Day 7: Lapland Nature Reserve

Today we explored Lapland Nature Reserve. We spent the morning learning about the history of the Reserve. Since the 1930's the Reserve has been dedicated to conserving wild reindeer populations. For centuries reindeer have served an important resource for indigenous Saam people. The Russian naturalist, Oleg Semyonov Tian Shansky championed scientific research on the Reserve. From the time of the Lapland's establishment, Reindeer populations have recovered from fewer than 70 individuals to over a thousand, ranging in multiple herds that live in the upper elevation areas of the Reserve.

Museum display of various birds with camera equipment hidden in the way early scientists would hide it in order to monitor the birds.

Reindeer skulls with antlers locked in battle.

In the afternoon we took a cold, rainy hike from the lush taiga forest to the lichen covered ridges. Along the way we saw several types of Cladonia:

In addition, our hike offered us our first opportunity to see (and taste) the exceptional cloudberry - Rubus chamaemorus:

The cloudberry ripens from pale red to amber. It occurs throughout the Northern Hemisphere, reaching as far south as 55°N. They are often harvested from the wild and made into jams, juices, tarts, and liqueurs. The ripe ones were plump and juicy, only mildly sweet with a tart flavor, while unripened berries were firm and quite tart.

Travis and Igor trekking the path above the treeline

The weather of the day was more typical of the area than the nicer weather we have experienced so far on our trip. It certainly added to the ambiance of the environment! However, we were glad to warm up and take it easy in the evening after the wet, chilly day. Igor, Brian, and Kayla tried out Russian billiards in the hotel while Travis worked on cleaning seeds collected in the previous days.