Bushcraft Stuff

My family and I have recently returned from a fantastic trip to a Winter Wonderland of snow, ice and frozen lakes, better known as Jämtland in Sweden.

TRAVEL

We flew from Heathrow airport, London, UK and landed at Arlanda airport, Stockholm, Sweden. After spending a night in a very nice hotel not far from the airport. Early the next morning we caught ‘The Ice Train’ at the train station housed in the same buildings as the airport itself. The Ice Train took us through some breathtaking scenery as we travelled up through Sweden. It’s final destination was Ostersund but, we disembarked just before at a small station in Bräcke.

After a journey of roughly five hours we stepped off the super heated train straight into a quite comfortable -5 degrees Celsius. As we walked from the platform and crossed the tracks, heading towards the road, a Land Rover pulled up and our host Geerd de Koning from DaVaj Northern Bushcraft and Trekking shouted his hello’s and welcomed us to Bräcke.

The Ice Train

We loaded our rucksacks and climbed aboard the Land Rover and Geerd began driving us towards his home and the lodge we would be staying in, before we set off on our dog sledding adventure. I have to admit that sitting in the back of the Land Rover, fairly belting down the entirely ice covered road. I did begin to think that maybe I wasn’t going to live long enough to actually meet any of the sled dogs. But, I no need to have worried. Geerd knew exactly what he was doing and we arrived safely. After disembarking from the Land Rover I noted the studded winter tyres it was fitted with. It was a reminder that if anything the Swedes are well prepared for the weather that their winters can throw at them.

THE LODGE

The Lodge

Our accommodation was beautiful and very comfortable. I must admit that when I learned we were staying in a cabin in the woods, I had visions of something akin to my garden shed, albeit a little larger. How wrong could I have been? The lodge was pure luxury. Running water, central heating, comfortable furnishings, triple glazing and insulated, wood burner, sauna, hot tub all situated in gorgeous woodland on the edge of a lake (although it was frozen solid).

The frozen lake

FOOD

When we entered the lodge there was a large pot of homemade soup waiting for us, courtesy of Loulou, Geerd’s lovely wife. Throughout our time at the lodge Loulou prepared our evening meals which were mostly traditional Swedish fare usually containing either Moose or Reindeer meat, supplied by Geerd’s hunting trips.

ADVENTURE

During our time in Jämtland we made the most of the beautiful scenery and pristine wilderness. Either snowshoeing, cross country skiing or dog sledding.

I have to admit that for someone such as myself living in the South West of the UK, I rarely see any snow or ice. So, to be able to walk and even drive across a frozen lake was quite a novelty. The afternoon we arrived at the lodge, we all decided to do a bit of exploring around the immediate area. This included snow shoeing out on the lake. Everything was going great until my snow shoes sank into the snow and water started bubbling up around my feet. For a brief moment, it did cross my mind that I was going in for an impromptu swim (not a pleasant thought in these sort of temperatures). No need to panic though. The ice on the lake was about two feet thick so there wasn’t much chance of that cracking under my weight. However, since the lake had frozen a substantial amount of snow had fallen. The weight of this snow was enough to push the ice down into the lake and a few inches of water had found its way onto the top of the ice.

One evening Geerd did drive us across the lake. It was very surreal to see road traffic signs protruding from the ice in the middle of the lake.

SLED DOGS

Sled dogs crossing a frozen lake

Finally the day came when we were to meet the dogs. Geerd drove us to Wilbert’s house (the owner of the sled dogs). There we spent a morning being taught how to harness the dogs, how to handle them and how to fix them to the sleds. We stopped for lunch (toasted sandwiches cooked over an open fire). And, then in the afternoon we learnt how to ‘mush’. The lesson started by each person completing a circuit Wilbert had made on his land. We also had to learn the commands that the dogs understood. ‘Ha’ for left, ‘Gee’ for right and the most important of all ‘Ho’ for stop. It’s worth pointing out that this last command does not work when you the musher have exited the sled and find yourself face down in a snow drift. Once sled dogs are running, unless you are on the sled and in control of the brake there is nothing, absolutely nothing that will stop them! We were told in no uncertain terms NOT TO LET GO OF THE SLED. If you did it could result in several hours of hot pursuit or should that be cold pursuit?

One of our furry friends

The following day we returned to Wilbert’s and started to prepare the sleds for our adventure. Loading them with sleeping bags, food, etc. As soon as the sleds were moved the noise started. The dogs got very excited barking, howling and growling. They just love to run. Once they get going though, it’s like someone has flicked a switch. The only noise that comes from the dogs is a gentle panting.

Tony & Dom ready to go

Travelling through the countryside being pulled by a team of dogs really is something to experience. We followed trails buried under deep snow, the sleds sliding over the snow which if on foot would have been very difficult to negotiate. We crossed more frozen lakes and frozen swamp land. The sky was a cobalt blue and all around us was complete silence except the panting of the dogs and the ‘swooshing’ sound of the sled crossing the snow and ice. The entire time we were out we never spotted another person (I think they all had more sense that us and stayed in their homes close to the fire).
While we were out with the dogs the temperature dropped lower and lower until one night it dropped below minus thirty. That was ambient temperature! Heaven knows what it would be with some wind chill thrown in.

I have to say that it was a cold night that night. We were sleeping (or should I say trying to sleep) in a tent tipi, fitted with a log burning stove. We kept the log burner going all night long, taking it in turns to add more fuel to the stove when needed. Even so, the temperature never climbed above zero in the tipi.

Tony in the tent/tipi

The next morning it was decided by our guides Geerd and Wilbert that it had got just too cold. The dogs had had a bad night and Wilbert was keen to get them back home to their kennels. I have to admit that we were a little saddened that we had to cut our adventure short but, I cannot say in truthfulness that any of us were not glad to be heading for the comfort of that luxurious lodge.

The lodge taken from the lake

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