South from Umeå I – Norrmjöle

Normally I head north, but not today. Annika and I were at the beach near Norrmjöle – 30 km south from Umeå, 150 km south from Skelleftehamn. The sea is still open beside of some pancake ice near the sandy beach.

Pancake ice occurs when a layer of solid ice is broken by wind and waves. The ice floes rotate and the edges are crushed by the other floes. That’s why this ice floes are always round and circular. Parts of the pancake ice on the photo was washed ashore (or left there by the flood).

Many rocks and stones near the shore were covered with a layer of ice – the nearer to the sea the thicker the ice. Sometimes the whole rocky beach was coated with ice and we had to go around to avoid slipping.

When I took the car back to Skelleftehamn it started to snow. First it was hard to drive since the snowless streets are so dark and the falling snow itself so bright. It’s like travelling faster than light through a cloud of stars. Fortunately the streets were covered with a thin fresh layer of snow after a time. That made the driving much easier.

Today we got 5 cm new snow in Skelleftehamn and it became colder. Looks like winter is coming next week with snow and temperatures down to -20 °C. I hope that it’s not too windy, that I can make a last trip by kayak before the sea freezes over.

 

2 comments to “South from Umeå I – Norrmjöle”

  1. Ingela 2016-01-04 00:29

    Vi brukar vara i Norrmjöle ibland på sommaren. Min son bor på södra sidan om Umeälven, och ett par vänner bor också i trakten. Det passar så bra att vara med husvagnen där när man vill hälsa på folk men ändå “ha sitt eget”. Det finns en jättefin liten camping vid bygdegården som drivs av byaföreningen och där brukar jag hyra en plats några dagar. Det finns även stuga/rum att hyra i samma byggnad som det finns kök och dusch. Rekommenderas om man vill utforska trakten.

  2. way-up-north 2016-01-04 10:04

    Bra tipps, Ingela, Tack. Det verkar vara en fin plats.

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