Friday Photo #551- New Flakstad Parking Enforcement

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Photo: View over Yttersand beach from Yttersandheia, Flakstadøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. July 19, 2022. 17:06

With the summer tourist season well under way on Lofoten the local newspapers have been filled with the yearly articles about the ‘tourist chaos’ and local Facebook groups are full of grumpy ramblings and pictures of motorhomes parked in poorly thought of locations – some of which were quickly closed off. And while this happens every year on Lofoten, one new thing is both Flakstad and Moskenes municipalities now have parking enforcement agents driving around and ticketing illegally parked cars. And from the looks of it, they are collecting quite a lot of money these last weeks!

Anyone who has been to Lofoten during the summer, particularly the popular hiking trails in western Lofoten, has likely seen that is no where near adequate parking to handle the summer tourism bubble. Up to this point, the chaos was generally allowed to take over, and while there were local complaints, there had been little to no actual enforcement of illegal parking. So one could park directly in front of a ‘no parking’ sign or block the road to where an ambulance could not pass through with basically no risk of getting fined.

That has now changed. All the cars marked ‘x’ in this photo from July of last year would now receive 900 NOK parking tickets if having done so this year. And it seems plenty are still doing so, as this parking lot at Yttersand beach has been a good earner for Flakstad recently as people often still ignore the clear ‘no parking’ signs and park in the turning area which is needed for larger vehicles like the trash truck to turn around. A closer illustration from above shows that actual parking area is only a small section beyond the turning area, in which 14 vehicles are parked and would now be ticketed.

Unfortunately, there does not seem to be any solutions to the parking issues on Lofoten in the near horizon. The local governments are not well equipped enough or united in cooperation to run tourism economies, while the national government has been terribly slow to implement much needed funding like a tourist tax in the Lofoten region. So productive measures like shuttle busses to popular trail heads or beaches have been attempted, but ultimately failed without proper funding and promotion. With the inadequate public transport across Lofoten if attempting to leave the E10, cars will still dominate tourism on Lofoten and the popular areas will continue to have insufficient parking to fill demand. In a cynical way, this lack of parking will earn a lot of money from unsuspecting tourists returning from their hikes to find a yellow 900 NOK parking ticket on their windshield…

Head over to my Instagram account for (almost) daily postings of the local conditions here on Lofoten: @distant.north

Camera Info:
Nikon Z7 II
Nikon 24-200mm f/4-6.3
24mm
ISO 100
f 8
1/320 Second
WB Daylight

Friday Photo #550- Cloudberries

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Cloudberries - Friday Photo #550

Photo: Arctic Gold – ripening Moltebær – Cloudberry patch patch in mid July, Vestvågøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. July 19, 2023. 18:12

As the long days of summer slowly begin to fade from the north a new season slowly emerges: berry season. Wild berries cover Lofoten, and all of Norway, and their picking is a popular activity among the local population. Blueberries and cranberries both grow in abundance across the wild hillsides of Lofoten. But there is one berry that is the most coveted of all, the cloudberry – Moltebær.

Wild berry picking as allowed under Norwegian Friluftsloven – Outdoor Laws. However, Nordland and Finmark-Troms have a special exception for cloudberries, which allow the owner of private land to prohibit gathering of them – though it is still allowed to pick and consume on the spot. I’ve even heard stories from the old days about fierce neighborhood rivalries around the best collecting areas.

This year, perhaps thanks to a wet and rainy May, followed by a warm and sunny June, they seem to be filling the hillsides in abundance as they ripen the the late summer sun. This large patch was just one of many along a popular hiking route. They are still a week or more away from being ripe, but no doubt a more than a few locals are keeping a close eye on them, waiting for the first signs of ripeness. I wouldn’t be surprised if they literally disappear overnight one day.

I must say that I’m not actually that much of a fan of them. I just find the taste a bit odd, and generally prefer eating my way up the blueberry hillsides when I’m out hiking. But if you find yourself wandering through a patch of bright orange berries in the coming weeks, give one a try – but keep an eye out for the granny peaking through the window curtains to make sure you don’t take too many!

