Photo: Autumn morning at Geirangerfjord, Geiranger, Norway. October 2014
Images from my October travels through the Norwegian fjords are now online in my archive gallery.
With all the time I have spent on Lofoten, I have never spent that much time in central Norway. There was so much bright colors and light, I hope to make it back again one of these years!
– NORWAY GALLERY –
Photo: Clearing storm over Aurlandsfjord, Aurland, Norway. October 2014
I welcomed in 2015 camping in the freezing cold temperatures outside Ouray, Colorado. Though I was in bed by 6:30pm, because it was simply too cold to do anything but sleep, it seemed a fitting end to the year and beginning of the next.
Here are some of my favorite images from 2014. Though I have gone to some effort to exclude most of my Lofoten Images, which I’ll post as a set of their own in a few more days over at 68north. Otherwise, it would be too easy for this list to be entirely made up of images from the Islands. But I also ended up a couple other places as well, so I thought I would separate the two collections.
2014 was fairly similar to the previous year. Once again, a majority of my focus was on the Lofoten Islands, staying for just over 2 months in total this year, split between winter and autumn.
In February, between visits to Lofoten, I attempted to make a ski tour on the Kungsleden trail in Sweden. It didn’t go too well and I never made it very far from Kebnekaise Fjällstation. But I still had some fun and look forward to making another attempt one of these years.
The spring saw me return to the Silesian countryside of south Poland and a brief visit to the Tatra mountains. The rest of the time I was in Wales.
In late August, I made my first visit to Tromsø, where I boarded a sailboat for a 2 week trip to Lofoten. It was absolutely fantastic, and I hope I find the time to make a proper writeup one of these days. After the sailing trip I remained on Lofoten for most of September. It was perhaps the best month of northern lights I’ve ever had on the islands, with night after night of aurora filled skies until the early morning hours.
One of the highlights of the year was a 10 day road trip though Norway in October, From Lofoten to Stavanger. I’ve never properly explored central Norway, only ever hitch-hiking or busses previously. So it was happy to finally begin to explore some places that I’ve wanted to visit for years. And the autumn color was some of the best I’ve ever seen, making up for the rather dull color on Lofoten this year.
I’ve missed out on celebrating the New Year on Scotland’s Outer Hebrides for the last 2 years now, which I slightly miss. So in an attempt to make up for it, I headed to Scotland in October, only to be blasted by wind and rain for nearly 2 weeks straight until I finally lost all motivation and headed south to Wales before returning to California.
2015 will be off to a quick start. Next week, I’ll already be on my way back to Lofoten to co-guide a photo tour for Muench Workshops. After that, I’ll stay on the Islands until the end of February to work on my own photography and hopefully climb a few mountains.
Photo: Evening comes to Kebnekaise Fjällstation, Lapland, Sweden. February 2014
Photo: Old barn in field, Silesia, Poland. May 2014
Photo: Approaching storm over field, Silesia, Poland. May 2014
Photo: Opole City Hall, Silesia, Poland. May 2014
Photo: Hiker on Bannau Sir Gaer, Brecon Beacons national park, Wales. April 2014
Photo: Welsh mountain pony at sunset, Brecon Beacons national park, Wales. April 2014
Photo: Northern lights over coast, Lofoten Islands, Norway. September 2014
Photo: Alpine farm above Norddalsfjord, Møre go Romsdal, Norway. October 2014
Photo: Nigardsbreen glacier, Sogn og Fjordane, Norway. October 2014
Photo: Clearing storm over Aurlandsfjord, Sogn og Fjordane, Norway. October 2014
Photo: Sunset at Myrland Beach, Lofoten Islands, Norway. September 2013
Things will be a bit quite around here while I finish up the last few weeks of my travels before heading back to California in November.
In the mean time, I invite you over to 68 North where my weekly ‘FRIDAY PHOTO‘ series is nearing two years of posts.
