledge, not moving to keep myself warm, plus the IXS “Action in Snow” jacket and Snowpeople trousers had more zipped pockets that were easily accessible. I decided to stick with my Scarpa Manta boots & Yeti gaiters, however, as Hetta’s fleecy wellington boots tended to make my socks ruck downwards. I was pleased to find my hands stayed nice & warm in the Buffalo mitts (on elastic wrist loops) and Russian overmitts (on a Fids-type harness) that I’d brought but the Swedish ‘ejendals’ fingered gloves we were issued with were excellent for wet work and feeding /clipping/unclipping dogs and the Rab ‘Expedition’ sleeping bags they provided were superb.
We then had a quick tour of the farm as it got dark and, after dumping our gear in the farm’s comfortable Kota, we were off outside again with head torches helping to give the 170 dogs on their farm their evening meal and water. It was almost 10pm when we returned to the Kota - a cosy traditional building with a central fireplace, electric power and underfloor heating, where guide Laura from Utrecht cooked us a meal of Salmon pasta.
We chatted and got to know a bit about our fellow sledgers and I was delighted to learn that we were each going to be driving a team of our own, as I had thought from reading the website that I’d be taking turns at driving and riding on the sledge with another person, but this happens more on the trips which last only a few hours or with children.
At around 11pm, two huskies were brought in to spend the night with us. This helps to socialise them and prepare them for possible adoption once their sledging days are over. We then saw our first short aurora display and tried out the earth closet WC (lovely warm expanded polystyrene seat!) before getting to bed just after midnight.
The Sunday dawned sunny and crisp, around -30C, and, after breakfast we were given the opportunity to take some of the older or recuperating dogs on a 2km exercise circuit. Then it was time to learn how to collect the dogs chosen to run that day from their pens or spans and put on their harnesses. Clipping the dogs onto their traces and creating the teams was a task where the knowledge and experience of the guides was vital. They knew each dog by name, which size harness it required and which other dogs it could run with or had to avoid.
The farm maintains a very detailed mileage spreadsheet which is updated daily, so that dogs that could do with a rest and those that need more action can be picked out easily. This is one of the ways that the dogs chosen to go out on the 5-day Safari are selected, although their age, strength, and thickness of coat are also taken into the equation for this premium tours. Once the selection is made, their personalities and preferences with respect to other dogs, are taken into consideration.
Our first day was a fairly straightforward 30 km circuit out to a cabin at the edge of the large frozen lake to the south of Enontekio. This gave us our first experience of the adrenalin surge that both we and the dogs experienced as we set off on the trail, leaving the unlucky dogs behind on the farm. It also gave us a chance to try out our gear and practice our sledging technique, safe in the knowledge that we would be back at the Kota on the farm later that evening with a chance to rectify things before heading out into the remote Tarvantovaara wilderness area and high tundra near the border with Norway.
Some of the sledges had the crucial instruction “Don’t Let Go” written on the handlebars and, embarrassingly, on that first day I was the only person who failed to heed the warning. My glasses had started to mist up and as I was trying to clear them at one of the halts my team suddenly lurched forward. Even though I had both feet on the brake, without by hands on the handlebar I was thrown off, ending up face down into the snow! My team were stopped before they went too far but it brought home how serious something like this could be out in the wilds. So that was Lesson 1 learned and I decided not to bother wearing my bifocals that I didn’t really need for distance vision.
Most of the trails we used were ones that had been compacted by snowmobiles. Repeatedly using these trails prolongs the sledging season as these consolidated tracks remain long after the deep powder snow alongside has melted; plus of course it’s easier for the dogs.
There were some sharp turns for us to practice cornering on but the dogs knew this route well and we hadn’t yet been taught any commands. We had to ‘scoot’ a little with one leg to help the dogs on the few short uphill sections but the main task we had to master was braking to maintain a safe distance from the sledge in front and to prevent the cowcatcher from running in to our hindmost dog/s when we hit steep downhills.