Head over to my Instagram account for (almost) daily postings of the local conditions here on Lofoten: @distant.north

Camera Info:
Nikon Z8
Nikon 24-120mm f/4
46mm
ISO 100
f 5
1/500 Second
WB Daylight

Friday Photo #549- After Midnight

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Photo: Mid July sun hangs low over the northern horizon just after midnight, Flakstad, Lofoten Islands, Norway. July 14, 2023. 00:38

It is now the middle of July and the tourism season is still gaining momentum here on Lofoten. Yet, in another way, it feels like we are midway through summer and the long days of the midnight sun are soon behind us. I’ve been lazy thus far and have not hiked much, although this was also due to other necessary commitments keeping my otherwise occupied. But for some reason, even in the nice evening hours when the world is mostly sleeping, I’m content just observing life from my backyard most days.

Looking out my window after midnight last night, the sun has become noticeably low on the northern horizon. After 7 weeks of 24 hour sunlight, it will only last past this weekend before beginning to set into the sea again. Though, from a photography standpoint, this is good! As it means the twilight nights and multi-hour sunset-sunrises are once again here after, the dare I say, ‘boring,’ light of June with its 24 hour blue sky. The coming month is the one I’m always most excited for photographically.

Head over to my Instagram account for (almost) daily postings of the local conditions here on Lofoten: @distant.north

Camera Info:
Nikon Z8
Nikon 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6
100mm
ISO 100
f 6.3
1/250 Second
WB Daylight

Friday Photo #548- Kvalvika 2006

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Photo: Looking out from my old orange MSR hubba tent sheltering me from the rain during my first ever night camping at Kvalvika beach, Lofoten Islands, Norway. July 23, 2006. 15:21

I had to dig deep into the my photo archives for this week’s photo: An image from my first ever night camping at Kvalvika beach way back in the summer of 2006 during my 2nd trip to Lofoten. This was in the old days when I was mostly just backpacking around and staying at the hostel in Stamsund. Every once in a while a group of us would pool together our money and rent one of the old used cars for 300 NOK for the day and tour around the islands. This was on the end of one of those days where instead of heading back to the hostel, and despite the weather forecast, I used the opportunity to get dropped off in Torsfjord for the beginning of the hike to Kvalvika beach.

I had never been there before and am not even sure if I had seen any photos at that point. I had just heard by word of mouth that it is a beautiful place. And so I found myself camping alone on the beach for two (mostly rainy) nights before hiking out and hitch hiking back to the hostel in Stamsund.

In the years since my first night at Kvalvika in 2006, the beach (and Ryten) have grown somewhat in popularity. In the summer of 2022 alone, Kvalvika and Ryten received 50,000 visitors. And with the people has come a concerning amount of human poop. Enough so that in a survey carried out by the national park, E. Coli bacteria (amongst other things) was found in numerous locations throughout the area. It used to be that I always believed the water on Lofoten safe for drinking, but in high use areas like Kvalvika, I always carry a water filter now after having gotten sick from likely bad water near Munkebu hut a few years ago. Drinking bad water will quickly put an end to your holiday hiking and camping plans!

Starting today, July 7, 2023, Kvalvika will become the first location on Lofoten (and I think all of Norway) to test out the use of Wag bags – poop bags for campers and hikers to help reduce the impact of human pollution on the landscape. [ NRK article here ]

Beginning my hiking career in California’s Sierra Nevada mountains, wag bags are already a familiar item to me, as they have long been required for high use, sensitive alpine environments like around Mt. Whitney – California’s highest mountain. So whenever picking up your hiuking/camping permit for that region, the ranger would also give you a wag bag and a brief overview.

Will this work for Lofoten? I hope so!

But I am also somewhat skeptical, as there are already too many signs of poor hygienic behavior across Lofoten – i.e. open poop and toilet paper should never be left out anyhow, that some people might feel pooping in a bag and carrying it back out to the parking lot is too much effort. Perhaps its just the easy access to Norwegian nature, or that in my early years I would mostly spend time in high alpine environments which require thought and effort to reach, but it seems LNT (leave no trace) culture is not as prevalent among hikers and campers in Norway. And with little to no regulation, education, or instruction on LNT principles, the idea that you can’t just poop next to a rock and leave it seems not be understood by enough users on Norway’s nature that it is causing issues.

On the other hand, if it reduces waste even by 20-30%, that is probably still a step in the right direction. I guess only time will tell.

The new wag bags will be available for free during the summer of 2023 and can be picked up from national park visitor center in Reine, and also available at the trailhead to Kvalvika beach – along with the large contain to return your used bag to after your night of camping.

Head over to my Instagram account for (almost) daily postings of the local conditions here on Lofoten: @distant.north

Camera Info:
Nikon D200
Nikon 10.5mm f/2.8 fisheye
10.5mm
ISO 100
f 6.3
1/125 Second
WB Daylight