Day Trip to Aavasaksa

We woke up to a beautiful sunrise this morning and thought it would be nice to climb the Aavasaksa Lookout in Finland to enjoy the view, so we drove across the ice road and headed south.

Aavasaksa a small town at the base of a small mountain, about 24km south of Juoksengi. It is just across the Torne River from Övertorneå. On the mountain is a camping area where you can rent cabins in the summer, a market, and a small ski area with one lift (that we could see anyway). At the top of the hill there is a large radio antenna and a nice lookout tower where you can look across the river to Sweden.

Jessica’s brother took us up there on my first trip to Sweden in 2002 and I really enjoyed it, so I thought it would be cool to take Zoe there too. When I went there it was June. The sun saw shining, ground was covered with wild blueberries, and it was warm. Today, things are a little different. The temperature is somewhere around -15c, and the ground is covered with at least 2 feet of snow, but at least the sun was shining.

We drove as far as the road was plowed, then we started our hike. It would be a 500m walk along the snow covered road. Fortunately there were some snowmobile tracks which made the walk a little easier. About 200 meters up the hill Jessica and Zoe decided to play in the glistening snow. I just stood and soaked up the view. The sun was shining through the snow dusted trees and the ice crystals on the ground sparkled like diamonds.

After the quick break we continued our accent, taking turns pulling Zoe on her snow racer. The view just got better and better, and I kept telling Zoe how cool the view from the tower was going to be.

When we got to the stairs that I remembered from my previous trip, I started to worry. They were completely covered with snow, and I was beginning to think the trip was going to be a total waste of time. As we reached the top of the hill, I realized that I was right. There would be no tower climbing today, unless we wanted to walk through the two feet of virgin snow. I was tempted, but I knew Jess and Zoe were not going to do it, and looking at the windows on the Lookout, I don’t think we would have been able to see anything anyway. Oh well.

So just when I thought the day was a complete loss, I heard the joyful laughter of a young child coming from behind me. Looking over my shoulder I saw Jessica and Zoe happily zipping down the hill on the Snow Racer!

Hey! Wait for me…

Moose Sighting

Jessica spotted a moose standing along the side of the road today while we were driving to Haparanda to do some shopping. We zipped passed it but decided to turn around to get another look so I pulled over at the next parking spot and turned around.

From the other direction we noticed there were actually three of them. Two were standing just past the trees. Jess snapped a few photos through the windshield before they started running into the forest. The closest one to the road looked drunk. It’s tounge was hanging out of its mouth and one ear was kinda droopy. It was pretty funny looking.

Driving off the Road

Oops! Jessica’s grandfather drove into a ditch today while driving to the house during a snow storm.

It is pretty hard to tell where the road is when everything is white and the wind is blowing snow in every direction.

Sunup… Sundown

This is a series of stills taken at noon on January 6th 2008. It was the first time this year that we could see the sun came above the horizon here in Juoksengi, Sweden.

First Sunrise of 2008

Today the sun popped above the horizon for the first time in over a month. The first sunrise of 2008! It was only visible for about a minute, then it was gone.

The Beginning of a New Year

Well today is January 1st 2008. Jessica and I are wiped out from last night’s New Years Celebration on the river, where we stayed until past 1am, despite the -20 degree weather, so today was more or less a lazy day, except for when Zoe and I played ‘Monster’ more times than I wish to remember. Jessica finally got a chance to sleep in, which was nice, even though she had a hangover.

I’m really looking forward to the coming months. This is my first full winter in Sweden, and it will be nice to see the transition from winter to spring. The days are already getting longer, which means more time to play outside, in the snow. Now we just need snow!