On Monday I got the chance to help prepare the dog’s food, something not many people seem to want to do. Admittedly it was a bit repetitive, cutting up each of 7 semi frozen slabs of offal & meat into 40 chunks for us to take on our trip but it was interesting to chat to Carl from NZ about life as a guide on the farm and the dogs. Plus I also got to take a Scottish Pointer Nakatleica Nenet-Laika-Taimyr Cross (or a Bearded Pointing Griffon?) for a toilet walk!
Then it was time to take some of the larger puppies on the fun obstacle training circuit – or rather they dragged us round, pulling on our restraining waist harnesses, while we valiantly tried to help them learn the commands HAW (left) and GEE (right).
Once these were back in their cages it was time to make up the sledges again, load our sleeping bag sac and our minimally-packed rucksacks onto them and psych ourselves up for another 20 mph take-off. The dogs seemed to know they were going off on a special trip and were looking forward to new trails and smells.
There were to be a line of 7 toboggan-type sledges, each pulled by 5 dogs hitched to a centre trace. In the lead would be Josh, a guide from Lancaster whose team included the best lead dogs, and bringing up the rear or sometimes appearing ahead of us would be Charlotte from France driving a snowmobile & pulk sledge.
The speedy snowmobile plays a useful role pulling supplies, helping at road crossings and, being on hand to sort out problems, is a valuable safety feature for the safaris. I did wonder if it might be intrusive but this was not the case, we just got the odd wiff of exhaust now & again as we most often encountered it waiting a couple of kilometres ahead as Charlotte was in radio contact with Josh and helped when required. It could also take photos of us driving the sledges and see if the teams needed adjusting to maintain even gaps between the sledges.
We set off at noon in lovely weather with temperatures around -13C and because we were heading out into the uninhabited far north it felt much more exciting than the previous day. My sledge was 4th in line, officially ”#4”, but I decided an ‘unofficial’ BAS-style name was more appropriate. So it was that “Sledge Scouser” was pulled 197 km across the Arctic whiteness by “The Fids” – a team of 5 dogs that I got to know and love over the next few days.
My lead dogs were Nomad: a quietly mannered Alaskan husky who ran with his ears horizontal & a straight-out-behind tail and Buddah: the ‘looker’ of the team with lovely white & gold fur and a vulpine face. He ran with his tail vertically straight but had a tendency to turn and snarl at the dogs behind. In fact he caused the one fight I had in my team. Fittingly it was he who ended up with a bleeding ear and a wound that needed Josh & Charlotte’s first aid skills in the hut a few days later.
My ‘swing’ dogs were 2 year old brothers, Samson & Shadow, running their first full season in the field. They were black and white Eurohounds (Alaskan husky x pointer cross) bred for speed at the expense of a slight loss in stamina. Shadow tended to run obliquely and always turned his nose up at the doggy treats I brought from the UK. Samson had a lovely easy trotting gait and was super strong. Much more vocal than Shadow, he would be barking energetically to try and get going within 2 seconds of the sledge in front leaving. It was always 2 barks to the front, then he’d turn his head and give 2 loud barks right in his neighbours face! Yet once taken off his span at the farm he would timidly shy away from his neighbours; perhaps he guessed that they’d be fed up with his noise! With large whites to his eyes and great affection he was probably my team favourite, especially as he made me laugh every day. He was one of the dogs who hadn’t mastered the knack of pooing-on-the-move, so within 30 minutes of setting off each morning there’d be a sudden drop in speed and there would be Sampson, turning his head with a look of panic in his eyes imploring me to put the brake on so he could squat properly!
