There was a whiteout and snow in the air when we woke. The expedition routine of food (for dogs and humans), packing, cleaning the hut and harnessing dogs went pretty smoothly. It was actually pretty warm still, but there was a lot of pushing and skating alongside the sled on the way up to the pass.
Good training for this sort of thing would have been to have loaded up a trolley in Tesco and spent a few hours skating it around the store. That’s pretty much what we are doing here. It is better up here in the mountains though - and with the absence of other dogs to follow, we are breaking trail, which feels good. More adventurous at least.
There was a small hut at the pass, which was our high point if the tour at 1100m, but we didn’t stop as Marcus wanted to keep the dogs moving. We were all keen for a break, but the downhill on the other side of the col kept our attention on driving the sleds. I kept off the brakes, to see how fast I would go. Disaster almost struck when the sled tipped up onto one runner. With all my weight thrown over the sled, it somehow kept its balance, but was starting to overtake the dogs! After a few seconds (which felt much longer), the sled crashed back down to having both ski runner on the snow. I managed to hang on, but had to sprint behind until I could jump back on. It was a close run thing and I was more liberal with the brakes afterwards.
The scenery was utterly stunning. There was no sign of anyone or any human activity. I wanted to stop and soak up the views and take photos, but the dogs weren’t stopping.
We dug into a snowdrift for lunch, where hot soup and polar bread sustained us for the final section down to the Cabin at Sälkastugorna. By now the sun was out and we sat outside catching the last of the rays after completing our tasks. Everyone has their jobs: collecting water, chopping wood and feeding dogs. This is the best hut so far. Feels super remote.
Felt a bit like Captain Scott as we bedded down in our bunks by the fire...
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