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Photo Gallery: The Land of the Midnight Sun
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After I had been dreaming of the land of the midnight sun for years, I eventually made it real in the summer of 2003. As it turned out, it was not so easy to experience the midnight sun (because of the clouds and mountains to the north), but there were also a lot more things to see. Here are some of them.
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 The town of Älvsbyn is located around 100 km south of the arctic circle; and therefore, there is no real midnight sun. Nevertheless, I found the sun at 10:30 pm impressive, when I viewed it from a hill.
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 Although Älvsbyn is located south of the arctic circle, it is obviously close enough to qualify for some aspects of the arctic region: it has an bakery that produces arctic bread.
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 Tromsø is located on a latitude of about 69°30', and I finally saw the midnight sun - at normal midnight (12:00 pm). As the mountains' height decreases noticeably to the north, the sun is still visible at true midnight (at around 12:40 pm).
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Sun late at night, Älvsbyn, Sweden, 2003.
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Polarbröd bakery, Älvsbyn, Sweden, 2003.
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Sun at 12:00 pm, Tromsø, Norway, 2003.
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 To record the exact date and time, I took a picture of my watch on July 7, 2003, 12:00 pm. The midnight sun's light was sufficient for this picture.
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 The Lake Torneträsk and the Lapporten (the Lapponian Gate, the characteristic mountain group) belong to the most well-known natural beauties of Lappland in north Sweden. I liked the place so well that I stayed an additional day.
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 The Abisko river runs though seemingly untouched wilderness. A few kilometers before its mouth, it takes this bend before it flows though a beautiful gorge. The location is at the north end of the well-known "Kungsleden" (royal trail). The only problem that I had to face, were billions of mosquitos!
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My watch on July 7, 2003, 12:00 pm, Tromsø, Norway.
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Lake Torneträsk and the Lapporten, Abisko N.P., Sweden, 2003.
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The Abisko river a few kms before its mouth, Abisko N.P., Sweden, 2003.
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 Where the gorge gradually ends, there are rocks in the riverbed. If the water is low enough, you can walk around on them. This way, I discovered the orange lichen at a rock's edge.
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 When I looked at the rocks and the water flow more closely, I discovered that there was a pool in the riverbed that overflowed into into a rock channel, forming little ripples.
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 The Linbana (a chairlift) operates from 11:00 pm to 1:00 am during the period of the midnight sun. It leads up the mountain Njulla, south of the lake. I used it to get up on the mountain, but the sun had decided to hide behind the cloud cover.
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Lichen on rock in Abisko river, Abisko N.P., Sweden, 2003.
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Water flow into rock channel, Abisko N.P., Sweden, 2003.
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Midnight sun behind clouds, north of Abisko N.P., Sweden, 2003.
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