back from Finnland (dogsledding)

M

ml100

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Jul 19, 2005
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"I keep an eye on you"


Well, back from Finnland (Carelia), where I spent a wonderful week dogsledding.

I didn't have any experience with dogsledding before, but I will do it again for sure.
I flew from Zürich (Switzerland) via Helsinki (capital of Finnland) to Joensuu. After being picked up by the guide at the small local airport we drove about 110 km (about 70 miles) eastbound close to the Russian border. The lodge was a former station of the Finnish border patrol. The closest linear distance to the border was just about 3 km (2miles), while the border zone, that can only be entered with special permission was just 400 meters away.

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Just a few meters from the Russian border.


Stay tuned....
 
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The closest neighbor is 9 miles away. The last 50 miles on the way from the airport there was one single house and absolutely no oncoming traffic.
The guide and owner of the logde was actually a Swiss guy who emmigrated 20 years ago, frist to Sweden and later on to Finnland. He is in the dogsledding buisiness for 20 years and was even a Finnish champion.
Now he lives the whole year through in his remote place with his gilfriend and 45 dogs.
The first day we went out with the dogs, he wore a fixed knife on his belt. I said "hey, is that a sissipuukko m 95?" (the M95 is the Finnish ranger knife). He looked at me in surprise "how do you know?". Well, common ground. He grinned and said "That's the real reason for living here. I can go around with a belt knife all day long".

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Dogs, impatient to start.

More to come...
 
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I brought three knives with me.

The Fällkniven F1 with a Martin sheath (my standard fixed blade):
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The Glock field knife (which you either hate or love):
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And a Böker Rold:
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more to come
 
After one training day the tour went from wildernis cabin to wildernis cabin.
Unfortunately we had bad luck with the weather. The sun came out for only 40 minutes in the whole week. The rest of the time we had overcast skies or even snowfall.
And, it was much to warm. The week through it was about -2 to -8 C° ( in between 20-28 °F). This is bad for the dogs, since they prefer colder temperatures for running and it makes the trails soft. So especially uphill we had to give the dogs a lot of support. On the other hand, that gave us some good work out and kept us warm.
The cabins were usually well equipped (one even with solar power for the fridge in summertime), of course, food, sleeping bags and so and on we had to bring along. And, of course, no running water or unnecessary stuff like that.
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Will continue..
 
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About the knives:
We used the knives to cut rope, if repair was necessary, to spread peanut butter and jam, to peel the bark from Birch logs, and to do a lot of BATONING. The guide, Martin, carried a Gransfors axe, but for the fun of it we split the wood for fire starting with the knives (well not the F1 , but the Sissipuukko M 95, the Glock and the Böker Rold). Several times we drove the blades through knots, really hitting hard. They all did the job without problem, with the Böker holding the best edge (more about the Böker Rold later).

bedtime for the dogs..
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Will continue later...
 
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glimpse of blue sky..... gone within minutes
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the lakes were frozen, while rivers were still resisting
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dinner is ready..
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stay tuned
 
On the way to the Russian border.
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We had a special permission to enter the border zone and go right to the border.

The Russian border. Should i go beyond the fence?
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No, that fence is not going all allong the border, it has somehow a more symbolic character, since a trail ends here. The fence is only about 25 yards long. Still, stepping through that swing door is not advisable. Finnish border patrol seems to be very particular about this. If they see your footprints crossing the line, the guide may very well not get any further permission to enter the border zone.

Stay tuned
 
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Nash, my favorite dog. One of the rare moments he stood still. Always impatient, always willing to pull, never tired , troublemaker and TOTALLY CRAZY.

Crazy Nash, again.
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Wildlife? Well, very little to see. Lots of moose tracks, the track of a lynx, and quite a few ptarmigan we flushed.
I saw one wolverine crossing the trail about 50 yards ahead. The bears are hybernating. Martin, the guide,
told me that summertime is much better for wildlife. In that remote area you get to see moose, wolferine, beaver, bear, lynx (with a lot of luck) and you may encounter wolves.

Stay tuned
 
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It is absolutely wonderful to see the variations in your cabins vs ours. Do you have any more pictures of it?
 
About the knives. The Fällkniven F1 is my EDC and all-time favourite. However, once in a while, you need a larger blade.
I love the Glock knife, for it' s lightweight, extremely robust, virtually indestructable. You can cut, chop, pry, stab. I know, factory edge and tip are poor, you actually get an unfinished knife. But I guess everyone here knows how to deal with that. Edge retention could be better, but it's easy to sharpen. And if you lose it or it's stolen, so what? It's cheap. I think, you can't go wrong with a Glock.
The Böker Rold? It did well, so I gave it some additional workout back here in Switzerland.

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Given its medium size it makes a good chopper. Edge retention is excellent.
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D2 and toughness?
Well, should I use it as a step? I know, the Glock will take this easily though it's just a partial tang, but the Rold?
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Well, I did it, and used it as a step with my full load (176 lbs). No damage, nothing.
Well done, Böker!


So , thats it!
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