Crossing Torneträsk by bicycle, 11 February 2012, in far northern Sweden.

There is a road on the other side that connects some villages but is not otherwise connected to any other roads. There are no ferries, so people drive cars or snowmobiles in winter or use their own boats in summer. I wanted to see what it looked like, but the road was invisible below the deep snow (it looked like any snowmobile trail). In the village of Latteluokta we were invited in by an old couple. The woman was born there. She told us she had seen cyclists there once before, many years earlier, coming from the north by mountainbike in summer (it's about 100 km on a rarely used hiking trail to a road in that direction). Years later she still referred to our visit on her blog, "not much has happened since the cyclists were here". I think our visit might have been the biggest event in the village in decades.

Nearly there.

The snow was thicker on the other side, so the last part we were pushing. There was water below the snow, which I didn't expect at all. My feet got all cold and wet. The woman who invited us in gave me dry socks and thick fur boots for me to keep.

They gave us a ride on the way back.

On the way back we were given a ride by snowmobile. It's the only time I ever hitch-hiked by snowmobile. The ride was very bumpy and I didn't manage to take any photos during the crossing.

Crossing Torneträsk by bicycle, 11 February 2012, in northern Sweden.

There is a road on the other side that connects some villages but is not otherwise connected to any other roads. There are no ferries, so people drive cars or snowmobiles in winter or use their own boats in summer. I wanted to see what it looked like, but the road was invisible below the deep snow (it looked like any snowmobile trail). In the village of Latteluokta we were invited in by an old couple. The woman was born there. She told us she had seen cyclists there once before, many years earlier, coming from the north by mountainbike in summer (going north, there is a rarely used hiking trail that reaches a road after around 100 km). Years later she still referred to our visit on her blog, "not much has happened since the cyclists were here". I think our visit might have been the biggest event in the village in decades.

Nearly there.

The snow was thicker on the other side, so the last part we were pushing. There was water below the snow, which I didn't expect at all. My feet got all cold and wet. The woman who invited us in gave me dry socks and thick fur boots for me to keep.

They gave us a ride on the way back.

On the way back we were given a ride by snowmobile. It's the only time I ever hitch-hiked by snowmobile. The ride was very bumpy and I didn't manage to take any photos during the crossing.