ADLhighflyer
Member
- Joined
- Jan 14, 2013
- Posts
- 311
After an early night, and waking up several times, the alarm for todays activities went at something like 5am. I still wasn’t 100%, but didn’t want to miss the amazing day ahead that was planned. For the days itinerary – Snowmobiling to the tri-country border of Norway, Finland and Sweden, followed by a night of chasing the northern lights. A long day ahead, but one that would hopefully be worth it.
Arriving at the meeting point at the bus terminal at 0615, for the 10hr long day which should have us back into Tromso around 4-4:30pm in preparation for the lights tour which departed at 5:30pm. We intentionally booked with the same company for both tours, just in case of any unforeseen issues.
Leaving Tromso, we had a 2hour or so journey our to our destination of Kilpisjärvi in Northern Finland which was where the Snowmobile adventure would start from. Due to the snowy conditions, the 2hr trip ended up taking close to 3-3.5hrs with multiple stops being made to clean the windscreen wipers of the bus due to snow built up. This was made up with the fantastic scenery that we passed – when we could see out the windows of course when it wasn’t snowing!
Upon arrival, the 20 of us on the bus were split into 2 groups of 10 each. We went and got kitted out in Snow Gear, which included a very warm suit, boots, gloves and helmet before getting a safety briefing of how to operate the snowmobile. I was the designated driver for the day, with mum opting to enjoy the view from the rear seat on the snowmobile. This was her choice, not that I was going to complain! The extra clothing was excellent, as not once did we get cold.
The issue of the day though – was visibility. This would come and go, with the snow conditions deteriorating on/off to blizzard like conditions making it hard to follow the tracks of the snowmobile in front of us, along with actually being able to even see the snowmobile in front of us. The ground was extremely soft, with even the group leader commenting how conditions certainly weren’t easy with all the fresh snow that had fallen. On our journey to the tri-country border, we stopped a few times for photos. The ride took us over a nearby lake, up and down some hills and tight paths and through the trees before ending at the goal of the tri-country border of Norway, Finland and Sweden.
In summer, this Cairn is essentially like a marker Bouy/Island that has its own pathway that people can walk up and around. Instead, we got to walk around it in a matter of seconds in deep snow!
(How it looks in Summer, courtesy from Wikipedia)
And then how we saw it on the day!
After taking in the amazing spot, it was time to head back to base via the same snowmobile path. Visibility was still very low, and throughout the journey back only came off the path once whilst trying to clean the fresh snow off my windshield and helmet visor – but was thankfully able to drive back out with the instructors supervision (just in case!). We also stopped for lunch, with a freeze dried savory rice mixture which was very nice – though I could only eat about half of it whilst still recovering from whatever I had the previous day, but feeling much better.
We got back to base and got out of our suits, and waited for the other group to return from their trip before making the way back into Tromso. Due to the weather conditions, this proved another long trip back at we arrived just after 5:30pm, with our light hunting trip due to depart at 5:30pm!
Arriving back at the bus terminal in Tromso, we went in search of the Northern Lights Tour (thankfully same company – done intentionally for this reason), where they knew we were on our way and were expecting us. However, due to the long day we didn’t have any of our camera gear etc. After some discussions and options, it was agreed that they’d drop us off our the hotel and wait for a few minutes whilst we went up to grab our cameras etc and back onboard. No time for dinner – this was a time critical mission!
Back on the bus very speedily, the Northern Lights Tour could commence! We got the details of how the night would work, and due to the conditions and expected cloud cover the destination for tonight would be – Northern Finland, and roughly the exact area that we had only been throughout the day. This meant another 3hr journey back the way we came haha!
Our initial stop was chosen and we got out and set up with the camera and hoped the lights would appear. We managed to get a very brief glimpse of these, only to have it ruined by cloud cover!
With cloud cover inbound, it was back on the bus to another spot about 30-45mins down the road. Certainly clocking up the km’s today on a bus!
