Lofoten Time

Photo: Utakleiv Beach Driftwood Campfire, Lofoten Islands, Norway.  Aug 2012
When I got back to California at the end of June I wondered when I’d be able to get back to Lofoten, thinking February 2014 would probably be the earliest when I meet Australian photographer Rod Thomas to co-lead a photo tour with him (Feb 7 – 16 if you’re interested).  But as the weeks passed I didn’t manage to find as much work as I was hoping to.  And so instead of watching my bank account slowly shrink as the year carried on, I figured I might as well blow it all and head back to the north.  One of the benefits of being more-or-less homeless is that I can make irrational decisions such as this.

As usual, it is a long journey to Lofoten from California: Santa Barbara – San Francisco – Frankfurt – Oslo – Bodø – ferry to Moskenes.  Leaving Tuesday morning, I don’t reach the islands until the early hours of Thursday morning.  I sometimes don’t mind a bit of gloomy weather upon my arrival, as it lets me not feel too guilty about falling asleep at noon on the first day or two.

I haven’t quite decided what my first order of business will be, but will most likely depend on the forecast for the next few days.  If there’s any halfway decent weather, Bunes or Horseid beaches will probably be my first stop.  Unfortunately the ferry doesn’t leave Reine until 10:00, so it will be a long 6 hours of waiting.  If the weather is really fantastic, and I get bored waiting for the ferry, I’ll likely head towards Munkebu hut and then make a go at Hermannsdalstind.

Alternatively, if conditions are poor for the next few days, I’ll catch the early bus to the Stamsund hostel, say hi to Roar, and then fall asleep.

I know I keep writing about some sort of ebook or guide or some such thing.  The problem is, is that I wont write about anything that I haven’t hiked myself.  But when I hike, want to wait for the best conditions possible, I am a photographer after all, but this often means that I only have 1-2 productive days per week, sometimes less – I am followed by bad weather.

With these next 3 weeks on the islands, i should be able to hike the last few sections of trail and get to the tops of a few more mountains which will hopefully let me put something pretty cool together – a sort of ‘7 day best of’ tour of western Lofoten without the need for a rental car and only a couple bus trips.  Walking wise, based on my rough calculations, the total distance will be around 80km.  Then of course it will probably take me 3 years to write the thing…

I’ll do my best to respond to emails and questions while I’m away, but it might take a bit longer than usual to get back to you, so if there’s some urgent planning question, I might not be able to get back to you in time, unfortunately.

I probably wont be posting too much here during my travels, but if you want to keep up to date with where I happen to be at and see more behinds the scenes snapshots while I’m on the islands, I suggest you follow me on Instagram or Twitter.

Instagram – DuncanImages
Twitter – DuncanImages

And of course, if any of you happen to be around the islands, look for me in my bright blue jacket and come say hello.  And I will probably also be one of the only Americans around, so if you talk to one, it might be me…