Or, you can also see where I’m at and the images you’ll get to look forward to by checking out my FACEBOOK or INSTAGRAM pages, where It’s a bit easier to keep regular updates…
Photo: A dram of Highland Park Whisky at the Distillery, Kirkwall, Orkney, Scotland. October 2013
During my first few visit to Orkney I somehow managed to always miss making a visit to the Highland Park distillery in Kirkwall; probably because I was a cheap backpacker back in those days 10+ years ago. But now that I’m getting a bit older, I accept the fact that I should treat myself to some pleasures every once in a while. Whisky is one of them.
I’m no stranger to Highland Park, and so on a typically grey and misty day after a four year absence from Orkney, I decided the best way to hide from the weather was with a distillery tour.
While I have not been on a high amount of distillery tours, I will say this one was one of my favorites. Perhaps it is the Orcadian atmosphere and my romanticism of the place (after the Lofoten Islands, Orkney is one of my most favorite places in the world), but the smells of the fermenting barley in the cool island air seemed to be perfectly at place among the dark gray stone building beneath an even darker grey Orcadian sky.
At the end of the tour, I was feeling sufficiently pleased, that couldn’t leave before getting a bottle of 15 year old, which will be joining me this autumn for a road trip through Norway and Scotland.
Photo: Entrance to Highland Park Distillery in typical Orcadian weather, Kirkwall, Orkney. October 2013
Photo: Peat fire for barley malting at Highland Park Distillery, Kirlwall, Orkney. October 2013
Photo: Drying barley at Highland Park Distillery, Kirkwall, Orkney. October 2013
Photo: Drying barley at Highland Park Distillery, Kirkwall, Orkney. October 2013
Photo: Aging Highland Park whisky, Kirkwall, Orkney. October 2013
Photo: Highland Park Visitors center, Kirkwall, Orkney. October 2013
Photo: Summer evening view from the summit of Ryten, Lofoten Islands, Norway. August 2012
I will be on Lofoten now for more of less the whole of September. Hopefully the weather is as good as the previous two years, as I have put together a pretty long ‘to-do’ list of mountains to hike. And I have a few mountains I need to hike again, hopefully with some better weather, to add more hiking guides to this website, as it seems there is some new competition out there these days.
If you see someone (me) in an somewhat ugly bright blue jacket, come and say hello. Or you can try and contact me via FACEBOOK or INSTAGRAM if you know you’ll be around…
I want to try and remain on Lofoten as long as possible, especially as the chance for northern lights grows with the ever darkening nights of autumn – the best displays always seem to be the day after I leave, so I suggest scheduling at trip for the beginning of October! 🙂
But it will be a long trip down from the north car, and not knowing what the weather may due, I might be forced south a bit earlier than planned. Plus, this will be my first ever opportunity to visit central Norway by car, and there is a huge list of place I want to see or re-visit from my hitchhiking days of years gone by.
Photo: Town Hall and Rynek Market square, Opole, Upper Silesia, Poland. May 2014
My first, and brief visit to Opole was in May 2013 when I visited the Polish state archives looking for a bit of my family history. I had know the town by name, but knew little more about the place. On the day I visited the streets were full of young students celebrating something or another, so I didn’t have the chance to take too many photos – I was mostly in the archives looking at old microfilms anyhow – but upon this first impression, I knew Opole was a place that I would like to have a chance to spend a bit more time in.
Fast forward to May of this year when I somewhat unexpectedly found myself in Poland again (for a wedding). I wanted to do a bit more exploring of the Silesian countryside where part of my family comes from, so instead of making the usual day trip from Chorzow (my somewhat industrial home base in Poland), I decided it would be a bit nicer to spend a few nights in Opole, two to be exact.
Typically in my European travels I’m a backpacker through and through. And while the hostel representation in eastern Europe has greatly expanded since my first travels in 2006/2007, there are still some cities that are completely off the charts for travelers. Opole is one of those places. It seems that for backpackers, Poland only consists of Krakow, and perhaps Warsw, Gdansk or Wrocław. But beyond that, much Poland remains an empty zone for hostels, as the backpacker route continues on to Prague – also skipping one of my favorite cities in the Czech Republic, Olomouc.
Luckily, hotels in Poland, if you book through Polish websites, are not too hard on the budget. We found something reasonable and just outside the city center for our two nights in in Opole.
