A pair of 66North gloves on 69.9 North meets Nave Rosso

A true fairytale.
Norway, Lyngen Alps. February 12, 2019. Photostorytelling.

This morning we left the Hytte i Lyngsalpene, Anton’s beautiful cabin early before sunrise. The light was still blue when we put on our snowshoes and walked down the embankment towards the Jægervatnet. Our route led across the frozen lake for about three miles to the North, and up to the parking where we had left our car a few days ago.

Today we wanted to explore the northern part of the Lyngen Alps.

Up to the North

The fresh snow on the frozen lake was still untouched when we reached Jægervatnet. Taking our route to the North on the frozen lake was the best option and much more comfortable than ‘cutting through the bushes’ on the landside. “You must be fit to reach the cabin,” Anton said when we first got in contact with him. “Will you bring your snowshoes or skies with you?” Now I understood. Walking in the deep snow without snowshoes or skies – which would have been even the better joice btw! – would not have been possible.

To the northernmost location

After one and a half hours walk – it was mindblowing! – we reached our car. I prayed to God for giving us, or better the engine a good start. And in fact there was no problem starting the engine, even after a few days of being there out in the freezing cold! Thank you, this was a perfect start into the day!

We followed the Lenangsveien, Road No 7922 to the North until Nord-Lenangen – a lovely small village with a fuel station next to the local store and a beautiful harbor.

I could have made thousands of photographs – oh, how I love that flat nordic light during the winter months!

Even further North, we finally reached the northernmost location of our week in Norway; at Lat 69.950044 Lon 20.22546. This is the northernmost location you can reach by car. However, there would be a small footpath for a couple of miles leading to the ultimate northern edge of the Lyngen Alps peninsula.

Overwhelmed by the calm seascape and the soft late afternoon light – about two hours later – and after hundreds and hundreds of photographs 😉 we picked up a couple of beautiful stones and seashells at the beach (we always bring back home a handful of stones and seashells, they are valuable jewels with lots of memories – the best souvenirs ever!) – we decided to go back, knowing full well that our drive back and the crossing of the Jægervatnet back to our cabin would take at least two and a half if not three hours. Sunset will be at 4 p.m.. So it was inevitable we would walk back in the dark.

It was a calm drive back to our parking. It was still lost and empty, nobody was there at this time of the year, except us ;-).

66North gloves

After getting ready for our walk back to the cabin accross the frozen Jægervatnet, just before departure Arlette complained about missing her beloved pair of 66North Vik Polartec® Power Stretch® gloves she had bought in Iceland the other year. Where could they be? She remembered to have seen them the last time at the northernmost location at the end of the road, right at the parking at Lat 69.950044 Lon 20.22546 we left one hour ago …

Shall we go back all the way to find them? This would take about two or three hours, and it would be completely dark when we arrived there … So I offered my family to go back alone, while Arlette and our daughters Cécile and Olivia would walk to the cabin, as long as it was not yet completely dark. Arlette is used to being outdoors and I was sure she would find her way back to the cabin with our two outdoor girls – and in case of getting lost, they could use their GPS App on the Smartphone. So don’t worry.

Back to the North!

After saying goodbye I started again and returned back where we just came from. This time I drove even more carefully – nobody would be there to help me out if there was a problem with the road or with the car. After a calm and concentrated drive I reached the parking again.

Nobody was there anymore – and fortunately I found Arlette’s lost gloves, thanks to her accurate description. I was so happy they were still there, and I took a quick photograph of them and sent it to Arlette. Probably she would see the photograph later on back home in the Hytte.

And back again!

“But don’t get cocky now! Drive carefully and take care. Your family is waiting for you.” Yes indeed I did!

Nevertheless at the crossing of the Lenangsveien and the Hamnenesveien at Nord-Lenangen I spontaneously decided to take a short detour to the harbor, it would not take too long – and it was dark already anyway!

The harbor

Getting closer to the harbor, I spotted a beautiful red fishing boat and two fishermen getting ready for the end of the day.

