A bit of a swim

Sodankylä Geophysical Observatory is situated along the banks of the Kitinen River. A quick search on the Internet (or looking at all Kitinen-tagged posts on the weblog here), will turn up plenty of photographs of a frozen expanse of ice sheets and sub-zero temperatures. However it does melt in the spring and in the summer it is really quite and idyllic spot.

 

On the evening of the 15th, I decided to see if I could swim across the river. In fact, I first swam across the river, then up to the island and then back again.

The total distance was just over 600 metres, although in reality, I doubt I swam it as absolutely straight lines. There is a current running north to south, so that would have swept me off course a bit. At this time of year, the water is pretty murky, due to the the meltwater seeping through the tundra to get to the river. And the opposite banks are really quite muddy and swampy... so SGO is definitely on the best side of the river here.

Of course the next morning my shoulders were killing me. Even clicking the computer mouse button was a struggle at first. Still, it was all good fun!