Moonlight Shadows

Last night I saw the Aurora for the first time in my life.

I'd had dinner with John, a coworker, at the American Sports bar in town. I'd told him about my hope to see them, and he'd been sure we'd see them sometime during this trip. On the way back home, he pointed up and said, "I think that's them".

It looked like clouds, lit by moonlight... but these were the strangest clouds I'd ever seen. Clouds didn't form straight lines that ran the length of the sky, or fall in vertical curtains. We walked away from the hotel and the bright lights, over to the train station and then up over the lines and down the other side, to a space between lights so we could see more clearly.

The aurora brightened and dimmed, reappearing in sheets hanging from the sky, forming rivers overhead. It wasn't very bright, and was hard to pick out, but it would fade and appear while I watched, it was magical. I'm hoping to see them again and brighter, and take the video camera out. I've got a spot out in the countryside chosen where I'll drive out, well away from any lights and sit back and watch them until the cold drives me indoors again.

Today was another adventure. I was up late last night after the Aurora working, so slept in today a bit until the late, late hour of 8am. After getting up and checking over emails, having breakfast and refuelling the car, we (John and I) headed out of town. I drove down the road I'd taken my first day here, knowing where I was going this time.

Here's the route we followed, from Gallivare to Akkajaure

The route was incredibly scenic. It took about 3 hours heading out, and 2 and a half heading back, just because we stopped so many times to take in the scenery. I got about 30 minutes of video footage, most of it in 10-30 second chunks as I took in the scenery, rather than capturing movement or action.

We drove up through deserted wilderness. I never knew that Europe had this kind of wilderness still, but it was a dense forest with little to no sign of human habitation aside from the road we travelled along. We crossed a river, which opened up to a large lake, which we found ourselves driving along the shore of. It was an enormous lake that went for miles. In part of it a dense cloud hung over it, but elsewhere it was clear and as still as a mill pond.

After a couple of hours of driving, we stopped at a place a Swedish helicopter mechanic we'd met in the Sports Bar had recommended to us. It was a kind of retreat / restaurant, and we had lunch there... reindeer, potatoes and peas. It was quite nice, the meat was gamey but tender. They had a variety of knicknacks for sale, many made of reindeer horn.

After lunch we drove on. We came to a dam in the lake, with a large wind turbine to one side of it that was barely moving in the sluggish air. We stopped to get a photo of the dammed lake above it, and I noticed a whirlpool in it... it was strange to watch this spinning hole in the lake, seemingly unconnected to the dam nearby, though it must've been an intake for the hydroelectric station... looked like someone had left the plug out of the bottom of the lake. Oops.

We drove on along the windy road along the lake shore. All along the roads here, whenever you're out of town, every 10 metres or so there are poles driven into the ground, about 2 metres high. They're there to mark the edges of the road for the snow ploughs as they clear the roads. They must get pretty deep snow during winter!

Eventually the road ran out, and we ended up driving away from the lake along a dirt track that was marked out for snowmobiles. It headed north, so we followed it, happy that the rental car is a 4WD. We weren't sure where we were going, but the scenery was beautiful and it was an adventure. We came to another lake, shallow and expansive, dotted with islands. The water was clear, you could see the bottom for quite a way. There was a faint roar in the distance, the muffled thrum of a waterfall as glaciers melted above the lake. Looking now, I see we weren't far from the border with Norway.

After taking in the scenery and absorbing the remoteness of the area some, we headed back to the lake and spent some time looking across it at the mountains, and the glacier that slumped between them, glistening in the afternoon sun like a lazy cat. I don't have the name of the mountain just now, but I was told it was the highest mountain in Sweden, and the lake we were facing the deepest. At least that's what I recall being told.

After driving back a bit we swapped, and John drove while I rested. As we got back to Gallivare, we drove up the hill I had been up the first day here. At the top, we were able to look out over all of Gallivare, with the sun slanting in over the valley, and all the way over to Aitik, where the pit was barely discernible. It was a superb vantage point, and I want to be there for a spectacular show of the aurora one night, I want to see the sky lit up with neon. If I'm lucky, that'll happen before it's time to leave.