My plan was just to take some nice pictures of nature in its autumn costume, but nature decided to invite me for a more magical night.
The rain has been pouring down for two weeks, so when it finally stopped, I was really eager to go to the mountains to take some photos of the the color of autumn and try out my new sleeping bag which was supposed to be warmer than my former. I decided that I wanted to go to Heggemotinden and spend a night there in my tent. I drove for about half and hour before I put on my 18 kilos rucksack (yes I know that I always bring too much stuff) While I was on a path on my way to Heggemotinden, I was met by this view:
After a 30 minutes walk, the path was too steep for me to continue with my heavy rucksack on, so I decided to put up my camp for the day. My plan was to leave my stuff there and go to the top the day after, as it was only about two hours until it would get dark. I found a place with a great view.
After putting up my tent, which by the way was a lot easier than my first encounter with it, it was dinner time. I was a bit lazy, so I used an old Norwegian trick, bringing wiener sausages in a thermos with hot water. It is really useful of you are watching a winter sports game such as ski jumping and its minus 15 degrees outside.
What I had not thought about was how to get them out of the thermos. After some struggle, I managed to pry it out with the help of a spork and my fingers.
As the hunting season had just started, I put on this t-shirt to make sure that I would not get any Covid 19-hugs from a hunter, or a moose.
I am also pretty sure that the moose is not wearing anything pink, just in case I should run into a hunter with poor eyesight that mistook me for a moose.
Actually, it was a bit colder outside than I had expected. The sun had been teasing me. I was still dressed in pink though.
In the summer, the midnight sun makes life outdoors easy, but in autumn “the dark time”, as we call it here in the north, kicks in, making the days shorter and shorter. At the same time, this is great time to watch some beautiful sunsets. The clouds looked like small cotton balls bouncing over one of the mountains.
I decided to walk a bit further up the mountain, to get a better view. On my way there, I took a closer look at a rowanberry tree which had put on a colorful seasonal costume.
The view a bit further up was great. I was glad that I decided to set up the camp before I went any further, as it was as steep as I thought it would be. I got a good look at the surroundings, with mountains covered with snow.
As it had become dark, I decided to snuggle up in my tent, drinking coffee and eating a chocolate bun.
I enjoyed the rest of the sunset from inside the tent.
Autumn is a great time for watching the Northern lights. Sometimes I can see the Northern lights from my flat in Bodø. But as it often is not dark enough in my neighborhood, I had not seen anything spectacular Northern lights yet. I found a website that said that it was likely that the northern light would turn up in about two hours.
So I decided to have some more coffee and read a magazine. As I was enjoying my magazine, my headlight started beeping, and I knew that it mean that the battery was low. And of course I had forgotten to bring the charger cord. Luckily, I had brought a small lantern with me. But the light was not as powerful as my headlight had been. And then I discovered that I had to pee, which I of course I had to go outside to do. In the dark. Only it turned out that it was not was dark as I thought, as the Northern Lights had started playing a game on the sky.
It was just so breathtaking that I felt like I wanted to cry. It is not an easy task to take pictures of the Northern Lights, so I promise you, it looked more amazing in real life.
I have never seen so many stars on sky before, so it was truly a magical night.
The planets Mars and Venus also decided to reveal themselves. I think Mars is the one that is the bright light trying to hide behind the pine tree. Venus is not present at this picture.
As the weather had turned colder, I decided that it was time to sleep. At the same time I discovered that my tent had become frosty, both on the inside and on the outside.
At first, my sleeping bag felt warm, but then it got colder and colder. And it also turned out that I had been more concentrated on finding the place with the best view rather than the most comfortable one.
I am supposed to be this tough Norwegian viking, but nothing is tougher than nature. And this time, I let nature win. So at at about 5.20 AM, I started packing my stuff. The Northern Lights were were not there to help me anymore, so it was pretty dark outside. Luckily, my headlight started working again, so I was able to see the track.
Also, in addition to the classic paint that is used to mark where the paths are, small reflective objects were hanging from some of the trees. Therefore, I did not get too lost. It felt like I was a part of the movie The Blair Witch Project. If you have not seen the movie, please don’t. It is about some young people who get lost in the forest, and they are just running around aimlessly like I was. And that kind of describes the whole movie.
Some parts of the path were covered in mud and frost, and suddenly I was laying on the ground. To my relief, nothing was broken. I had only gotten an abrasion on one of my knees.
I have never been so happy to see my car again. All in all, the night had been both adventurous and magic, and certainly one to remember.
I am still learning how to tackle the wild, Arctic nature. Do you have any survival tips? Then I will be happy if you share them with me. I might try them out on my next hike.
Ina N. Moe 