The theme of autumn in the arctic so far has been rain and more rain. Thankfully a drop in temperature meant we had our first snowfall of the season and suddenly it turned into a winter wonderland. It wasn’t just on the mountains, we had a good few inches of snow on the ground too and boy did it look beautiful. The weather was still temperamental but we risked a hike on a day with sun, cloud and snow all predicted at the same time. We were wondering if it was a terrible idea soon after leaving the house as the mountain we were heading for quickly vanished from our view as a snow squall swept in. Wet snow fell down on us for almost an hour and all of the mountains disappeared.

There wasn’t actually a pathway up the mountain, at least not on my map but maybe there’s an obvious route when there’s no snow on the ground. So we had to bushwhack our way uphill, lunging and slipping in the snow which was getting deeper the more elevation we gained. The snow suddenly stopped and the mountains behind us came into view before we made the final climb to the 400m summit.

The conditions at the top were incredible as the weather was changing so quickly. The sun was battling with clouds, turning them a golden colour. Cloud drifted below peaks and swooped through valleys. Walls of blackness moved towards us as new waves of snow came our way but somehow it never actually snowed on us, our little mountain was a safe haven while we got to watch the weather-show unfold.

It was unbearably cold though, much colder than I expected, maybe because my gloves got wet on the walk from having to use my hands to climb up the snowy slopes. We had a choice of continuing along the ridge to the next summit and creating a big loop walk or heading back the same way. We picked the latter which was a wise choice as it snowed non-stop on our descent.

The weather perked up just before sunset so we decided to head down to the jetty and do a little fishing. We managed to catch a few cod and while Craig was filleting them we spotted an otter swimming towards us. We tried to track his direction but then he vanished under the jetty so I kept my eyes on a strange object that looked different and low and behold it was the otter and after unknowingly having a stare-off with him he scurried away and vanished into the dark water.

Between the snow squalls that evening we ended up getting a pretty good aurora show. Somehow a patch of clear sky was directly above us as greens and reds swirls above us which was so nice to finally see as it’s been a quiet aurora season so far.

We ended up doing the same hike a couple more times over the next month as it was the only one we could access from our house. One time we went up when all the snow had melted. It was supposed to be clear blue but a strange haze filled the sky, almost making the 0° day look like a smoggy summer afternoon with sun beams piercing behind the peaks. The next time we went up after a big dump of snow which made the terrain rather challenging as we waded through a foot of fresh powder.

The weather was always changing fast and we were treated to a bright rainbow on the horizon. No matter the weather it was always a great hike to get a good vantage of both fjords and the majestic mountains.

There was one other hike we did in the area which was short but sweet. Our day started with some incredible pink skies and we headed uphill to view the fjord right below us and some of our best glacier views so far where we could really see the blue cracks when zooming in on my camera. It was a really interesting glacier as it creeped down the rocky mountainside.

There was a lake at the start and end of the hike where the water was completely still and the low sun was just poking above the peaks for a few minutes before it vanished behind mountain.

Now it’s time for us to say goodbye to this beautiful corner of Norway that we’ve been lucky to call home for the past 6 weeks. We’ll miss the cute wooden house we lived in which had a lovely cozy vibe with the fire always roaring. The view from our windows was pretty damn special too – at least when it wasn’t raining and blocking the mountains. We also loved the little jetty where we could go fishing and watch the setting sun turn the mountains a golden colour.

We didn’t get as many aurora shows as we hoped for but the ones we did have revealed some incredible colours and our house was positioned in such an ideal location away from light pollution. One evening we were treated to intense pinks, reds and some hints of yellow but our favourite shows were the short periods where the aurora went wild, the sky all lit up like someone was having a party up there and it moved so fast.

This winter season in 2024/2025 is supposed to be one of the best for aurora shows as it reaches it’s 11 year cycle marking the solar maximum. While we’ve been unlucky with the rain we can definitely see that there’s been a lot more colour in the shows than in the previous seasons we’ve spent in the arctic.