It was another cold morning in Saariselkä this morning, with the thermometer outside our cabin suggesting a temperature of about minus 22.
It looked like quite a cloudy day, though there were some pretty colours in the sky in places.
Our plan was to re-do Tuesdays walk up the Kaunispää hill. The first hurdle on the walk is climbing over this pile of snow to get onto the path.
Once you've managed that, the rest of the path is much more straightforward.
On this part of the walk it's pretty obvious where the path is, though it is marked with these blue poles in case of any doubt. The poles are more useful for finding your way the closer you get to the top.
There wasn't so much snow we needed to rely on those today, but I did think some of the trees were looking a bit whiter than they had on Tuesday.
As we climbed higher, I enjoyed the colours in the sky.
It felt like the forest was quite deserted, although at one point we did meet another woman walking on the trail.
Before too long we reached the spot where we had to cross the road and the ski tracks.
We were now on the higher, more exposed part of the trail and the wind was really chilling.
I accidentally stepped off the main trail and fell through some deep snow!
After that I paid more attention to the blue poles
These trees were definitely looking white!
We were high above Saariselkä by this point and could see the forests stretching out into the distance.
We passed my favourite tree from the other day again...
...and then the summit was in sight.
It was around midday by this point so hard to tell whether this was sunrise or sunset, but it was very pretty
It definitely had snowed up here since Tuesday because the sign at the top which points down to Saariselkä was now illegible.
We were extremely cold by this point so we went into the restaurant for a warming drink...
...and some lunch.
Then it was back down the hill again!
It's a really fun walk and I'm glad we managed to fit it in a second time
That should have been the end of today's blog, but when I'd just started writing it up I got a notification on my phone to say that the northern lights were visible outside. The aurora forecast hadn't been strong for today so I debated whether it was worth putting all my gear on and going out in minus 22 again.
In the end I decided I'd kick myself if I missed the northern lights and headed out.
The display started off pretty faint, with these lights just looking grey to the naked eye.
Then the colour really started to intensify.
Wow, they were really a bright shade of green!
And this was now looking green without the help of the phone camera too!
These are definitely the brightest and most impressive northern lights we've seen to date.
You have to pay to subscribe to the app I'm using but I'm so glad I did, because there's no way I would have been standing outside at random in the hope of seeing the lights tonight.
One of the most amazing things was that we could see the lights moving and changing shape in the sky.
We'd be taking a picture in one direction, then turn around and realise the display was even better in a different direction.
This bit was the absolute highlight; green lights swirling in the sky.
If I hadn't seen it, I wouldn't think the pictures were real
If the lights were this visible with all the interference from the artificial light around the cabins then I can't imagine what they would have been like if we were watching them from somewhere darker!
Taking the photos is pretty difficult because you can't see whether the camera is going to capture the lights until after you've taken the photo.
It's also pretty difficult because you have to take your gloves off in minus 22 to press the button.
We attempted a selfie, though I think the lights didn't come out as brightly on this one because the camera couldn't decide what to focus on.
While we were doing that, the lights in the opposite direction had become so bright that it looked like an alien invasion was taking place.
I don't think northern lights can get much better than this
Eventually the display started to die down a bit.
We were getting pretty cold by this point too.
We took a few final photos, then headed inside to thaw out.
It's been an absolutely incredible evening and we can now well and truly say that we've seen the northern lights!
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