Friday Photo #654 – New Parking Regulations

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Photo: New 4-hour parking limit signs installed at Skreda rest area, Vestvågøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. July 15, 2025. 14:06

A couple weeks ago in Lofotposten it was announced that Statens Vegvesen (Norwegian road authority) was planning to install a dozen or so parking time limit signs along the E-10 in Lofoten, Driving to and from Leknes this week, I noticed one of the new signs had just been installed at the Skreda rest area, which is the marking parking location for the popular Offersøykammen hike. Parking is now limited to 4-hours.

In other locations, 2-hour limitations have already been installed – like the parking area at Skagsanden beach, a popular surf location for locals and tourists a like in winter. So I guess surf session will be quite limited.

With 20˚c weather finally arriving this week, the weather isn’t the only thing which has heated up as the usual parking chaos at Haukland beach even lead to a farmer abandoning is tractor in the middle of the road, as illegally parked cars blocked the roadway and he couldn’t drive further. I was at Haukland at 10:30 yesterday morning with my first group of cruise ship guests and the parking lot was already completely full.

The main intent of these new time limit signs is an attempt to stop every parking location across Lofoten from turning into de-facto free campgrounds, which has been the case. Part of this has also come from truck drivers who are required to take breaks by law, but find their parking areas already filled with motorhomes and camper vans staying for the night. But driving by Skreda a couple nights ago, it seemed the signs had only a little affect as a dozen or so people were still camped there at 03:00 – and its not like anyone is going out to write tickets at this hour. So, I imagine for Skreda at least, camping will continue as usual.

As always, the Lofoten communities have poor inter-island cooperation. So limiting the parking in a larger parking area like Skreda will now just push the 15-20 free-campers somewhere else and make it someone else’s problem. And then more new signs and fences will be put and and everyone will get moved somewhere else again. Until finally there is no place for anyone to park and enjoy Lofoten’s nature.

The Lofoten that existed 10 years ago is gone. The freedom to pull off alone in some quiet spot and camp for the night has been replaced with no-camping signs, fences, time limits, paid parking, full campgrounds, and, for the last few remaining free parking areas, motorhomes and camper vans packed in like sardines – defiantly not how I would enjoy things. And this then makes finding parking for hiking more difficult for everyone, locals and tourists alike. But no politician is creative enough here to come up with shuttle bus systems to relieve traffic to popular areas like Haukland beach or Fredvang/Kvalvika beach or other solutions to the growing traffic along Lofoten’s outdated narrow roads. And so Lofoten becomes a neglected victim of its own popularity to the benefit of few.

Camera Info:
Nikon Z8
Nikon 25-120mm
57mm
ISO 100
f8
1/400 Second
WB Daylight

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Friday Photo #653 – Mountain Sunset

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Photo: Evening sun over Slettind mountain peak, Flakstadøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. July 14, 2021. 23:18

There is just over a week remaining for this summer’s midnight sun season. It has mostly been a cool and grey summer so far, though not without some nice days here and there, now it is finally looking like a longer spell of sunny and warm weather will arrive after the weekend. Maybe Leknes will hit 20˚c for the first time this year – a bit of a slow start! Though I was down in Germany over the past week, so got to experience a mini heatwave of 35˚c in Berlin at my arrival – I think I prefer Lofoten’s 12˚c!

Two weeks ago – Friday Photo #651 – I posted a similar view of this mountain, taken at almost on the same date and same time, only 3 years later that this photo – today’s image being from 2021, and the other week’s from 2024.

I’m not sure which perspective I like better. In this image the mountain is much more prominent and the sun in a better position. And perhaps the background is a little more balanced, with mountains on both sides of the frame. With next weeks forecast, there is a rough prediction for some sea fog, which I had if ff651’s image, though it did not rise up to the lake. Perhaps if the fog comes in a little higher, this could be an interesting perspective with the mountain looking like a volcano rising out of a sea of fog – though I just have to not get lost getting there in the mostly trail-less terrain and short scramble up a steep ridge,

Camera Info:
Nikon Z7 II
Nikon 14-30mm f/4
14mm
ISO 100
f10
1/80 Second
WB Daylight

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Friday Photo #652 – New Chicks

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Photo: Common gull chick stands in driveway between vehicles, Flakstadøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. June 30, 2025. 19:28

You are being closely watched if you are on Lofoten at the moment. Not from people or any technology, but from the local birdlife. And if you walk in the wrong location, you are likely going to be made aware of the all seeing eyes in the sky as you are dive bombed and screeched at by angry parents.