Upon arrival at the new spot, the clouds had cleared and the Northern Lights were out once again! The tour leaders started the campfire and dished out dinner, whilst we admired the majestic view in the sky! I’ll let the pictures do the talking!
Arriving at the meeting point at the bus terminal at 0615, for the 10hr long day which should have us back into Tromso around 4-4:30pm in preparation for the lights tour which departed at 5:30pm. We intentionally booked with the same company for both tours, just in case of any unforeseen issues.
Leaving Tromso, we had a 2hour or so journey our to our destination of Kilpisjärvi in Northern Finland which was where the Snowmobile adventure would start from. Due to the snowy conditions, the 2hr trip ended up taking close to 3-3.5hrs with multiple stops being made to clean the windscreen wipers of the bus due to snow built up. This was made up with the fantastic scenery that we passed – when we could see out the windows of course when it wasn’t snowing!
Upon arrival, the 20 of us on the bus were split into 2 groups of 10 each. We went and got kitted out in Snow Gear, which included a very warm suit, boots, gloves and helmet before getting a safety briefing of how to operate the snowmobile. I was the designated driver for the day, with mum opting to enjoy the view from the rear seat on the snowmobile. This was her choice, not that I was going to complain! The extra clothing was excellent, as not once did we get cold.
The issue of the day though – was visibility. This would come and go, with the snow conditions deteriorating on/off to blizzard like conditions making it hard to follow the tracks of the snowmobile in front of us, along with actually being able to even see the snowmobile in front of us. The ground was extremely soft, with even the group leader commenting how conditions certainly weren’t easy with all the fresh snow that had fallen. On our journey to the tri-country border, we stopped a few times for photos. The ride took us over a nearby lake, up and down some hills and tight paths and through the trees before ending at the goal of the tri-country border of Norway, Finland and Sweden.
In summer, this Cairn is essentially like a marker Bouy/Island that has its own pathway that people can walk up and around. Instead, we got to walk around it in a matter of seconds in deep snow!
(How it looks in Summer, courtesy from Wikipedia)
And then how we saw it on the day!
After taking in the amazing spot, it was time to head back to base via the same snowmobile path. Visibility was still very low, and throughout the journey back only came off the path once whilst trying to clean the fresh snow off my windshield and helmet visor – but was thankfully able to drive back out with the instructors supervision (just in case!). We also stopped for lunch, with a freeze dried savory rice mixture which was very nice – though I could only eat about half of it whilst still recovering from whatever I had the previous day, but feeling much better.
We got back to base and got out of our suits, and waited for the other group to return from their trip before making the way back into Tromso. Due to the weather conditions, this proved another long trip back at we arrived just after 5:30pm, with our light hunting trip due to depart at 5:30pm!
Arriving back at the bus terminal in Tromso, we went in search of the Northern Lights Tour (thankfully same company – done intentionally for this reason), where they knew we were on our way and were expecting us. However, due to the long day we didn’t have any of our camera gear etc. After some discussions and options, it was agreed that they’d drop us off our the hotel and wait for a few minutes whilst we went up to grab our cameras etc and back onboard. No time for dinner – this was a time critical mission!
Back on the bus very speedily, the Northern Lights Tour could commence! We got the details of how the night would work, and due to the conditions and expected cloud cover the destination for tonight would be – Northern Finland, and roughly the exact area that we had only been throughout the day. This meant another 3hr journey back the way we came haha!
Our initial stop was chosen and we got out and set up with the camera and hoped the lights would appear. We managed to get a very brief glimpse of these, only to have it ruined by cloud cover!
With cloud cover inbound, it was back on the bus to another spot about 30-45mins down the road. Certainly clocking up the km’s today on a bus!
Upon arrival at the new spot, the clouds had cleared and the Northern Lights were out once again! The tour leaders started the campfire and dished out dinner, whilst we admired the majestic view in the sky! I’ll let the pictures do the talking!
