I journeyed to Svensby
in late November in hopes of catching
a glimpse of the aurora borealis in the
arctic, night sky. Svensby is located
within the Arctic Circle at a latitude
of 70 degrees which is almost as far
north as the top of Alaska. To get so
far north, I took an overnight train
from Stockholm to meet a bus from Narvik,
Norway to Tromsø and then a bus
and a ferry to Svensby in what amounted
to a thirty hour trip. It was a long trip,
but absolutely spectacular as we passed
wind swept mountains, blue fjords and snowy
plains.
At that time of year, the sun never rises
above the horizon. However, that does not
mean that there isn't any light in the
sky during the day. Instead the sky is
painted with reds, oranges and yellows
as if there was a several hour long sunset
between 9AM and 2PM after which darkness
covers the landscape.
It
was during this brief window of light
that I went for a hike in the woods near
the cabin that I had rented. There was
surprisingly little snow on the ground,
but the air was cold and water had frozen
in pools on the ground. Of all of the
places that I have traveled in the world,
I think that Svensby is the most beautiful
with its stark mountain peaks, fjords
and rugged terrain. A beauty that I tried
to capture in this photograph of a cold,
December day.
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