Lappland and the Arctic Circle

The rain outside of Östersund left us with a beautiful rainbow!

View from the tent in at Saiva Campgrounds in Vilelmina

As I promised my brother David, we made it to the Arctic Circle for his birthday on the 19th. We put on about 350 km from Sveg to our campsite in Vilhelmina. We were met with some rain along the way, but the most challenging part was the WIND! As the temperature dropped and the winds picked up, my fingers and toes became increasingly numb. We took many short breaks along the way to streak our aching backs and warm up our hands. We rolled into the campsite at the Saiva Campgrounds at around 11 PM with plenty of light to set up the tent.

After a nice and warm night's sleep we got back on the bikes and made started our 400 km journey to Arjeplog. We came across some of our first wildlife on the road- a few reindeer were wandering across the highway. Luckily we had plenty of time to slow down, but not enough time to take a picture unfortunately. I regret not having my GoPro at the ready to take a few snaps as they walked passed. Isn't it those kind of moments exactly what having a GoPro is all about?!

In Arjeplog we decided to rent a stuga at the Kraja Stugby for two nights so we could stay warm and do some gear reorganization. Also, the cabins are really cute and my back was hurting! At Kraja's restaurant we got a gormet dinner of reindeer, lax and gös to celebrate David's birthday. He then took a sauna while I walked around and took photos of the "sunset". The difference in the daylight has been very noticeable as we travel northwards. By 1:00 AM in Arjeplog the sun is already getting brighter, and if I wanted to, I'm sure I could sit outside and read the newspaper! I'm not sure how people can get any sleep when the most gorgeous sunsets/sunrises go on for hours. I guess that's what black-out curtains and sleep masks are made for!

Tomorrow we'll leave our gear at the stuga in Argeplog and explore the mountains and national park nearby. Maybe we'll even get to the Norwegian border?