When they passed me by, I asked them, if I might take some photographs of the harbor and the red fishing boat. “Of course, feel free.” Wonderful.

Few minutes later I was all alone at the harbor and started exploring the docks. I took care not to leave too many footprints in the fresh snow, because I wanted to photograph the docks later as untouched as possible.

The scenery was simply fantastic; the mystical glow of the harsh harbor lights contrasted dramatically with the soft colors of the fishing boats. The water was in deep shadow. The atmosphere was quite strange and a little scary – being there all alone in the freezing cold dark.

It was a pity I did not have my tripod with me this evening – unfortunately I had left it in the cabin this morning. So I had to misuse the roof of my car and my jacket on top as replacement for the tripod – of course this workaround was neither as solid as a real tripod nor as flexible, but at least much better than having nothing.

Red fishing boat

The red fishing boat reminded me to an old story. We called it the story of Nave Rosso (translated the ‘red boat’). For a few moments I was set back in time by ten years, when we told our daughters Cécile and Olivia sweet bedtime stories in the evening. All of them were self-thought and very personal, not just the common fables and fairytales everyone knows. Each story ended the same way, with a beautiful happy end, so our sweet girls would sleep well. Most of those stories were about little rabbits and dogs, the favorite animals of our daughters, or about the little moon, his friend the evening star, the ships and boats on the ocean and the big wise gentle giant, the good old whale, a huge giant whale always helping those in need.

One of our stories was about the Nave Rosso; it looked pretty similar to the fishing boat in front of me. In fact the Nave Rosso of our bedtime stories was little taller than the red fishing boat, but it’s color was exactly the same.

When I photographed the ‚Nave Rosso‘ and checked the image afterwards I was blown away by the colors and the mood of the image. What a beautiful fishing boat, and what a good decision to make this short detour to the harbor!

When I was standing next to the red fishing boat, I imagined to hear a voice, far away and shy. Frozen with fright I turned around to see if there was somebody there – but there was nobody and nothing. Strange! Probably I must have been mistaken.

And there again. “Hi there.” The voice came from the fishing boat, deep and warm, a little smoky.

Well I’m rather hard-boiled and used to critical situations, alone in the outdoors and in the wilderness. Being alone with myself and my thoughts, for days, nights, weeks. Defying the elements. I do not tend to panic. But …

Nevertheless I got even closer to the fishing boat and listened excited. “Hej.” – without doubt the voice was from the ship. And again, “Hej”.

First I wanted to run away, but something kept me staying; again I turned around to see if there was somebody fooling at me, but I still was all alone. Me and the red fishing boat.

“Hej.”, I answered. “Are you …?”
“Yes. Thank you for coming to visit me.” And after a few moments the red fishing boat continued. “It is not the order of the day that someone comes to see me and enjoys the sight of me. Thank you.”
“Hmm, yes, you look great.” I was glad my voice did not fail.
And the fishing boat continued. “Maybe you’re right, today I may look great, almost like new. But you should have seen me ten years ago.”
“What happened?” I asked.
“Would you like me to tell you my story?” The fishing boat asked. Of course, I wanted.

The story of Nave Rosso

“Well, ten years ago my former owner did not care about me. I felt rusty and old. And I was rotten all over. My owner didn’t care at all.
One day I was out there in a heavy storm a few miles from Tromsø and sucked water, my engine stucked and we were in severe trouble. The situation got even worse when my stearing broke and all navigation systems went down. I prayed to God to help me.”
“What happened then?” I asked.
“In exact this moment another fishing boat – it was all blue – passed by and helped me. Thank God. The blue fishing boat maneuvered to my side and stabilized me. But it wasn’t strong enough to hold all my weight on its own. Then someone on the blue fishing boat must have sent an emergency call, and fortunately after a trembling hour fighting against the storm and the elements there was another ship coming – it was all black. They finally managed to stabilize me.”

The red fishing boat trembled and I heard a deep sigh. “Please, what happened next?”