I only had one dog in the ‘wheel’ position, a Nenet Laika called Aknil, who jumped from one side of the centre trace to the other as soon as we stopped, settling on the one that had the deepest powder snow. He’d then bury his head under the snow to cool down & maybe have an iced mouthful. The first day he trotted happily along but I never saw a taut trace so, with his long hair making him look a really big dog, I quickly nicknamed him “Fat Bastard”. At night he had to be put on the single span, a safe distance from any other dog for his and their safety so he was always a bit of a ‘loner’.
On the big trip I came to appreciate that he was really a valuable team member, especially on the uphills and, the more we sat, talked & stroked the more I came to realise what a lovely dog he was, so when the time came for us to finally part he was Aknil again, my second favourite in the team. Whether by luck or design, the “Fids” were a really strong, fast team and rarely had to encourage them to start with a “Let’s Go!” and was forever having to try and gently slow them down, something I preferred to bringing them to a periodic standstill with a “Whoah!”.
After 32 km we arrived at Galdotieva at 5pm just as it was getting dusk and I suddenly realised that my mobile was missing. I had been taking a few pictures of the huts just before we pulled off the frozen lake so I knew it wouldn’t be far away and, luckily, I spotted a dark corner sticking up out of the powder snow when I retraced our tracks on foot. I was then able to join in the unclipping & un-harnessing of the dogs, clipping them onto the chains that were already spanned out and feeding them with pellets and water. Once they’d slaked their hunger & thirst they were given their ‘treat’ – a chunk of the frozen meat that I helped to cut up earlier in the day. When all were fed we went round putting some straw for them to trample into a bed and put on ill-fitting (for many) sleeping jackets. All of this took around 90 minutes so it was dark by the time we got into the hut.
Buddah (Born 5.9.2013); Nomad (Born Nov 2008); Sampson (Born 18.7.2014); Shadow (Born 18.7.2014); Aknil (Born 1.10.2008): Sledge Scouser & “The Fids” at rest
What a surprise that was! So palatial: electricity, shower, sauna, TV, radiators, eiderdown-type duvets! This was really roughing it!! I got an even bigger surprise when I learned we were going up to the garage on the nearby road to eat in their restaurant. After a 3-course meal comprising mushroom soup, steak, pickled cabbage & chips, chocolate cake, lingenberries & cream and coffee we went back to the hut just as an aurora display started. I decided to get in a quick sauna followed by a powder snow rub followed by a hot shower before turning in.
Josh warned me about choosing a bottom bunk as Sampson, Sméagol, Sisu & Herbie were all going to spend the night in the hut with us to “help them socialise”. So started one of the weirdest nights I’ve ever spent; at one time there were 3 dogs lying with me / on me, at others there was a loud panting in my ear. Then I’d sleepily put my hand up to stroke a dog’s head, although one time I did end up stroking 2 small round things! But the dog didn’t seem to mind! I wouldn’t have missed that night for the world – but I decided that one disturbed night was enough and that I’d make sure I had a top bunk the next time.
At 6am next morning the early-rise volunteers were up to feed and water the dogs, after which we all headed back up to the garage for a help yourself from bacon, egg, dried reindeer, salmon, yoghurt & rye bread breakfast. We then packed up the sledges, picked up as much straw (to reuse) and poop (to compost) as possible and then started harnessing up the teams. It was a minus 15C morning with lots of fresh snow so some of the dogs needed to have bootees put on their feet. Some accepted this but some resisted. It was 10am before we finally set off to tackle the first of 7 hills we’d have to climb on this 40km day. I didn’t really notice the first couple as the gradients were so gentle but the 4th was a long one up out of the silver birch scrub onto the treeless tundra and soon there was white-out up ahead, although there were views to the right of the border fence with Norway. After another slope down we finally reached the highest point on the route, a cairn at 1,750ft, where we stopped for oxtail soup, a ryebread roll with cheese & salami plus tea and some biscuits.
Dropping down from this height we passed through large herds of reindeer being tended by the Sami, who herded us along with their snowmobiles to make sure the dogs didn’t veer off and go for their animals. We finally arrived at the state-owned cabins by the lake Syvajarvi in the Tarvantovaara Wilderness Area, around 40km from the nearest road at 4.30pm after around 7 hours standing on the runners and helping on the uphills.
