Sweden 22 December 2023 - 7 January 2024
Gausjosjön
We went to bed quite early on New Year's Eve, so we got up as usual in the morning. The daylight hours in northern Sweden at this time of year are very short: from 10am to 3pm.
The blue line shows our tracks on the 1 and 2 January in the daytime and in the evening. Shift-click on the track link will open it in nakarte.me.
We drove a little further north to ski across the lake to the old Saami village where we had walked last summer. In the morning, when the sun illuminates the mountains, they have coral colour. In the evening, when the sun has almost set, the mountains are white against the sunset sky.
The sun had never come out from behind that cloud.
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Luna stepped into the water and her paws got covered with ice. She was cold and Yasha took her in his arms. |
The bridge to the next island. The slats are here for cars, but they are also OK for skis. |
We skied along the shore, sometimes coming out onto the lake.
Luna loves ice. It's not very clear how such a big ice floe got here.
A twig covered in ice.
The rock is covered with a thick ice crust.
Saami village: a hut on chicken legs, with a boat stored underneath. We took pictures of it in the summer.
A snow-covered dugout.
A birch bark wall.
We dug out the entrance to one hut, and warmed Luna's paws.
The way back along the lake. It'll be getting dark soon.
Father Christmas is relaxing beside a house on the lake shore, he doesn't get cold.
Lova and Luna are taking a rest after a walk.
And in the evening we saw the northern lights! We had never seen anything like it before. We went down to the lake so that the houses and trees would not obscure the performance. A green arc above the lake was constantly changing and shimmering. It was cold, so we would occasionally ski across the lake to warm up.
Time lapse video.
A trip in the forest
We knew there was a strong wind in the mountains, so we went skiing in the forest.
Behind the lake are Norwegian mountains Oksskolten and Okshornet. Last August we hiked on the glacier that flows down from them.
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Magda and Yasha.
Snow-covered birch forest with juniper bushes.
Sunset in the mountains.
Bushes and isolated birch trees.
We are above the tree line at last.
Same old lake Över-Uman.
Maybe the pilot of this plane had too much fun celebrating New Year's Eve.
The snow is all but blown away.
A stream covered with snow.
From the highest point we could see the sun setting behind the mountains.
