Cody Duncan Photography: Travel, Landscape, Climbing and Life

Photo: Sunset over mountains of Lofoten islands viewed from Reinebringen.

Photo: Rays of sun shine from behind mountain peaks, viewed from Reinebringen, Lofoten islands, Norway.

The view from Reinebringen is one of the classic views of the Lofoten islands.  A good weather forecast along with plenty of luck would find me hiking up the mountain on a perfectly calm and cloudless Sunday afternoon, probably the best day of the 2 weeks I was on the islands.  The only drawback was that I had just more that a half liter of water which would have to last me some 20 hours and the hike back down to Reine the following morning.

My tent setup on to the mountain.  I later took the tent down and just slept out in the open, but during the day this was the only source of shade until sunset at around 11:30 at night.  I think it made for some good photos though.

Vestfjord and mountains of Vestvågøy in summer twilight.  Proper night doesn’t come to the Lofoten islands in late July.  One is instead given several hours of magical twilight light which is a dream for photographers.  You begin to loose track of time and after a few days you’ll end up ‘staying up’ for sunrise to end by around 3:00 am;  much easier than getting up at 3:00 am…

Utakleiv beach, Lofoten islands, Norway.  I have never been to Utakleiv in sunny or calm weather.   No matter if the there is not a single cloud to be seen over the whole of the islands, as soon as I go to Utakleiv some weather vortex brings in clouds.

Vestfjord a few minutes after midnight.  The mountains in the distance are on the Norwegian mainland, some 50km away.

Photo: Memurudalen panoramic, Jotunheimen national park, Norway

Memurudalen (say that 10 times) is a scenic alpine valley that ends on the northern side of lake Gjende.  The northern end of the valley rises into glaciers and mountains, from where the fast and cold Muru river flows.

Photo: Surtninssue rises above Memurudalen, Jotunheimen national park, Norway

Photo: Wild camp above Memurudalen, Jotunheimen national park, Norway

Photo: Cold glacial melt water of the Muru river flows through Memurudalen, Jotunheimen national park, Norway

Photo: Summer twilight over Vestfjord at midnight, Stamsund, Lofoten islands, Norway

Photo: 1:30 AM summer twilight, Stamsund, Lofoten islands, Norway

From the end of July to the middle of August I was over in Norway.  First two weeks were on the Lofoten Islands waiting out mostly bad weather for an elusive sun.  The third week I was hiking among the mountains and lakes of Jotunheimen national park, where I was lucky and had lots of sun.  All in all, it was a pretty productive trip.

That’s all for now (figured I needed to post something after 3 weeks of silence…).  I’ll try and keep a more regular flow of images and words in the next weeks.

Photo: Lake Gjende from above Memurubu, Jotunheimen national park, Norway

Photo: Lake Gjende from Gjendesheim, Jotunheimen national park, Norway

Twmpa, also known as Lord Hereford’s knob, is a somewhat prominent looking, but fairly low peak in the northern part of the Black mountains, Brecon Beacons national park, Wales

Hay Bluff is a small (677 meter) peak on the northeast edge of the Black Mountains and Brecon Beacons national park.

The English/Welsh border runs roughly through the left side of the peak in the above photo, as well as Offa’s Dyke national footpath which follows the border for the most part.

The bluff is only a few kilometers south of town here, so it’s probably my most visited area of the Brecon Beacons national park and Wales in general.  It’s a good place to go for some hillwalking in the late afternoon and provides some scenic views of the surrounding countryside.

Above and Below: Hay Bluff as seen from near the summit of Twmpa.  The peak rises into a broad plateau which then turns into a ridge that forms the eastern border of: the Black mountains, Brecon Beacons national park, Vale of Ewyas, and Wales itself.  The small single lane road skirts the side of the peak and over Gospel Pass (center right of both photos) and down into the Vale of Ewyas.

Photo: Camping above lake Bygdin, Jotunheimen national park, Norway

Photo: Cloudy skies over mountains and glaciers in Jotunheimen national park, Norway.

To put it nicely, Norway is not a ‘sunny’ country.  Don’t be fooled by travel guides and brochures showing photos scenic green meadows, waterfalls, or fjords with calm puffy white clouds and blue skies overhead on every page.  This is a lie.  I can’t count how many times I’ve set my tent up in the rain only to take it down in the rain on the following morning, for days on end.  Even during the height of summer one should always be prepared for cold, wet, and windy conditions.  This applies even more if one is planning on venturing out in the mountains.

Photo: Camping at Kvalvike beach, Lofoten islands, Norway.

So if the weather sucks so bad, why even go?  Because Norway is an amazingly beautiful and friendly country.  And because when that sunny summer day does come, you will instantly forget that week of rain and cloud that proceeded and will follow it.  And if you are north of the arctic circle and standing on a mountain top at 2 am under a perfectly blue sky, you will already start planning your return trip.

Photo: Mountain snack, above Stamsund, Lofoten islands, Norway

Here’s my packing list for a 3 week trip which I start tomorrow.  The first 2 weeks I’ll out on the Lofoten islands, followed by one week hiking around Jotunheimen national park.  Since the main purpose of my trip is photography, I need to keep the weight of my camping equipment and clothing to a minimum to help offset the weight of my camera gear.

Some useful links for traveling around Norway:

• DNT – Norwegian Trekking Assocation
• UT.no – interactive topo map with hiking routes and hut locations for whole of Norway
• YR.no – Norwegian weather
• NSB – Norwegain train line
• RUTEINFO – Regional transport info for whole of Norway: ferries, busses, trains, planes…
• NOR-WAY – National long distance bus company
• OVDS – Bodø – Moskenes ferry for Lofoten Islands, other routes as well
• Norwegian Airlines

Footwear:
I normally only wear hiking boots in places where I’ll encounter lots of snow and or bog/mud, such as Norway.  However, I’m trying to keep things a bit lighter on this trip so I’m only going to take some trail-runners.  This may be a regrettable decision and lead to constantly wet feet, but I hope not…

Camping Gear:
•Backpack – Golite Odyssey
•Daypack/camera bag – Black Diamond Sphynx 32L
•Tent – MSR Hubba single person
•Sleeping Bag – Mountain Hardwear Phantom 32
•Lightweight foam sleeping pad
•Leki Makalu trekking poles
•Water filter – Katadyn mini
•Petzl Zipka plus headlamp
•first aid kit
•Rain cover for backpack

Cooking:
•Stove – Snow Peak GigaPower
•Cookware – Snow Peak titanium pan & lid
•Spoon Fork combination
•Food

Misc:
•Multipurpose camp soap
•journal & pens
•Hand cleaner
•Plug adapter
•Book
•Maps

Clothing:
•Shell Jacket – Golite
•Shell Pants – Marmot Precip
•Marmot Driclime windshirt
•Lightweight fleece
•MEC lightweight softshell pants
•Lightweight shorts
•3x t-shirts
•3x socks
•3x underwear
•Fleece beanie
•Lightweight camp towel
•Sandals

Photo: Scenic summer view of Lake Gjende, Jotunheimen national park, Norway.