Like every year, there has been an exponential increase in the already lively bird activity in my neighbourhood. And since it’s no longer spring and horny seagull season, we are onto the next stage of life in Lofoten’s short summer: new chick season. As I’m writing this now, I can see 3 young gull chicks occasionally make an appearance on the rock outside my office window – the same rock as the photo below with the curlew standing atop.

And it’s completely normal to see a pair of gull chicks walking along the edge of the parking lot in Henningsvær or an oyster catcher family in a round a bout in Leknes so you might be attacked just walking down a sidewalk or parking your car. Nature or village, it doesn’t matter to the ground nesting birds.

Growing up in southern California I only knew seagulls as birds that liked to eat trash, steal your food if you were near the beach, and try to poop on you when riding your bike. It was an adversarial relationship between a young me and the seagulls. Little did I know, there are actually many types of birds that I would just call a seagull. And only after moving to Norway, I discovered that the various gulls don’t like each other that much either. It turns out that the large gulls that would try and steal my french fries also like to eat the young chicks of the smaller gulls. Hence the noisy nights at this time of year.

It seems there is something of a peace between several of the birds in my neighbourhood, as the oystercatchers, Curlews, and common gulls don’t seem to predate on each other’s chicks. While the larger herring gulls and black-backed gulls, along with the ravens and crows will be quick to gobble up an unguarded chick should they get the chance.

In the photo below of the curlew on the rock, there are actually 3 common gull chicks at the base. One of the gull parents sits on my sauna, keeping a watchful eye, though doesn’t seem bothered at all by the curlew; whose chicks are also somewhere wandering around in the deep grasses. When the curlew eventually leaves, a parent gull will fly down and feed the 3 hungry chicks.

Camera Info:
Nikon Z8
Nikon 180-600mm f/5.6-6.3
370mm
ISO 1100
f6
1/800 Second
WB Daylight

Camera Info:
Nikon Z8
Nikon 180-600mm f/5.6-6.3
600mm
ISO 1100
f6.3
1/800 Second
WB Daylight

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Friday Photo #651 – Mountain Sun

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Photo: Evening sun over Slettind mountain peak, Flakstadøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. July 16, 2024. 23:39

Yesterday was a bright and sunny day with the midnight sun shining over the sea. I had been hoping to go hiking in my local mountains, but a couple unscheduled meetings left me sitting at my computer until it was too late to head out. This left me a bit stuck today, as I was hoping to have shot something for today’s post.

Trying to figure out something else to post, I realised that I’ve never really posted the main viewpoint from the location I was planning to visit. I’m not quite sure why, as I’m in the area a couple times per year, but I always seem to post a different view than the main one. Friday Photo #447 is of the misty valley below, but not the mountain. Friday Photo #509 is an early autumn view of the mountain, so I guess that counts. Friday Photo #584 is the mountain with northern lights. And Friday Photo #602 is of the foggy landscape on return from the hike – taken on the same evening as today’s photo.

As summer in west Lofoten now often consists of crowded trails and expensive parking, I’m lucky to have a couple nice scenic views and mountains quite close to home. And as this view is actually quite close to a more popular mountain peak (though still relatively quiet), I’ve rarely seen anyone else in the area as its not really an obvious place to go, as there are just faint wanderings of sheep trails to follow once the route separate.

There is also nice, and perhaps even better, viewpoint off to the right and up onto the ridge from where this image is taken. Though the angle from that location means the sun will disappear behind the mountain around 23:30 or so. So it’s actually better to wait a little later into July with the sun getting lower on the horizon. Last night it would have just been a clear blue sky over the image and perhaps a bit boring.

One of the wonderful things about the sun north of the arctic circle: It sets or rises in all 360˚ of the compass. So with planning, you are able to position the sun to almost any location you want it across many locations and particularly coastal area with an unobstructed view of the horizon.

Camera Info:
Nikon Z8
Nikon 14-30mm f/4
18mm
ISO 100
f13
1/30 Second
WB Daylight

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Friday Photo #650 – Cool June

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Photo: Meadow of yellow buttercup – smørblomst flowers overlooking Nappstraumen, Flakstadøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. June 17, 2025. 22:53

The Summer Solstice is tomorrow here in Norway, and with that, the official start of Summer. Although realistically, I consider all of June to be Summer here on Lofoten – Basically once the fields are green and full of flowers. It is in these next couple weeks, from the 2nd half of June into the first weeks of July that Lofoten is at its most vibrant and colourful stage of the year – all underneath the 24 hour shine of the Midnight Sun.

Many are hoping for a repeat of last year’s incredibly warm and sunny summer, but so far the Lofoten’s is remaining on the cooler and greyer side of things, with many days of misty clouds over the past weeks and only a handful of days even reaching 15˚C. Although this is not abnormal, a coolish June. And in fact, June has basically the September, 9.7˚C and 9.4˚C, respectively. It is only the months of July and August where the islands reach an average higher than 10˚C. With the new travel trend of ‘coolcation,’ Lofoten will generally always be a good place to escape the burning sands of southern European beaches.