Opole itself is a wonderful town! While the city center is quite small and compact, it is evident that it has received a fair amount of EU funding for some revitalization, no doubt due to the strong German roots of the city and its historical importance as the capital of Upper Silesia.
For me as a photographer I found the streets wonderfully void of people standing in the way of my photos during dusk, while at the same time, the restaurants we chose for dinner filled up with a lively crowd of university students each night, which I’m sure picks up even more on the weekends (I was there mid week). My timing was even good enough to coincide with a visit from the Polish president – who’s entourage passed me by as I was walking down one of the streets.
I’m pretty sure I’ll return again one of these days, as a base for a bit more exploration of the SIlesian countryside. Though I think I will also have to make a visit to Wrocław a priority as well.
Photo: Town Hall tower rises above the city center, Opole, Upper Silesia, Poland. May 2014
Photo: Colorful buildings line Rynek market square, Opole, Upper Silesia, Poland. May 2014
Photo: Town Hall building, Opole, Upper Silesia, Poland. May 2014
Photo: City center at night, Opole, Upper Silesia, Poland. May 2014
Photo: Kvalvika Beach, Lofoten Islands, Norway. August 2013
Part two of my travels in Norway begin today: A two week sailing expedition from Tromsø along the Norwegian coast to the Lofoten Islands with Vertical Shot Expeditions.
I have only been on a sailboat once before, a week long journey out to the Channel Islands national park off the coast of my hometown of Santa Barbara, CA. I really fell in love with everything sailing and ocean during that trip. And even gave thought to taking some classes, something that still remains in the back of my mind should I find the time one day. So it seems appropriate that my next trip on a sailboat will include Norway, one of my other loves in life.
I have no idea what to expect really, but I have no doubt the journey will be nothing short of epic! I just hope no early autumn gales decided to pass our way. I don’t want any, ‘I’m glad I’m not on a boat today!’ type weather during the trip. But the North does what the North will do, and hopefully I’m prepared for it.
I wont be posting much from the trip until I’m off the road, but you can keep up with my journey over on FACEBOOK or INSTAGRAM, where I’ll do my best too keep things updated whenever I find a wifi connection.
Photo: Hiking into the summer sun, Lofoten Islands, Norway. August 2013
My last days to enjoy the California sunshine are over and I’m once again on my way north of the arctic circle; which is really my favorite place to be anyhow. I don’t think I will miss the sun too much!
This journey will be a couple firsts for me. To begin with, I’m testing out the new LA – Oslo route operated by Norwegian Airlines. With a direct flight to Oslo, as well as the cheapest price to get to Oslo overall, It seems like a good deal overall and saves a lot of layover time in Germany or the US east coast. Though I do have to drive to LAX on a Sunday afternoon, not something I’m expecting to be an enjoyable experience. If only America could catch up with Europe, and I could take a train. Only a dream I’m afraid…
Unlike my normal continued journey to Bodø, the gateway to Lofoten, I’m flying further north to Tromsø; both a city and northern latitude I’ve never been to before. I think my main reason for never visiting Tromsø is the lack of a hostel or any other cheap accommodation. Quite strange for a city of its size, and even more rare for most Norwegian destination, a summer as well as winter tourist appeal. Luckily, I have been kindly offered a couch to sleep on, should it so be required by inclement weather.
Otherwise, I think I will walk from airport to mountains in my typical fashion. Though no doubt I’ll be tired, so a nice place to sleep before any big adventures will likely be my first priority.
I was thinking of maybe heading into the Lyngen Alps, of which I have heard so much about, but I think I would like a bit more time for such a trip, and so will likely save for sometime in the future. (It’s always good to keep a long list of plans and dreams…)
Overall I will have 5 mights in/around Tromsø before I need to meet up with my sailboat for the next part of the journey: A two week sailing expedition down the Norwegian coast to the Lofoten Islands operated by Vertical Shot Expidetions.
I wont be posting much from the trip until I’m off the road, but you can keep up with my journey over on FACEBOOK or INSTAGRAM, where I’ll do my best too keep things updated whenever I find a wifi connection.
