Off the beaten path...

Or any path, for that matter.

Today, I went for a hike. A long hike. I have been walking the trails around here, which I used to refer to as 'hiking' but those were really more of a walk. Blazing through at times waist-deep snow is now what I will call hiking. I have tried looking at Google Earth to see whether I can make a trail of where I went, but it all looks so different in summer and without altitude layers. There are ski trails that extend a few kilometers south of Jokkmokk, which I walked next to for some time, then I started finding my own way to the top of one of the more sparsely-covered hilltops. There are many around here, most have trees thickly covering them. I really wanted to get a good view of the surrounding hills and valleys, and was surprised to be able to see Jokkmokk from where I ended up. I saw a lot of really cool things on my way up, but I was not able to take many pictures because I had forgot to charge my camera battery. There was the occasional rabbit track (they look almost like rabbits, but taller with different ears), but plenty of reindeer tracks and foraging areas. To get food, reindeer must dig through the snow, and you can tell where they decide to stop and look because about a 30-foot radius of snow gets compacted (and they leave other signs of there presence, if you're smelling what I'm stepping in). Some of them were obviously old, but many I stumbled upon were made after the last snowfall, which was last week. It was very tiring to climb through the many feet of snow, but luckily I didn't get hurt or fall too much. I did end up getting the contents of my backpack wet from falling over, but nothing too valueable was in it. It was well worth the journey up, however, and I plan to do it at least one more time when I'm here. The view was spectacular- today was sunny and clear, and I could see mountains at least 25 miles away as the sun was just beginning to set that turned a spectacular shade of pink. The world is almost surreal when you know you're literally the only person within a mile of yourself. It dawned on me that this hike was probably as isolated as I've been in my life, but I wasn't in the middle of nowhere, so I wasn't worried. I saw this plane, which was really odd, but the trail behind it was the color of turquoise, which was sweet. I should probably shower soon, however- I think I smell like wet death. I took this video at the 'summit' where I just fell back into a reindeer hole and ate lunch:

Two days ago, we went to the Sami museum again, but got a guided tour. It was so much more interesting to learn about Sami dress and religion from this woman who could answer our questions rather than having to decipher what all the labels said in Swedish. We got to sit in a Sami hut, which looks like a teepee but larger, with thatching and reindeer pelts on the floor. We also learned a lot about the Sami drums, used by the shamans to predict things and find truth. The earliest drums they have are from the 1700s, when missionaries took them away from the Sami people and brought them back to Stockholm, and eventually some ended up in continental Europe and America. The clothes were interesting as well- each Sami village has it's own style of dress, but all use blue, red, green, and yellow in the design. It was interesting to hear how 'loose' the styles can be, and how there isn't a uniform Jokkmokk hat, or shirt. A lot of the jewelry is cool to see too, because you can see the influence the Catholic church had on it's design. Many M's and A's make it into the silver, which stand for the Virgin Mary and her Mother, and there are other bells that resemble incense holders, and the cross (although not as common) does appear in some of the necklaces. These pictures are mostly random- knives, and the dolls that depict the creation story of the Sami. I don't know the story, but these dolls speak for themselves. Next week is the Sami fair, so were all getting pretty excited. The prince is going to show up for 20 minutes on Monday, but between 30 and 60,000 people are expected to show up as well.