Greetings!
That's not a shot of either of us on a sleddog run, but today we visited a woman who eight years ago answered a friend's request to take in some unwanted huskies on her newly-purchased large property. "It was a lifechanger for me, and things just grew from there." She, her 6 year old son, and 42 sleddogs greeted us this afternoon for a lesson in multi-species cooperation and support.
One of a number of mid-range sleddog experience companies, with some sporting over a hundred dogs, she explained the details of raising and training the huskies (who all don't look like the typical "Huskie") for forming teams of experienced and inexperienced pairs up to twenty meters ahed of the sleigh. Going out daily on 20-40 kilometer runs, and longer for races, we were fascinated how this rugged and dedicated mother maintains this lifestyle.
It isn't for the money, as her kennels, feed, and workhours consume every dollar and minute of the long days so far to the north. But tourists are coming to kayak, ski, hunt, fish, and ride sleddogs in a winter where the snow and ice are deep, and the reindeer abound.
Earlier in the day, we visited the
Siida Sami Museum, chosen European Museum of the Year in 2024. It was not a far walk from our hotel, and the collection of repatriated objects from throughout Finland is spectacular. Their use of multi-media, translations in may languages on every display, and story-telling presentations can't be beat.
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