Photo: Dark skies over green fields, Opole Voivodship, Upper Silesia, Poland. May 2014
I stopped along the side of the road in the village of Ligota Bialska (Formerly Ellguth), deep into the southern reaches of the former region of Upper Silesia, to take a quick photo of the WW1 memorial and record the names of the fallen in search of my families distant connections. From a farm building across the street I hear a shout and then two men begin approaching our rental car. Though we rented the car in Katowice, the obvious ‘W’ (Warsaw) license plate of the rental agency denoted us as distant foreigners in this quiet, rural part of Poland.
We explained my interest in the memorial. That I was looking for traces of my family.
‘Hindera? Yes, I think I knew of some Hinderas. Over in Smicz.’ The old man muttered through his few remaining teeth.
‘Ahh, yes, the name seems familiar.’ His friend interjected.
‘Do you know of still any around?’ We asked.
‘Hmm, no. It has been a long time. You’ll probably find them in the cemetery by now…’ The old man replied.
And so we continued on through the Silesian countryside. The Spring sky dark and heavy with rain. I was in search of the dead; names now long forgotten. Upper Silesia is a lonely part of Europe. Formerly the eastern most expansion of the German Empire and now an empty part of Poland. Just to the south lies the Czech border, whose mountains rise along the horizon, above fields of barley, wheat, rapeseed, and corn. The green and yellow fields contrasted with the blue and black sky overhead. A storm was approaching.
We passed the villages that I have only seen by name in birth, marriage, and death records of my ancestors: Grabina/Grabine, Otoki/Ottok, Ligota Bialska/Ellguth, Biala Prudnicka/Zülz, Wasilowice/Waschelwitz, Smicz/Schmitsch, Wilowice/ Mühlsdorf, Kolnowice/Kohlsdorf. Tiny, one road towns of crumbling brick buildings and potholed streets. You’re more likely to see tractors than cars driving along the roads. The locals watch you out of the corner of their eye, as the rental car was far too nice to be owned by any resident. What were we doing there?
The addition of the historic German names in 2005 to many of the villages seems to have come at the distain of some locals, and more than once, I noticed the German version of the town name covered in black spay paint. It appears history still holds bitter memories for some.
We drove further south to Prudnik, now just 5 kilometers north of the Czech border. After driving in a few circles we next headed west towards Nysa. Just outside of town the sky erupted. Lightning cracked and thunder rumbled all around us. I made a quick turn off onto a farmer’s dirt road and into a field where I attempted to photograph the action. I was just on the edge of the storm but soon that cold breeze picked up and a bolt of lightning hit a little to close for comfort. Heavy drops of rain began to fall. I thought of my ancestors, leaving these fields for a new home in Nebraska in the 1880’s and 90’s. They may have moved a content away, but still they remained in a familiar land.
The storm passed and as we reached Nysa a bit of sun was beginning to shine. The cities cathedral, beautiful and imposing, rose high above the city center. But the place overall was a bit too busy for my liking. And so we took the narrow country roads back north to Opole. The rain caught up to use once again. This time without any drama, just grey, liquid skies which lasted into the night.
If it weren’t for an historic family connection, then there is little doubt that I never would have heard of, much less visited, Polish Silesia. And while you wont ever see any of these town names appearing in guide books or magazine articles, there is still a wealth of history and a lifetime of stories to be discovered in this lonely corner of Europe. I have little doubt that I’ll be back again.
Photo: Abandoned house in the village of Grabina/Grabine, Opole Voivodship, Upper Silesia, Poland. May 2014
Photo: Wind and Curtain, Grabina/Grabine, Opole Voivodship, Upper Silesia, Poland. May 2014
Photo: Bales of hay, Grabina/Grabine, Opole Voivodship, Upper Silesia, Poland. May 2014
Photo: Spring thunderstorm over field, near Laskowiec, Opole Voivodship, Upper Silesia, Poland. May 2014
Photo: Approaching storm over field, near Prudnik, Opole Voivodship, Upper Silesia, Poland. May 2014
Photo: Nysa Cathedral, Nysa, Opole Voivodship, Upper Silesia, Poland. May 2014
Photo: Lone barn in field, Opole Voivodship, Upper Silesia, Poland. May 2014
Photo: Sunrise rainbow at Bunes beach, Moskenesøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. August 2013
A couple days ago I booked two sets of plane tickets for Norway! As many times as I’ve been to Lofoten now, I still get excited once I commit to a plan and get things rolling. Only seven weeks of waiting left – well, I’ll hopefully keep quite busy at work to be able to pay for it all. If not, I’ll be selling off some gear that doesn’t see much use anymore.
