Nordfjord, Nordland County, West Norway
As always, we seek the road less traveled. In this case it is Nordfjord, a narrow arm of the sea lying just above the Arctic Circle. Our ship traveled to the very end of the fjord. The ocean bottom drops away abruptly from a terminal moraine left by the glacier that carved this valley, so our ship could ride at anchor just feet from the land. Above, white mist and blue ice spill off of the huge Svartisen (Black Ice) Glacier, passing between peaks that are the petrified remains of mountain trolls who were caught out by the light of the morning sun. Before us is a forest of mountain birch and mountain ash, the forest floor with blueberries and lingonberries waiting to be sampled. We can see the approach of autumn in the bright orange berries of the mountain ash or rowan, the advancing yellow of the birch leaves, the fireweed done with flowering for the year and now casting its copious crop of seeds to the wind. It was a point in space and time to be enjoyed by whatever means chosen ... a long hike, a more leisurely stroll through the forest, a Zodiac cruise on the fjord, or a quiet paddle in a kayak listening to the sounds of waterfalls cascading down the steep valley walls.
As always, we seek the road less traveled. In this case it is Nordfjord, a narrow arm of the sea lying just above the Arctic Circle. Our ship traveled to the very end of the fjord. The ocean bottom drops away abruptly from a terminal moraine left by the glacier that carved this valley, so our ship could ride at anchor just feet from the land. Above, white mist and blue ice spill off of the huge Svartisen (Black Ice) Glacier, passing between peaks that are the petrified remains of mountain trolls who were caught out by the light of the morning sun. Before us is a forest of mountain birch and mountain ash, the forest floor with blueberries and lingonberries waiting to be sampled. We can see the approach of autumn in the bright orange berries of the mountain ash or rowan, the advancing yellow of the birch leaves, the fireweed done with flowering for the year and now casting its copious crop of seeds to the wind. It was a point in space and time to be enjoyed by whatever means chosen ... a long hike, a more leisurely stroll through the forest, a Zodiac cruise on the fjord, or a quiet paddle in a kayak listening to the sounds of waterfalls cascading down the steep valley walls.
