After a very long trip from San Francisco to Chicago to Sweden to Norway, I finally arrived in Oslo, where I spent the entire day sleeping off the jet lag before catching a Scandinavian Airlines flight way up to the archipelago of Svalbard in the Arctic Circle the next morning. Surprisingly, it was a big plane, with six seats all the way across, and we landed in an arctic desert—right before going dog sledding in Longyearbyen.
We were to board Hurtigruten’s expedition cruise the following evening, but first there was more than 24 hours to kill in Longyearbyen, Spitsbergen’s biggest of four inhabited towns (population: 2,100). So we did what any tourists in the Arctic would do and we went to meet the locals!
If you’re confused about how we could go dog-sledding in Longyearbyen with no snow, you’re not the only one: I wondered the same. As it turns out, the dogs have to stay in shape year round, so their trainers exercise them on sleds with wheels.
So we ventured out into the “desert” to where the dogs were housed and got ready to go for a spin.
But first, we had to “suit up!” in these fine marshmallow suits to guard against the chill.
I wish they’d given me something like our driver’s get-up instead. Cozy, right?
And then, we were off! Dog-sledding through the barren desert.
Let me tell you: Despite no snow, those dogs run fast. Routinely, we’d have to stop and give them water from the stream, so they wouldn’t dehydrate.
My favorite part by far, though, wasn’t the ride at all, but when we got the chance to climb in the pen with all the babies.
I mean, would you just look at that face? How can you not want to pick him up and give him a big squeeze?
Pure bliss for a dog lover like me—so much so, I didn’t even mind the lingering stench of puppy breath on my cheek.
It took all I had to not sneak one home with me in my carry-on.
If you’ve been dog sledding in the snow, perhaps you won’t find this activity nearly as entertaining as I did. However, Longyearbyen doesn’t exactly have much of a social scene, so it’s a great way to kill some time—and energy—before being sea-bound for the next five days.
Weird! Just reading an article in the NY times travel section all about Oslo. Wasn’t completely sold, but that cute pup’ums definitely gets Oslo some extra points in my book:-)
-Sarah
Dogsledding is on my list of must-dos. It just looks so fun. Also that picture of the puppy kissing your cheek just broke my heart. Adorable!
LOOK AT THE PUPS! Aw. My heart just exploded. Made kind of a mess, actually.
And, yes, must admit some surprise. I imagined the Arctic Circle would be … snowier.
That looks like a blast!
Wow, what a great adventure. Love the video. I can see why you’d want to take one of those adorable pups. I think you let them out in the hopes one would follow you home. Nice to see some of your most recent journey.
funny…I just posted about dog sled riding in Alaska myself… those dogs are so amazing. I was surprised how the “moosher” hardly has to lift his or her voice to direct the dogs since they have such a keen sense of hearing. And the puppies are certainly so cute!
Look at those beautiful blue eyes on those little puppies! What a cool adventure.
Is there anything you haven’t done??
Ohh Kristin, I just love your blog so much. I never know what I’m going to get to read about.
Aww, all that puppy love is just so cute, and a double thanks to those pups as they stopped me singing the title song in my head(No thanks to you there, missy!:D).
The puppies eyes are the same color as yours when the sun blazes directly into them.
Oh.. How cute! Is that puppy has one brown eye and one blue eye? I love your picture with the puppy. So beautiful both you and him. 🙂 It looks like a fun activity snow or not.
I love you for sharing this experience and great pictures with us.
But I hate you for getting that fucking song stuck in my head.
Cute pictures! I did the dogsledding in Iceland, on the beach, and I agree that the dogs are the best part. We had a puppy who was in training and he kept trying to like his mom’s face instead of listening to directions. It was too cute.
I always imagined dog sledding as a cruel punishment for the pups – but these guys look like they’re having a blast! Thanks for reminding me to never assume! I too am a complete dog lover and would have had a very hard time not packing one of those pups up with me!
you couldn’t have brought one of those puppies home b/c they would have eaten all your mom’s white rat dawgs.
Holy cow! Orlando Bloom was your driver? So cute! Oslo is a cool city from what I hear, and it looks cool! Did you feel like you were living out of a movie or what?
I just love the pictures which posted here. very cute to see those pictures.
What beautiful dogs! But then that driver… wow. What a looker!
ahhh you are one lucky duck! Those pups are adorable!
I loved your pictures of your adventure. I own a Siberian Husky Kennel in Texas. I happen upon your pictures looking for dog sleds on wheels. I am trying to train my Siberian Huskies to pull a sled with wheels threw our county side. Siberian Huskies are amazing dogs and their blue eyes are so beautiful.
I’m so jealous you got to do this! We drove by it on the way to see the polar bear crossing sign, but couldn’t go inside. We must have literally passed ships! My trip started in Longyearbyen on the 1st of August. We had really amazing captains and spotters, it was so foggy so its definitely hard to spot the polar bears, sorry you didn’t get to see any! You’ll just have to go back! We went with National Geographic Lindblad Expeditions and they were amazing at spotting and approaching the animals. I made a post about it a while back-
http://www.rebeccayale.com/2009/09/land-of-ice-bears-summer-2009.html
At least you got to see Walruses they are really cool to see in the wild! I also love your photos of the camels! I love them too, very cool animals!
those dogs are beautiful! i think my favorite part would also be getting to play with them…looks like a blast 🙂
One of my favorite posts! That picture of the puppy licking your cheek. Talk about cute!