This was a primitive hut in comparison with our previous night’s stay but still more palatial than the field huts on Signy! It had a proper stove and a side hut which served as a sauna and water-melting facility. That night we dined on Elk and I learned a modern way to splice rope, much faster and simpler than the way I learned on the Biscoe.
Our 4th day with the dogs, St David’s Day, was to be our longest, for we had to retrace our route across the hills and then carry on some more before the steepest climb of the trip and an adrenalin-inducing descent to the huts at Nakkala – a total of 52km which was take us 9 hours. I awoke at 4.30am to the best doggy “dawn chorus” of the trip. As I wrote in my diary “around a minute of howling in unison: triggered by what? Not first light surely? And then they all packed up at exactly the same time! Amazing sound – the joy of being a pack animal and surviving the cold night or the equivalent of a deep yawn? I’d love to know.”
Anyway we were up at 6,00 to sort out the water and to feed the dogs, struggling to separate the frozen meat blocks, before heading inside again for our porridge. We were soon out again picking up straw and poo and harnessing the teams so we could be away by 9am. It was an eventful morning as we hadn’t gone far when a fight started in my team with all 5 dogs getting involved. But, before I could anchor the sledge and try to separate them they packed up and started pulling! I think it was Aknil who must have bitten Buddah’s ear that did the trick! A bit later on my sledge capsized in soft snow but I managed to hang on, as I did when I missed my footing on the runner after a spell of ‘scooting’.
It was an overcast -15C day but the gentle breeze at the start strengthened to around 20 knots from the north so we all needed most of our layers and took fewer photos! The last 15km were quite tough into the wind with driving snow, although the surroundings were very attractive, and we found a stray dog around 12 km from its home!
We arrived just as it was starting to get dark and then had to spend around 90 minutes dealing with the dogs, floundering around in deep snow and sinking up to thighs at times. I felt shattered when I was finally able to go up to the hut and grateful that our guide Charlotte had been busy preparing a wonderful salmon, rice & Hollandaise sauce meal. Later she and Josh spent an hour or so cleaning up Buddah’s ear and stapling the edges of the wound together. I had intended to go outside and sit with my dogs but I was too knackered!
Our final day dawned clear and sunny and we had a lovely 40km run south through birch into pine and then across the frozen lake back to the Hetta Huskies farm. At one point my dogs turned left under a young tree sapling which stuck out diagonally over the track. There was no way I could avoid it so I just held on tight and hoped it would snap. It didn’t! The next thing I knew I was being catapulted through the air and hitting the compacted track. Fortunately the next bit was a short uphill and my team stopped, allowing me to get back on the runners.
All too soon we were putting the dogs back on their spans or into their cages and being taxied to the family-run Hotel Majatalon nearby. There we had 10 minutes for a quick shower and shave before it was time for dinner, accompanied by the wife’s home-brewed beer.
I decided to go for a stroll through the village of Enontekio later that night and it coincided with the best aurora display of the trip with silently shifting green curtains directly overhead. I also managed to nip into the hotel sauna before it closed and spent an hour or so writing postcards and watching Finnish TV before turning off the lights.
My last couple of days were those of a tourist. I visited the local Sami Culture museum, paid for a 90 minute guided snowmobile safari and, after a short siesta, went with the others on a sleigh ride to view the ice castle.
This is a 3 room structure built every November for Canturbury (Transun don’t go to such palatial venues! ) and other holiday companies who fly folk out from the UK for a ‘day in Lapland with Santa Claus’, in which they visit one of the many (primarily British) santas, in cabins dotted around the woods. I suppose the kids like it but not many adults seem to from what I’ve read on Trip Advisor, athough the Hetta Huskies guides, who supply the dogs for some of the products, assured me that it could actually be really magical and that they had seen many, lifelong memories created. Apparently around 3,000 people visit Enontekiö each year to visit the venue and one of the many, (primarily British), santas, holed up in isolated cabins. After 25th December it’s given over to locals to show it lit by mood lighting to small groups like us.