I was actually getting a little stressed, as I waited a little too long and prices were getting expensive! But for some reason I remembered that Norwegian Airlines now has a Los Angeles – Oslo flight (direct). Checking prices, it was about 1/2 price of anything else I could find (as I write this today, July 2rd, you can fly LA – Oslo (via Stockholm) on September 10th for $347 one way. Some cheaper prices if you go out a few more months). Even more so in that I need to fly to Norway, but return home from the UK – which they also have London-Gatwick – LA direct as well.
I’ve flown with Norwegian plenty of times on inter-Europe trips to Norway, but haven’t ever taken one of their long haul flights before. Knowing they are a bit ‘spartan,’ (ie: you need to pay for anything extra, even food) I’m not 100% sure what to expect, but for the price, I think I’ll be happy. And hell, even half the United flights I seem to end up on don’t even have personal TV screens. It worked out as the most convenient connection to get me to Tromsø anyhow.
Sorry to sound like an advertisement for Norwegian. Though unfortunately for me, I don’t get to write one of those ‘This post was brought to you by Blah Blah Blah, opinions my own etc…’ at the bottom of this post – which would mean I got something for free. I didn’t. I just think this is a good deal for us Americans heading to Norway, and elsewhere in Europe. Especially for us California folk. And I really like Norwegian’s system of more or less considering every flight as one-way, which means it’s not any extra cost to fly to one destination and leave from another as you can easily book two separate one-way flights.
Now I just need to talk my brother into driving me to LA on a Sunday afternoon…
AUGUST – Sailing Trip to Lofoten
As I mentioned a little while back, I’m going sailing around Lofoten with Vertical Shot Expeditions. I can’t really write how excited I am about this, but I am! It is the first time I have ever signed up for any sort of tour – I’m normally quite a firm DIY type person; but there’s not really a way I could put a sailing trip together myself – well, maybe if I won the lottery or found some heavy duty sponsorship – so the opportunity to participate in this trip was too good to pass up. Hopefully I’ll return with lots of new images for this site.
SEPTEMBER – Lofoten
I have been a little on the fence about what to do after the sailing trip, which ends September 6. I have received a couple requests for some small private group tours – workshops around Lofoten for the Autumn, but so far none of these have come to fruition. I also thought about going back to Sweden for another try at Sarek national park. But I think it will be better if I put this off another year. Luckily, life sometimes as a way of making decisions for you.
Without going into to much detail, I will be spending the whole of September on Lofoten. I’ve already spent several hours looking at the topo maps at UT.NO, planning for the next series of mountain hikes to add to this website. I think I’m gathering a pretty good list of peaks that I’m trying to sort out into various priority levels. Though I’m not overly optimistic that the mostly calm, dry weather of the last two years will repeat itself again, so we’ll see how many mountain days I actually get. There are also a few peaks I would like to revisit, like Himmeltindene, where I didn’t have the best Photography weather on my previous trip. And there are a few seldom photographed valleys full of birch trees that will hopefully turn a brilliant gold come the second half of the month, with vertical walls of granite rising above. So that might requite a few nights out in the tent, waiting for the light.
OCTOBER – Norway Road Trip
I’ll probably leave Lofoten around the first of October, although I’m a little hesitant to leave right as the northern light season is beginning, hopefully I’ll see something decent by the end of September. From Lofoten, I’ll have two weeks to travel through central Norway, and visit some places that have been on my ‘to photograph’ list for a while. Though I fear I might be a little late in the year for some places. In mid October I need to be in the Netherlands to catch a ferry to the UK. Which is probably for the better, as the car wont have snow tires.
By the beginning of November I’ll be home in California again, counting down the days until January 2015 when I head back to Lofoten to help guide a Photography workshop by Muench Workshops.
