Blogging at 22:00 on Saturday 10th August from intended overnighting spot N 68.04691°, E 23.35079° / http://maps.google.com/maps?q=loc:68.04691%2C23.35079
Sweden? Well, yes: but it's only a technicality. We started the day in Finland but after an hour or so of bumbling took one of the few opportunities available to cross the river that forms the border between the two countries hereabouts. The logic was two-fold. The main reason was that the road in Sweden that hugs the border looked (on the map) to be a far more minor and winding affair than it's Finnish counterpart. We reasoned that the Swedish option might well be the quieter of the two. The second reason was that we were both struggling for any data signals in Finland and took a punt that the Swedes might give us a fighting chance of access to email etc.
Both things worked out pretty well. The road especially is a winner. We've driven and cycled along it for perhaps three hours or more and have seen under ten moving vehicles all day.
We're well into birch forest territory here and the ground flora is a very typical mix including heather / cranberry / crowberry etc, set amongst vast carpets of mosses and lichens. It seems to suit reindeer well, there are loads where we are and - perhaps unsurprisingly - many Sámi people, too.
Bird sightings have been pretty thin on the ground with a few shy fieldfares and redwings making for most encounters. In spite of things being generally quiet, there have been a couple of notable exceptions: a Siberian jay (seen by Emma only, whilst cycling) and what was - to all intents and purposes - a pair of ptarmigan. I wasn't sure, though, and a bit of research suggests that because of habitat and distribution they were far more likely to be willow grouse. In which case, a first for us both.
We hunkered down early again today (pic), still feeling lots of fatigue from the Svalbard excursion.
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