Friday Photo #200 – Winter Campfire

Photo: Evening campfire below Reka, Rekadalen, Langøya, Vesterålen, Norway. Nov, 2, 2016. 16:19

The past couple days I was up on Vesterålen to make an attempt to climb Reka, an iconic peak a bit north of Sortland. In the short and cold November days, we didn’t quite have enough time to get to the summit, and even with a base camp the previous night, didn’t get back to my van until well after dark. But it was a good adventure.

Leaving Lofoten in the early morning, it was a couple hours drive to the trail head, and the a couple more hours hiking – and trying to find the route – through the frozen, icy forests of Vesterålen. With the November sun low on the horizon, our route no longer sees any direct sunlight throughout the day, plunging the forests into a winter chill.

Although we had planned to have a base camp as high as possible, the early darkness gave the need to setup camp earlier than expected. Luckily there was a nice clearing for the tent, now completely frozen, but would otherwise be a total bog in summer. With numerous dead birch around, we thought a campfire might help keep the cold away a for a while. But as good as our attempts were, the cold and the frost eventually got the better of our meagre fire, and we reluctantly gave up and returned to the warmth of our sleeping bags. Soon however, northern lights filled the sky and I was back out in the cold again…

Camera Info:
Nikon D800
Nikon 14-24mm f/2.8
14mm
ISO 1250
f 5.6
.3 second
WB Daylight