“The storm got even stronger, unfortunately my two blue and black guarding angels were not strong enough to navigate towards the nearest save harbor. It was a desperate situation. Please, dear God, please help me! I was looking up to the sky where I saw a shimmering light – it must have been the little moon, my dear old friend. Would this be the last time I saw him?

The hours passed by, I got weaker by every ton of water, and although the blue and black fishing boats did their best, we could not move and I got tons of water inside.

For sure it would have been my death, if not a huge black shadow had appeared from the deep. It was a giant whale, I have never seen such a tall whale before! The giant whale’s voice was deep and calm: “Do not fear – I will help you.” He took me on his back and pulled all of us to the shallow shore, far away from the storm. There we could manoever ourselves to the nearest harbor. The big whale accompanied us to the harbor, as if he wanted to be sure we are safe.

And finally I was safe!

Thank you, God. Thank you, my blue and my black angel fishing boats. Thank you, dear little moon, my old friend and thank you, dear big whale. You all saved my life.”

The red fishing boat sobbed and trembled.

“Then my former owner sold me, fortunately. The new owner wanted to fix and repair me; he renovated everything, it took quite long. And now – look at me, as you mentioned before – I shine like new!

After the renovation work we had a fantastic party. All of us, the blue and the black fishing boats, the little moon – by the way, he must have called the giant whale for help – and the gentle giant whale himself, he is my true hero, the king of whales. We all had a very special barbecue with an ultra-large Weber charcoal grill.”

I had to grin quietly to myself about the imagination of those three huge fishing boats, the ‘little’ moon and the big whale sitting all around a Weber charcoal grill having a barbecue. The story ended exactly the same way our bedtime stories for Cécile and Olivia did years ago …

The red fishing boat smiled too, and after a while it said: “Now you know my true story. I am so glad you came here. It was worth waiting for you for all those years. Thank you so much for coming and listening to me.”

“Your real name is Nave Rosso,” I said, “the blue ship’s name is Nave Blue, and the black ship is called Nave Nero. I have seen both of them in Genova in Italy. And the big whale’s name is Balena, the king of the whales, who helps all of us when in need.”

Nave Rosso smiled. “I was sure you still know my real name. Whatever will happen, never give up. At the end there will always be the little moon and Balena helping you. They will never let you go. Never.”

“Thank you for all, Nave Rosso. I always knew the bedtime stories for our sweet daughters were real. Thank you so much.”

“And now”, Nave Rosso said, “go home to your lovely family and give them my regards. Keep all safe and take care.”

“Goodbye Nave Rosso, thank you, and give Balena and the little moon my regards, too. Have a good time and stay safe.”

I went back to my car. Before getting in I turned around and waved to the beautiful old fishing boat. It seemed to smile with happiness. A tear ran down my cheek. What a good old guy, this beautiful red fishing boat. And what an impressive story.

Back to the Hytte

All my way back I had to think of the words of the good old Nave Rosso.

Finally I arrived at the parking, where I had left my family a few hours ago. It was completely dark now, and without my headtorch I would not have seen anything.

Fresh snow covered the trail and the tracks of my family. Nevertheless I found my way. In case of an emergency – if I got lost or so I would have a local map and a compass with me, and if everything was falling apart also my GPS Smartphone App. And for sure the little moon and Balena would help me if I was in trouble. So, no problem at all.

What else would be better than walking all alone across this beautiful frozen lake, in the middle of the night, having met the real Nave Rosso? I could not wait to tell the true story of Nave Rosso to my family, after all those years!

After three miles on the frozen Jægervatnet I made a sharp left turn and climbed up the river board, all across the light spruce forest.

Only few minutes later I finally reached the warm lights of the cabin.

All my beloved ladies were already expecting me and rushed up to me and hugged me. What a warm coming home!

Have a guess what story I told them this evening?

 

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Photography:
RICOH GR II, GR Lens F=18.3 mm 1:2.8
Edited in Adobe Photoshop Lightroom
 
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