On the brighter side, it looks like the sun will make a nice appearance for tomorrow’s Solstice and might even stick around the rest of the weekend! Hopefully it’s enough to dry out my overgrown lawn, with is about a month overdue for it’s first mowing of the summer, as I spend the end of May and the first half of June down in Scotland, mostly on Shetland and Orkney photographing puffins and gannets.

I had not actually intended 2 photos this week – usually I save for when I’m trying to illustrate some change in conditions or something. The second photo (below) is what I planned to post, to show the nice misty clouds over the mountains of Himmeltindan, Mannen, and Veggen, as they rise in the distance from Vestvågøy. But as I just got back home this week, the field has already become a little overgrown as the grasses begin the grow higher than the flowers, making the foreground a little busy.

The above image caught my eye better once I sat at the computer to look for an image to edit. It doesn’t really show what I wanted to illustrate or write about for this week, but I think it’s a better image overall.

Camera Info:
Nikon Z8
Nikon 24-120mm F/4
75mm
ISO 500
f5.6
1/160 Second
WB Daylight

Photo: Misty clouds hang over distant mountains rising over Nappstraumen, Flakstadøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. June 17, 2025. 22:52

Camera Info:
Nikon Z8
Nikon 24-120mm F/4
70mm
ISO 500
f5.6
1/160 Second
WB Daylight

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Friday Photo #649 – Moltind Midnight Sun

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Photo: Midnight sun shines bright in sky over mountain landscape of Lofotodden National Park, Moskenesøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. June 13, 2020. 00:29

Another bright bluebird night from June 2020, this time watching the midnight sun from Moltinden (651m) peak, which rises high over Kvalvika beach in Lofotodden national park. In the north, the sun is just above the distant peak of Fuglhuken (557m).

This was actually my 2nd attempt at the peak within a short time period, however during my previous attempt I got lost in the fog trying to find my way up to the mostly trail-less summit, and so I turned around, not being able to see more than a few meters ahead of me. Though with a layer a sea fog below, that would have made for some nice photos! Maybe when I sense another foggy evening, I head up earlier in the day before it arrives.

On this hike as well, I actually took an alternative way up, hiking most of the way out to Vest-Kvalvika, before then basically climbing up the steep side of the mountain to the summit ridge. I took the normal ridge route for the descent, though there is one very narrow crossing, which I wouldn’t want to do if the trail was too wet.

I hung around for a little while on the summit. But without a single cloud in the sky and the sun beginning to rise again after its lowest point just after 01:00, there was no need to wait around all night.

Camera Info:
Nikon D850
Nikon 14-24mm f/2.8
14mm
ISO 100
f14
1/30 Second
WB Daylight

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Friday Photo #648 – Stjerntinden Morning

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Photo: East face of Stjerntinden catches morning sunlight as it rises over Storvatn, Flakstadøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. June 7, 2020. 01:55

One of the difficult things about evening hikes during the midnight sun period is that by the time I get home a new day is often well underway. This is even more true with a cloudless blue sky such as on this evening, or, at this point, early morning.

This photo is from a (nearly) cloudless summer evening wandering around the strange, almost desert-like landscape of Nesheia, located on the southeastern corner of Flakstadøy. Already almost 02:00 in the morning, and having been out for several hours already, I had to stop for a couple more quick photos before I descended off the ridge and back into the forest below. Though the light was not very dramatic, the reflection of Stjerntinden (938m), the highest mountain of Flakstadøy, catching the morning light was a nice tranquil scene.

In full blue sky like this during the midnight sun period, I dare say the light can be a bit boring. With the sun never touching the horizon, there are no real sunsets or sunrises at this time of year. I generally prefer a bit of clouds for at least some hope of drama or interesting light.

A bit of clouds also help with sleep! It was another hour after this image that I finally got home, and by this, it basically felt like the middle of the day, not time to go to sleep…

Camera Info:
Nikon D850
Nikon 24-70mm f/2.8
28mm
ISO 100
f10
1/15 Second
WB Daylight

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Friday Photo #647 – Summer Fog

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Photo: Summer sea fog approaching from the north, Myrland, Flakstadøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. June 4, 2021. 21:42

The sea fog, or fog monster, as I generally refer to it is the ruin of many summer evening BBQs and camping plans each year. Within a very short period of time, what is a nice summer day can suddenly drop in temperature as the fog arrives, cloaking the landscape in a layer of cool, misty grey. Above the fog, it still remains a nice summer day, but if you had not already made the plans to be at 400-500 meters, the normal highest elevation of fog, you will be stuck in the grey.

