A Beito Husky Adventure
When planning this trip, one of the things Joel and I had been most excited about was to go dog sledding in the incredible Norwegian wilderness and the day had finally come! With all our cameras and Go Pro’s charged, thermals on and thirst for adventure, we were ready! We travelled up to Beitostolen, a ski resort about thirty minutes from where we were staying (more about that later). When we arrived at Beito Husky, we were sadly told that due to the unseasonably warm weather and winds, there was not enough snow on the lake to take the dogs and sleds out.
Completely devastated, we decided to still try and make the most of the day and go on a wilderness tour of ice fishing and snow-shoe exploring (although no snow shoes required for us!). We were met by our guides, Niklas and Elisa with their trusty sidekicks, Langøre, D2 and Lily, beautiful huskies that also run with the sleds.
Equipped with poles and fishing gear, we trekked down the mountain to the lakeside and the outlook that was waiting for us was unbelievable.
The moody clouds were floating away and all that remained was a bright blue sky, a rugged mountain-scape surrounding us and a mirror like frozen lake below. The dogs ran free in the wide-open space as we all gingerly made our way across the lake to a small island with the promise of a more stable base to enjoy the scenery.
Now, we needed to get the campfire started. We learnt some tips that even Bear Grylls would want, like that the outer layers of the birch tree are the best for kindling, even when wet. Before we knew it we had a steaming hot cup of Norwegian berry juice in our hands warming us up as we watched our new friends soaking up the sunshine on their favourite spots of the island.
It was time to take to the ice again and hopefully not test our skating skills too much! We used a traditional screw to drill the more than 12cm deep ice. Then we dropped a line in and crossed our fingers that we would be lucky enough to catch a delicious fish from the lake. No luck, unfortunately. But we didn’t go hungry, a stew was heating up on the fire to enjoy. After lunch, we had to leave our little spot of perfection (which some of us were not so happy about!) and explore the shoreline. This part of the world really is picturesque everywhere you turn.
After a few slips, we sadly needed to make our way back up to base camp, but not before we got to meet all the gorgeous sled dogs. Although we did not get to sled across the beautiful lake and into the forest, we did get to have some sloppy puppy cuddles!
We decided to stay in a quaint little boutique hotel out of the ski resort, Herangtunet. It is a fantastic place to base yourself to discover this remote region of Norway. Joel and I loved getting cozy by the outdoor fire with a hot chocolate after a particularly good session of sledding down the driveway. It’s fair to say it was a magical day!
xx The Strawberry Story