Storskiva Sunset - Friday Photo #238

Friday Photo #238 – Storskiva Sunset

Storskiva Sunset - Friday Photo #238

Photo: Watching the sun sink into the sea from the summit of Storskiva, Moskenesøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. July 22, 2017. 23:06

In October last year I made an attempt to camp on the summit of Storskiva. The weather decided otherwise and so it just ended up a day hike. So with a good forecast for this past weekend after some days of cold weather, I set my sights on the summit once again.

Vinstad is a crowded place in summer, and the Friday afternoon boat required two departures, us unfortunately missing the scheduled 15:00 trip and not leaving till closer to 16:30. This put us in Vinstad later than planned. Still time enough to get to Storskiva for sunset, but with some added complications to meet a friend arriving later, so we headed to our other planned objective for the weekend.

The sun was shining bright on my tent Saturday morning, well, closer to midday as we had been up until after 03:00 Friday night, when I finally stirred from sleep. More so from being too hot, than actually wanting to get up. From our first camp, we took a lazy pace towards Storskiva.

The day was hot! I only had 2.5 litres of water with me, while usually fine, was a bit on the low side for the sweltering sun. Not that I’m complaining about it being good weather! We arrived at the summit in mid afternoon and I immediately set up my tent to have some shade to hide in – I could feel my redness already forming.

Next began a lazy afternoon as I waited for the light to grow softer. Finally, as the sun neared the horizon, we left camp and headed out to where the summit overlooks Bunes beach. I could tell it was crowded down there, with a couple dozen tents pitched across the grassy dunes, but up on Storskiva, there was only 3 of us.

The 24 hours of the sun above the horizon had left Lofoten a few days previously. And every night it sinks into the sea just a little bit earlier. I feel like I just got used to the rhythms of late nights and now they will soon be over. But with dark skies, comes a new type of magic to the north, which I’m eagerly looking forward to!

Camera Info:
Nikon D800
Nikon 14-24mm f/2.8
16mm
ISO 200
f 5.6
1/200 second
WB Daylight

2 replies
    • Cody says:

      There is no path to the summit of Storskiva and the route is always somewhat dangerous. But you can find the hiking guide in my West Lofoten Hikes eBook…

      Reply

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