avalanches – In the Woods

5.23.15.7283 — 5.23.15 ~ Hardangervidda, Norway

On May 23rd we took the Bergen Railway (Bergensbanen) from Oslo (altitude 75′, 23m) to Myrdal (2,844′, 867m). The line crosses the Hardanger Plateau of Norway (Hardangervidda) at 4,058′ (1,237m) above sea level.

5.23.15.7288 — 5.23.15 ~ Hardangervidda, Norway

All these pictures were taken through the window glass from the train. Some by me and some by Tim. The scenery was so utterly breathtaking we took turns trying to capture it on camera and then sitting back to enjoy the panorama for a spell.

5.23.15.7291 — 5.23.15 ~ Hardangervidda, Norway

I was starting to get the feeling I was unprepared for the weather on this trip. Many passengers were bundled up in winter clothing and some got off at various stops carrying their skis. Apparently Norway was also having a late and cold spring.

5.23.15.7296 — 5.23.15 ~ Hardangervidda, Norway

Little did we know that there had been an avalanche the night before which was blocking the track between Myrdal and Bergen. No one was hurt. It didn’t affect us, though, because we were getting off in Myrdal. But I think everyone going to Bergen got off in Myrdal, too, and made the next train ride down to Flåm more crowded than it otherwise might have been.

5.23.15.7302 — wondered if this person lives here year-round or if this is a vacation home
5.23.15 ~ Hardangervidda, Norway

5.23.15.7314 — 5.23.15 ~ Hardangervidda, Norway

5.23.15.7317 — 5.23.15 ~ Hardangervidda, Norway

5.23.15.7327 — 5.23.15 ~ Hardangervidda, Norway

5.23.15.7328 — 5.23.15 ~ Hardangervidda, Norway

5.23.14.7338 — 5.23.15 ~ Hardangervidda, Norway

5.23.15.7347 — 5.23.15 ~ Hardangervidda, Norway

5.23.15.7349 — 5.23.15 ~ Hardangervidda, Norway

5.23.15.7352 — 5.23.15 ~ Hardangervidda, Norway

5.23.15.7374 — 5.23.15 ~ Hardangervidda, Norway

5.23.15.7378 — 5.23.15 ~ Hardangervidda, Norway

5.23.15.7393 — one of my favorite shots ~ 5.23.15 ~ Hardangervidda, Norway

5.23.15.7416 — trying to imagine living here ~ 5.23.15 ~ Hardangervidda, Norway

5.23.15.7418 — turf roofs ~ 5.23.15 ~ Hardangervidda, Norway

5.23.15.7420 — 5.23.15 ~ Hardangervidda, Norway

5.23.15.7430 — 5.23.15 ~ Hardangervidda, Norway

5.23.15.7440 — look how deep the snow is on the sides of the plowed road

5.23.15.7449 — there was some amazing snowlight

5.23.15.7453 — snowed in? ~ 5.23.15 ~ Hardangervidda, Norway

5.23.15.7474 — 5.23.15 ~ Hardangervidda, Norway

As dreamy as the scenery was, when we got off the train at Myrdal Station it was startlingly COLD!!! Fortunately we didn’t have to wait too long for the next train.

Next stop: Flåm Railway from Myrdal to Flåm.

Blue Marble image of North America
by NASA/NOAA/GSFC/Suomi NPP/VIIRS/Norman Kuring

In the belly of the furnace of creativity is a sexual fire; the flames twine about each other in fear and delight. The same sort of coiling, at a cooler, slower pace, is what the life of this planet looks like. The enormous spirals of typhoons, the twists and turns of mountain ranges and gorges, the waves and the deep ocean currents – a dragonlike writhing.
~ Gary Snyder
(A Place in Space)

Yet it is not our part to master all the tides of the world, but to do what is in us for the succor of those years wherein we are set, uprooting the evil in the fields that we know, so that those who live after may have a clean earth to till. What weather they shall have is not ours to rule.
~ J. R. R. Tolkien
(The Return of the King)

Contemplating the lace-like fabric of streams outspread over the mountains, we are reminded that everything is flowing — going somewhere, animals and so-called lifeless rocks as well as water. Thus the snow flows fast or slow in grand beauty-making glaciers and avalanches; the air in majestic floods carrying minerals, plant leaves, seeds, spores, with streams of music and fragrance; water streams carrying rocks both in solution and in the form of mud particles, sand, pebbles, and boulders. Rocks flow from volcanoes like water from springs, and animals flock together and flow in currents modified by stepping, leaping, gliding, flying, swimming, etc. While the stars go streaming through space pulsed on and on forever like blood globules in Nature’s warm heart.
~ John Muir
(Meditations of John Muir: Nature’s Temple)

Happy Earth Day!