The days are quickly getting longer after the return of the sun. This is indeed an amazingly quick process. Just 2-3 days after the very first sunrise of the year, the sun is already for several hours above the horizon.
The fact that we have a clear sky again after more than a week of clouds does, without a doubt, also contribute to the subjective part of this impression.
Time to get out and see a bit more of the surroundings. Some of you may know Eidembukta from the sailing ship tours in the summer season. This large bay is just a few kilometres north of Farmhamna.
Skiing from Farmhamna to Eidembukta. Towards the sun 🙂 at least for a while.
Staying outside for some time is indeed a refreshing experience, with temperatures around -15 degrees (C) plus windchill. It is much, much less windy than in parts of NW Euope up here these days, but there is a pretty constant breeze blowing, which feels quite icy.
I schedule the day in such a way that I make use of the sunlight as much as possible, but the idea to see and photograph Farmhamna from a distance with the sunset in the background fails due to a bank of clouds. It doesn’t matter. There is beauty all around me wherever I turn my eyes. The wide, open, snow-covered land with soft colours ranging from red through pink to blue, the drift snow being blown over the low hills. The large and beautifully curved coastline of Eidembukta. I follow the beach for a bit without finding a single piece of driftwood, to my surprise. A little canyon sculptured by the meltwater river of Venernbreen, one of the nearby glaciers. I follow the canyon for a bit, keeping a good eye on the cornices, but wherever they look scary, there is enough space to stay away from them.
I try to find a sheltered place for a lunch break, but my spot under a little rock cliff turns out to be the windiest and coldest place anywhere around. I don’t stay long and rather return to the hut with the cozy wood-burning stove.