We woke up really early again to another beautiful morning. No one really out and about. We first spotted Peter taking photos and went for a chat. Sue came out to go and find a toilet spot and was dismayed at first to see us milling about so went headed off in the opposite direction away from the camp to a section of small trees a bit further away! One by one someone would come out and have a few minutes chat before making a stat on the daily routine. Everyone seemed very content this morning and looking forward to the day ahead.

Peter taking a stroll !!

This morning we had quite a stretch of moguls to travel through. Karen, my tent buddy suddenly starting having problems, she was falling off left, right and centre. She took some cracking falls and for what seemed like no reason. Tove knew there must be something wrong and kept looking the sled over and watching Karen but couldn't quite fathom it out at first. Then she realised that a rope had been attached incorrectly and it was warping the sled resulting in it pulling to one side. Tove refastened the sled and thankfully for Karen this sorted the problem. We followed a track through a forest for about 10 km and then came to our first lake which was quite tough as there was hardly any snow coverage at all. The dogs were slipping all over the place. We hoped no one ran into trouble here as it would be very difficult to stop as the brakes would be of no use on solid ice. We stopped briefly for lunch about 3.30 pm.

Simon & Andy during a quick lunch break

The next lake there was no snow coverage, pure ice. It was extremely bumpy and at times holding onto the sled felt like holding onto a pneumatic drill. The ice cracked and shattered, bits flying behind us everywhere, the dogs looked round at me every so often as if to say what was that. Although I knew the ice was extremely thick and there was no risk of falling in, it was still nerve racking trying to stop the sled from overturning on the huge uneven ice ridges that we were speeding across. Eventually we were on a lake with snow on it, I sang songs to my dogs so I wouldn't fall asleep but that wasn't because it was so easy it was boring. Far from it, it had taken an immense amount of concentration to get through today so far. Thinking we musn't have much longer to go the weather took a dramatic turn for the worse. Visibility was very poor as we travelled through biting almost blizzard conditions. Throughout the day I'd waved my arms about in turns doing exercises, trying to alleviate tensing the muscles up but now it was very difficult making myself let go and only keep one hand on the sled while the weather was so poor. It was extremely cold and I felt very tired as for what seemed like hours all I had been focusing on was the back of the person in front so I wouldn't lose sight of them. At this point the only other thoughts in my head was getting hot soup and into my sleeping bag. It eventually stopped snowing and things became much easier. Wasn't it supposed to have been an easy day from the start today - I had a vague recollection of it being said during team brief, were they talking about the same place, couldn't have been.

We eventually stop on the lake to make our camp. By the time we have staked out the dogs, fed them, and put up the tents it is extremely dark. At team brief we are told we've done 80 km!! This means we have done two days driving in one day, no wonder we were tired! Tove & Tore explained they knew it would be really tough but after weighing everything up felt we needed to keep pushing on as due to the condition of the ice it would not be safe to set off from any point on that stretch first thing in a morning with fresh excitable dogs. The good news of all this was that we had virtually arrived at our destination as the Ice hotel in Kiruna was only 5 minutes away.

A pretty spot for camping out

Drilling for water

After team brief everyone dispersed to unpack their sleds, sort out their gear and make a meal. It is gone midnight when we collapse on our sleeping bags to eat our tea - the longed for hot soup; we are so tired we don't feel like eating but know we should because we haven't really had much all day.