On Monday, last week, I started my little journey to visit Michelle in Lofsdalen. I was a bit tired from the restless night, but really excited to see my friend again and spend some quality time. The weather was expected to be awful on that day. Dark and stormy, but she had heard about some Loppis (that’s a Swedish word that can describe all kinds of second hand stores, antique stores, flea markets and garage sales) that day in Hede, which is not all that far from Lofsdalen and a wonderful way to start our time together.

I arrived in the most moody weather. It was raining cats and dogs on the way and while it was not raining the majority of the time that we were out and about in Hede, there were thick clouds hanging low in the sky and turning everything dark. They offered some really moody views on the incredible landscape and combined with a lot of unexpected but nice finds in Hede we were quite happy and tired when we finally came home in the evening and went to bed rather early.

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We started the next day, Tuesday, by eating breakfast by the lake. It was very windy and partly cloudy, but such a beautiful view. It was so relaxing to watch the huge shadows of the clouds wander over the landscape of mountains and forests.

After we were done with breakfast, Michelle showed me one of her favourite spots to take walks. She was surprised at how many tourists were there and it was actually hard for us to find a parking space. On the way there we even saw some reindeer. In the forest we came across huge areas with tons of blueberry bushes and we ended up picking some before continuing our little walk.

We then continued our walk until we came to the lake, where we sat down on a dead, fallen tree and watched the lake, looked at Lofsdalen and listened to the wind.

In search for some cloudberries (we did find some) my feet had gotten wet, so after a while we decided to head back to Lofsdalen, so I could change into something dry. However there was another Loppis on the way home which we of course didn’t want to miss and we also needed to go grocery shopping. By the time we were done at the Loppis, both of us were so hungry that we decided to take lunch at a nearby restaurant and only get groceries for dinner and lunch the next day. At home I could finally take off my wet shoes and socks and warm up my feet again and we rested and talked for a few hours before heading out again to catch the light of the „golden hour“ which is always short before sunset. It’s the most beautiful light for photos and we were a little early for it, but that only gave us time to find nice photo spots.

We headed towards the mountains that lie behind Lofsdalen. We had already been there during winter and got some amazing photos there, which is why I wanted to go there again. I was curious as to how the landscape had changed. But even before we got that far, we saw a beautiful green field of cotton weeds right from the car and decided to take a turn to take some pictures there. Just as we stopped there, the light started to become a bit more colorful as the sun was going lower and lower in the sky. Most of the pictures I take of myself, but the second last took Michelle. She is an amazing photographer and I have so much to learn from her!

After taking pictures there, we finally continued on the road and got to a spot that we also explored in winter. Only a few months ago, to be able to see the landscape I had to climb a several meter high mountain of snow that had been plowed off the road. Hard to imagine, because now there was nothing there, just a few shrubs and moss.

It’s hard to recognize that it’s the same spot, but if you look closely you will see that the trees to the left are the same in both pictures (and of course the mountain has the same shape).

We continued our little adventure further down the road to a place where we had a fantastic view. Now the light was more than perfect and created such a breathtaking view and atmosphere that the pictures that I took really only give a fracture of the feeling that reality had to offer. The pictures of me are taken by Michelle 🙂 Again the last picture shows the view we had at the same spot in March.

Exactly as we were taking pictures with the light of the sun, a thick cloud blew right in front of it. At first it seemed like we had lost the most amazing light, but then we noticed what an incredible atmosphere it created!

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Next to where we had parked the car, we saw a little gravel road and followed it for just a few meters, only to find the most aesthetically pleasing collection of old timber cottages, which created the most perfect scenery in front of the mountains. I couldn’t get enough and I couldn’t believe that they had been hidden under meters of snow when I visited in March! Again, the credit of the last picture goes to Michelle 🙂 She was so kind as to take pictures of me, which spared us the time and effort to go back to the car, get the tripod and remote shutter release and have me take the pictures myself like I usually do. It’s fun to be out and about with another photographer! There is always different angles, points of focus and editing styles, which reflect our different perceptions of moments, places, the world and life.

With the wind and the fading sun, it was getting quite cold and both of us started to freeze, which made us hurry back to the car. I was glad that I had prepared myself well and taken warm clothes with me. The cold wind and barren landscapes woke a first feeling of autumn in me, that I haven’t quite been able to shake since. On the way to the car of course there were some more pretty views that I just couldn’t miss to capture, while Michelle hurried inside the car to get warm and took some photos of me taking photos. How meta! 😀

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We headed back towards Lofsdalen, as it was getting cold and dark and we started to get hungry and tired (after all, sunset is around 22:00h and we hadn’t eaten dinner yet). But of course not without making yet another (2) stop(s) on the way home. Yes, we made 2 stops, because I was so sure about the spot that we had been in winter, but I turned out to be mistaken and of course Michelle, who is the local, was right about it. Both places were beautiful though and had an amazing view to offer.

The second and final spot was one, that we had also visited in winter. Here is how it was different:

Again, such a huge difference between March and July, even though there are only 4 months in between! After that, we drove home to have a late night dinner, some talks and then finally went to sleep.

The next day was almost equally moody as the first. We had breakfast together in the cabin I was staying at, Michelle helped me clean it and after some more talks and an early lunch, I packed all my things into my car and got on the way home. With my heart full of inspiration and joy about the wonderful time we have spent, I safely arrived at home again. I hope for more meet-ups in the future and also to return to Lofsdalen more often as it is a truly beautiful place!