Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening

The words of Robert Frost were going through my head as we headed into the woods in our reindeer sleigh. Cuddled together with a blanket over us and a reindeer pulling us through the dark, snowy night, I was filled with a sense of tranquility.

Chris and I were assigned to the front sleigh in our reindeer sleigh train. That meant that we only had the reindeer and the Sami herder ahead of us and the rest of the sleighs behind us. The reindeer behind us seemed to have a fondness for me, though and kept coming up alongside me. As I would look to the left, his large head with antlers was bobbing along next to me. Amazing!

You can't see our reindeer in this photo, but the one behind me is the one who walked beside me.

This is the reindeer who pulled our sleigh.

We stopped in the woods at a kota (Lappish tepee). Inside, our guides shared stories and information about the Sami people throughout Lapland. One of our guides was a Norwegian Sami from the northern region and the other was a Russian Sami. They both sang some traditional songs for us as well. We enjoyed warm berry juice by the fire while we listened.

He is a Russian Sami. He is wearing clothes made of reindeer skin that he made himself.

She is a Norwegian Sami wearing a traditional summer costume.

Then, it was time to load ourselves back into the sleigh for the journey back. The sky was cloudy, so we did not see the northern lights, but it was very peaceful and such a unique experience.