Sea fog occurs when warm air passed over cold water, quickly reaching its saturation point. For Lofoten, this is most often in early summer, but can occur later in the summer as well. The fog is quite difficult to forecast, but a warning sign that it might arrive will be a forecast for a nice sunny day with a slight northern wind – this is a prime recipe for fog along the northern coast of Lofoten.

I can often watch from my house as a wall of grey begins to approach from the north. Usually quite gradually at first, but once the fog near, it can be a quick change from sitting outside in a t-shirt and shorts to rushing to find a fleece and jacket, and then probably just going inside all together.

These two photos today are taken just 12 minutes apart. That’s all the time it takes to go from nice BBQ weather an mountain views, to barely being able to see my neighbours’ houses.

Camera Info:
Nikon D810
Nikon 24-70mm f/2.8
70mm
ISO 100
f10
1/60 Second
WB Daylight

Camera Info:
Nikon D810
Nikon 24-70mm f/2.8
24mm
ISO 100
f10
1/60 Second
WB Daylight

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Friday Photo #611 – Moskenes Ferry Traffic

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Photo: Summer traffic waiting for the Moskenes – Bodø ferry, Moskenes, Lofoten Islands, Norway. August 8, 2023. 13:53

Anyone who has been near Lofoten this summer will have seen how busy it was with the islands seeing substantial growth in tourism numbers over the previous year and far exceeding pre-Corona numbers. And with this growth, tension is building both among the locals but also increased dissatisfaction among tourists themselves; finding Lofoten less pristine than the advertising and social media influencers lead one to believe.

The other week I attended a tourism conference in Lekenes, with speakers from the local municipalities and some running tourism management abroad. My impression in that Lofoten is still not ready to join the big leagues of tourism, even if those numbers are here already. There simply does not seem to be enough inter-island cooperation and communication and definitely no regional planning. Moskenes is too poor to do much of anything. Flakstad wants what is best for Flakstad – Which means paid parking and many parking tickets written. Vestvågøy thinks they are using their own money to gift the rest of Lofoten popular locations, with little income in return. And Vågan wants a tourist tax as they will earn all the income, having the most hotels and accommodation. So basically, the chaos will remain on Lofoten for years to come.

During the conference, several presenters gave usage figures about Lofoten. In July, Ramberg had a daily average of 4707 vehicles passing through. I didn’t think that sounded like much, but if you break it down a little and figure most of that will be from 09:00 – 21:00 – that is roughly 390 vehicles per hour, or roughly every 10 seconds. All traveling along the outdated E10 of west Lofoten. For comparison, the E6 over Salfjellet – Norway’s main north to south highway, only averaged 3359 daily vehicle crossings in July. Lofoten is basically 25% busier than the main highway of northern Norway.

There were also some troubling ideas to hear coming from the local authorities. Their main solutions to all the chaos seems to be further regulations and restrictions. With some even questioning if Norway’s tradition of Allemannsretten – the right to roam – can survive in the era of mass tourism. This would be a tragic loss. But every time I see a motorhome camped in the entrance to the farm field outside my neighbour’s house, or along narrow roads where it is clearly not allow to park, both which were many times this summer, the voices against Allemannsretten grow stronger. Which is strange, as Allemannsretten does not apply to motor vehicles, so traffic laws already existing should be enough, but they aren’t enforced for some reason, so the business unfairly gets blamed on Allemannretten.

And so I fear we will all lose the freedom that once was here on Lofoten. And what a sad day that will be.

Camera Info:
DJI Mini 3 pro

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Friday Photo #610 – Common Redshank on Fence

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Photo: Common Redshank on fence under July midnight sun, Flakstadøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. July 11, 2024. 00:43

The islands have gone silent. After the 24 hour a day hustle and bustle of the summer birdlife in Lofoten, the land has now gone quiet. This year I have not gone far from home, so it was a slow, almost unnoticeable change until one day I stand in my backyard and notice the silence of the world. Now it is only the house shaking wind and window battering rain, hale, and snow which will wake me up at night.

In summer though, the islands are alive! This curlew fledgling from mid-July is just one of my many neighbours, which also include: oystercatchers, common gulls, arctic skua, sea eagles, ptarmigan, crows, and ravens. I think the sea eagles in particular are happy with the southern migration of most of the birdlife, as they can now circle overhead in the autumn sky in peace without a swarm of gulls chasing them away.

Camera Info:
Nikon Z8
Nikon 180-600 f/5.6-6.3
470mm
ISO 400
f 6
1/640 Second
WB Daylight

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