Mountains, Rivers and Valleys

The weather is enchanting, sunny, and bright. The air warms up, feeling no colder than minus ten, by my estimation. I cross the lake and proceed further along a picturesque river valley. At one point, tension arises—Tomi snaps at Trond, who's picking up on him. Now, he keeps such a distance that at times he dashes through the snow off the trail. Fetching water from the river for the dogs, it turns out none of them are thirsty; we can continue our journey. The conflict among the dogs also disturbs my peace; I feel more tense.

We head towards Pieskehaure, a lake that stretches for at least 20 km. Today, I aim to reach the other side by evening, where by the mountains, there's an STF station. There, I can both boil water and dry my clothes. In other words—relax in comfy and safe conditions.

The trail on the snowy lake disperses into individual paths, making it harder for us to maintain direction. Even the tracks left by a snowmobile aren't firm; the dogs' paws sink, demanding extra effort, especially for Trond, who still keeps his distance from Tomi. I sense Tomi's fatigue and lack of enthusiasm. I often stop to clear his paws from ice chunks. Greenland dogs don't seem to face this issue. The last trail left by the vehicle vanishes—it has turned back, but we need to keep moving forward. Torve looks at me with questions; it's unclear which way to run now—it's all white, flat, and uniform. I move in front, allowing us to maintain direction together. I've noticed that in challenging conditions, learning and repeating commands isn't a good idea. The dog is saving energy, and learning can create extra confusion. Right now, the task is to continue, even though we all feel tired, and the dogs weren't informed about this lengthy journey. Tomi is more visibly disrupting movement; I'm starting to doubt if I'm not causing harm. I'm pretty sure that the Greenland dogs are also tired, but unlike the Malamute, they don't attempt to find alternative ways to continue the day.

The sun sets, and once again, I realize it was worth getting here. Right before my eyes, the sun illuminates glaciers behind which lies Norwegian territory. A clear, vivid light that pictures or screens can't depict. I'm grateful for this day and the world these dogs have brought me to. Around nine in the evening, we're at the mountain station, having covered over 50 km today.