Abisko and Ice Fishing

We are about to get even colder

Prior to our trip, Mrs. Cinnamon Bun and I spent weeks buying super warm clothes for the family. Every time we left our cabin for any significant amount of time, we were wearing full ski pants, several layers of long underwear, and sweaters, jackets etc. Our youngest Cinnamon Stick said, “Now I know what a penguin feels like”. Here we are playing near the Ice Hotel to give you a sense of the gear:

But we were about to get even colder. Our first event was ice fishing. I certainly enjoy my fishing time, but standing around on a frozen lake while you fish sounds just a bit crazy. But our kids were troupers and we all ended up having a really great time. We went to the outfitters around 9:00am as the day broke. We explained to the guide all the great layers that we had and he told us to just put on this giant snowsuit over top of everything:

We took a gorgeous ride on a sled that was pulled by a snowmobile. I spent the entire trip worrying about frostbite again. But we made it unscathed:

Our guide explained the process: 1) carefully drill a hole in the ice, 2) bait your hook with “French Worms” i.e. maggots (turns out this is my job), 3) drop the line down the hole, 4) if you basically bonk a fish on the head with your bait, it may decide to bite and you could catch an arctic char. Since the water is so cold, the fish are extremely sedentary. The best strategy is to drill a lot of holes in the hopes of getting one where a school of fish linger. Incidentally, drilling holes in ice is also an excellent way to keep warm:

Our fearless guide, Oscar, is very sensitive about his drill. It is apparently very easy to break.

Our youngest Cinnamon Stick (not) thrilled to be standing on ice and not catching fish

The appeal of the “Warming Hut” is too strong. The littles set off dreaming of a fire and a cup of warm lingonberry juice.

I must admit, the hut was the highlight of the fishing trip.

Our trusty steed

The only thing we caught was cups of lingonberry juice

And marshmallow candy

The Ice Planet Hoth is deadly cold, but also beautiful

Our lovely hut

After the fishing trip, our next event was a bit easier: a trip to our sauna. We won’t be posting any pictures of that since this is a family site.

The day and night were extremely clear, so we were hopeful that we would see the Northern Lights. We enjoyed a clear sunset and had dinner at the hotel restaurant.

After dinner we did indeed see the Northern Lights. The kids were a bit disappointed, they claimed, “It just looks like a grey streak”. I have to agree with them. It turns out to really see the lights well, you have to stay outside in the total darkness for up to an hour, so your eyes could adjust. Then you could make out the subtle colors much better. After our cold day of fishing, the kids were in no mood to sit in the cold and snow for an hour, and neither was I. It turns out, that your camera does a much better job - it adjusts instantly to low light. Here’s our aurora from that night:

I have now reached the e-mail limit again! So stay tuned for Part 3…