There was just me and 2 ‘girls’ left on the Saturday and they had to leave at noon, so we hired snowshoes and had a quick 2 hours trying them out and climbing the local hill which was a superb viewpoint.
I spent the afternoon walking (without snowshoes) over to the start of a trail on the far shore of the lake before scrounging a lift back to Hetta for a final 12 hours at the farm. I wanted to try sleeping under the stars again; properly this time wearing my decent winter gear, so after helping to give the dogs their evening feed, I went off to the ‘Elf Den’ – a bed of conifer branches with a sloping wall of the same at one side which the guides had made one summer as a place to hang out in.
I slept much better than on my first night near the airport and didn’t feel the need to rise until 7.30am, by which time it had been light for some time. Time enough for a final farewell to ‘my dogs’ and some photo in the sunshine before the 2nd and last bus of the day arrived to take me back to the airport. The journey home was a much faster affair and, thanks partly to the 2 hour time difference, I was slipping into bed at home in Solihull just 13 hours after leaving Enontekio.
It was such a great holiday I’ve plans to go back in 3 to 5 years time for another trip. This time I fancy going near midwinter for just a 2 day safari which would have to be totally by head torch and moonlight. Anyone fancy joining me?
Postscript: Hetta Huskies is run by Pasi Ikonen, a ski wilderness guide & ex-Commando Border Guard, and Anna McCormack from the UK, a BSES & Raleigh International leader, who met each other in Tibet on the start line of the 827km Raid Gauloises 2000, an international Adventure Race which Pasi's team won.
They kept meeting on these types of events over the next few years swapping podium positions and married in January 2003, moving to Hetta 2 years later. They started the Dog Farm and safari business in 2008, a task which fell on largely on Anna’s shoulders when Pasi grabbed the opportunity to join Poppis Suomela on a two-man trip to Antarctica that November. On Christmas Day they became the first Finns to complete an unsupported expedition to the South Pole.
Their son Eliel was born in 2010 and at 5 years of age he participated in his first solo dog-sled race, so Huskies run in the family! Knowing this I took them a copy of “Of Dogs & Men” and made a copy of my “The Book that Wasn’t” as I was sure they’d be interested to learn the history and stories of the British dogs in the Antarctic. Pasi kindly ordered an English copy of the book about their South Pole adventure.
There is a wealth of information on boards around the Farm, which is run on very ‘green’ principles. Hetta Huskies is a partner of the “Leave No Trace centre for Outdoor Ethics’’ and has been graded as “Certification-plus”, the highest possible grading within the sleddog industry by the “Mush with Pride” kennel inspectiors. They were also awarded “Gold” in the Animal Welfare Category at the 2015 World Responsible Tourism Awards. The farm takes in local rescue dogs and has a policy of never euthanising a healthy dog. Retired dogs are often walked by guests and there are also sponsorship & adoption programmes. Part of the Cape Lapland business group, they maintain one of the best websites I have come across http://www.hettahuskies.com
Having said that, we have set the price of the puppy and retired category of dog lower than that of a working dog since we feel that children may be attracted to the younger dogs (less than a year) and working dogs may be less attractive a sponsorship option overall even though they arguably need it more.
In reality, however, that is debatable. Old dogs and pups might actually cost even more than working dogs in terms of veterinary / medical needs, even if the adult working dogs definitely have higher food needs. Matsku, for instance, (one of our old retirees), used her entire 2016 sponsoship allowance on a mammary tumour operation to try to reduce lactaction and to buy her a few more quality months (or more) of life.
We are super appreciative of any and all support towards the whole-life care of our dogs.
