Checking the winter … Jan 19 2018

This winter has been quite lagom yet. It hadn’t been too warm for a longer period, nor it was it really cold. We got snow several times, but we didn’t get any lake effect snow neither as e.g. five years ago where it snowed more than 80 cm within 24 hours.

Yesterday and today it snowed round 20 cm. Since we already had round half a meter of snow, the fence of my garden is about to disappear in the snow.

I took the photo above through the window of my living room. It shows my (and the neighbours) backyard. The fence is round 80 cm high.

Today I took the car to the Näsgrundet, one of my favourite places in Skelleftehamn. When I had been at the same place 12 days ago, the Baltic Sea was covered with ice as far as the eye could see. When I arrived today I was really surprised to see the Baltic Sea clear of ice again.

The photo above shows a small bay beside of Näsgrundet. The ice had been broken by wind and the floodwater two days ago. The wind was pushing the ice floes slowly offwards and some of them already had started to drift seawards.

That was the view to the northeast. The view to the southwest is completely different: there is the peninsula Rönnskär with the copper smelter of the same name. It snowed but the low sun managed to peek through the airy cloud layer. Temperature was -9 °C and the chimneys smoked.

In front of the industrial plant is the “cape” of Näsgrundet, which is a peninsula as well. I took a short discovery tour and found another motive. When I was standing up, Rönnskär and some trees were visible but when I knelt down I was able to hide the background and to make a completely different photo:

I intensified both contrast and colours to give this photo a more irreal appeal. The motive itself however is unchanged.

What type of winter comes next? I could take a look at the weather forecast of SMHI, but I have difficulties to take it seriously. Beside of the overall temperature and wind direction trends the web forecasts for Skelleftehamn are quite bad. The 20 cm of snow for example weren’t forecasted at all.

But in the back of my mind I know that lake effect snow could be possible again as long as the Baltic Sea is open and wind comes from eastern directions …

Winter solstice 2017 Dec 21 2017

It’s winter solstice today which means that it’s the shortest day of the year, at least in the northern hemisphere. Here in Skelleftehamn it was only 3 hours 44 minutes between sunrise and sunrise today and the sun rose hardly above the horizon. From now on the days will grow longer which feels a bit like winter’s ending. But far from it – it’s fortunately the astronomical beginning of winter today, not the end!

Hopefully the rain that we occasionally got the last weeks (e.g. yesterday) will come to an end and more snow will fall. Much more snow! I also hope that it will get colder to make the Baltic Sea freezing over so that I’m able to walk or ski to the islands. But this will probably take some more weeks.

This photo by the way is taken at 10:35, 58 minutes before the sun reached its highest point.

22 August: Kungsleden day 3 – Kaitumjaure—Singi (13 km) Sep 5 2017

This article is part of the series “2017-08: Kungsleden hike”.

When we woke up in Kaitumjaure it was cold (4 °C) but sunny. What a beautiful morning! Since the weather can change almost instantly in the mountains I got out at once and made photos from our hut and the place, where one call fill the buckets with fresh water.

Then I went down to a minor pond, part of the lake Bajip Gáidumjávri and enjoyed the awesome weather and the reflections of the mountains on the smooth surface of the pond.

On the way back I cut a bit cross country and came across this traditional sami dwelling, a wooden kåta.

I went back, we four took a breakfast, cleaned up, packed our backpacks and started our tour. Our backpacks weighed between 10 and 15 kilos. I tried to pack really lightweight but only to take six kilos of camera equipment with me. I could use one of Annika’s backpacks that fits perfectly and has room for all my belongings needed on such a tour, including some lenses and a tripod.

I was glad about the weather, not only for myself but for Katrin and Andi as well. They never had been in the Swedish mountains before and I was happy to show them my favourite landscape in the sun.

We followed the trail and after some hours we made a 20 minute rest by the riverside of the Čeakčajohka. (The Swedish name is Tjäktjajåkka, but I try to keep the geographical names in sami, since they are the genuine names.)

The river Čeakčajohka and-the mountain Stuor Avrrik

Sometimes I stayed behind to make some photos. When I tried to outrun the others after making a telelens photo, I realised that I lost my lens cap for that lens. I signalised the others that I would go back to look for it and would come later. Singistugorna (the Singi huts) were already in sight.

I went back and looked for the lens cap for a longer time but as I already suspected couldn’t I find it. It may lie hidden in the heathers for ages …

While I searched the lens cap, Annika and Katrin slowed down. Their knees didn’t like the stony and hilly path and so they took it easy. Therefore it was Andi who reached Singi first and booked four beds for us. He just came in time to get a four bed room for ourself. Great – since we planned to stay there for two nights.

I came last and was glad to drop my backpack and be able to focus on something that grows more and more important on such hiking tours: food and eating! This time we had two cans of köttbullar (the swedish meatballs) with potatismos (mashed potatoes) and some self picked blueberries for dinner.

And in addition to that tasty dinner we got real nice sundown colours. Another nice day!

Some words to the food. The good thing: You can buy food in many huts on the Kungsleden. So you don’t have to take all food with you and can keep the backpack weight relatively low. In addition to that you may find leftovers from other hikers. Sometimes it may be noodles, lentils or instant food, sometimes it may be pepper or salt.

