During this trip with Ray Mears in the cold winter of the Northern Forest of Finland we encountered temperatures as low as -40C. This didn’t stop us from sleeping outside in a variety of shelters: from a tarp stretched over a ditch, to an igloo-like quinzee to a double-walled tent with a stove. He showed us a glimpse of what living in the Northern Forest was like for the traditional peoples of Finland, the Sami.
This time the trip was during summer and about 300 miles above the Arctic Circle. We floated down the Killik river in a national park the size of the Netherlands. With nobody around for hundreds of miles… We encountered bears, wolves, golden eagle, moose and caribou. And enjoyed the luxury of 24 hour daylight that the far north has to offer: never have to rush to pitch your tent before dark!