Good to have with you (in our opinion):

Salami – you may buy some sliced salami, but not everywhere. Great with crisp bread, both for breakfast and lunch
Garlic – lightweight and good to spice pasta of all kinds and other dishes
Bregott – Swedish margarine, together with crisp bread it will give you kind of a real breakfast
Sugar and cinnamon – good to pimp oatmeal and self picked blueberries (many of them weren’t ripe yet)

Some of the things you can buy in most shops:

powdered milk · oatmeal · crisp bread · jam · chocolate · muesli bars · rice · pasta · goulash soup · mashed potato powder · köttbullar · chili con carne · Coca Cola(!) · beer with 3.5 % alcohol(!!!) and more …

April weather Apr 13 2017

It snowed, dark clouds sped past the coast, the sun illuminated the fresh snow and the gusty wind blew it around. The weather changed constantly this morning. The wind squalls made the temperatures of -3 °C appear much colder and I regretted that I went outside without windproof trousers and warm gloves. That’s the post-wintry release of Norrlands April weather.

The easter days shall be wintry as well with temperatures between -8 °C and 0 °C, at least here in Skelleftehamn. In the mountains however they’ll probably drop to -20 °C or even below.

The last days of ice fishing Apr 8 2017

An ice fisher looking for prey, the halo encircled sun above

Ice fishing in Skelleftehamn Mar 25 2017

When it’s as warm and sunny as today many ice fishers enjoy sitting on their little folding stools on the ice, that still covers a small part of the bay Kallholmsfjärden in Skelleftehamn. I guess it’s both the glorious springlike weather as well as the knowledge that there may not be many opportunities left to set foot on the ice and do “pimpelfiske” this season. The open water in the background is quite near.

Some hours earlier: I stand at the very edge of the peninsula Näsgrundet and look at the Baltic Sea, which is partly ice covered and partly open. As it looks, I could both walk and paddle to the island Gåsören. I do neither nor. I don’t dare walking since the ice may be weak and I’m just too lazy to take the kayak today.

The Sunmountain Dec 2 2016

I have stopped counting the times I was in Solberget, the beautiful wilderness retreat in Swedish Lapland. This time I was asked if I want to join a three day first aid course in Solberget. Since my last one was long ago I accepted gladly.

The course, arranged by the German Outdoorschule Süd, was both intense and fantastic and I’m glad that I was able to participate. I stayed another day after the course to make a ski tour. It has snowed quite a lot in Lapland in November and round about 60 cm of snow covered the forest soil. I started the tour at 8:30 – an hour before sun rise. The air was crisp and cold with temperatures round -15 °C. I borrowed a pair of wooden Tegsnäs skis. They are long and broad and fit to every boot which makes them ideal for the powdery snow in the Northern forests. I crossed the street and entered the narrow forest path that leads to the hill which bears the same name as the wilderness retreat: Solberget – the Sunmountain. I crossed the Solbergsvägen, which was covered with a half metre of snow and soon went slightly uphill through the old forest with its mighty spruce and pine trees.

Even though I didn’t take the smoothest way up it didn’t take long until I arrived at the top of the Solberget, which is 459 meters above sea level. I ignored the cozy mountain hut and went straight to the old fire lookout tower which provides a unique 360 degree view over the landscape.

The fire lookout tower on the top of the Solberget

As fastly as I arrived at the tower as slowly I climbed it, since the handrails and the steps of the three ladders were covered with a thick layer of hard and crusty snow. Finally I was on the top of the tower, just in time to see the sun rising above the hilly horizon.

I stayed on the tower for more than an hour, happy to see the snow covered trees in the warm and ever-changing light of the low hanging winter sun. First the sun got free of the clouds and started to illuminate more and more of the scenery. The colours changed from a pale pink to shades of orange and many other colours I don’t have any name for. After a while a cloud layer approached from the north changing the mood of the landscape again. At the end almost the whole landscape was shadowy beside of the fog that still hung above the swampy areas in the southwest.

Finally the sun vanished behind the cloud layer. I climbed down the three ladders of the tower and continued my ski tour. First I headed southeast, then I turned more and more to the right while I descended the hill. After a while (and a bit of squeezing through the pathless thickets) I reached the Solbergsvägen again, however more in the south. This part of the path was completely untouched beside of a track of a hare that you still could guess under the fresh snow of the last day.

After a while I came to the turn-off to the swamp Solmyran which I followed a bit. The sun was low again and illuminated the snow in bright orange colours, while the snow in the shadows looked more blueish. There are many colours in winter, you just have to go out to spot them.

The photographer and his studio:

Links

I can highly recommend both a stay at Solberget and the first aid courses of the Outdoorschule Süd. In February you can combine the two, if you can speak and understand German.

Sunset kayaking Jul 13 2016

Summer solstice – “night shot” in Skelleftehamn Jun 21 2016

Summer solstice– the longest day – the shortest night, that’s today.

I was out at the coast to take a photo at 0:37 – in the darkest minute of the brightest night 2016. The sun is hardly 2° below the horizon and so it looks more like an evening sunset or an early morning sunrise than a real “dead of night” shot.

Summer solstice – night shot in Skelleftehamn

The summer solstice marks the beginning of the astronomical summer, but it’s also the day, where nights will get longer and longer. And one day in August it will be dark enough for the first star shining through the pale nightly sky.

Colourful sunset Mar 15 2016

After a really warm day (+12 °C!) we got a colourful sunset. Unfortunately I was too late to catch the most colourful period.

The ice on the Baltic Sea is still thick, but the snow melted and left many ice water puddles between the snowmobile tracks.