Lost in the whiteout

Norway, Lyngen Alps. February 11, 2019.

Yesterday evening I had discovered three small lakes on the map only 1.5 km away from Anton’s beautiful cottage we were living this week – the Hytte i Lyngsalpene, see this map (the cottage is marked in red).
The difference in altitude from the cottage to the three lakes would be only 170 meters, so the snowshoe walk should be an easy walk.

On the route up to the lakes there would be nothing but beautiful soft fresh snow covered slopes and light birch and oak forests – there would be neither a path nor a track, absolutely nothing – simply beautiful pure untouched snow – what a dream!

Previous to our start at 10.30 a.m. I took the bearing to the three lakes with my compass; et voilà, we were ready to go, let the adventure start! And use the daylight before the sun would set again at around 4 p.m. – and today’s weather seemed to be quite fair too!

Stuck in the deep powder snow

After a fews minutes and only 100 meters from the cottage we had to change direction due to the deep powder snow which made the passage over the soft hills nearly impossible.

Tramping through the deep snow I quietly asked myself if the 28in. model of the Tubbs Flex Alp Mens snowshoes wouldn’t have been the better choice – of course they would! – regarding the deep snow! But the time I bought my good old Tubbs snowshoes only the 24in. model was available. I am a big fan of my Tubbs snowshoes due to their outstanding performance and durability – in all those years of intense use there was not a single problem with the Flex Alp! Length or not, I do not care, and nevermind, enjoy what you have and what you love – I love my Tubbs Flex Alp snowshoe!

One kilometer in one and a half hour

Making a trail in the deep snow was hard work. Nevertheless we admired the bizarre snowdrifts and the impressive snow covered rocks which lined our path up to the two lakes. In the meantime it had started snowing – but only a little bit, nothing serious – and about 300 or 400 meters before we reached the first of the three lakes the terrain got flatter and wider – we decided to have a short break and chill down for a few minutes.

Our two daughters Cécile and Olivia started frolicking in the deep snow having a funny snowshoe race – they did not seem to be keen on the last stage up to the lakes. Arlette enjoyed their race, and finally I left my family for the last few hundred meters up to the lake alone – this last stage would be an easy going for me, I was sure …

But I must have underestimated the effort and when I finally reached the lakes I had to chill down for a while to make sure my hands were no more shaky – of course it would have been a pity to bring back blurry images after all the effort 😉 climbing up here!

Lost in the whiteout

While grabbing my camera all of a sudden it started snowing like crazy, and within seconds I was lost in the middle of the tight white clouds – wow! – a perfect whiteout! «Do not panic», I tried to calm myself, «this is not the first whiteout in my life, remember the frightening one during that heavy winter storm in Northern Iceland on a trekking all alone, a couple of years ago.» Nevertheless visibility was down to zero, maybe only two meters, I could hardly see my own feet anymore ;-). It would be difficult if not impossible to follow my own tracks back to my family … Should I wait until the whiteout cleared up? It was snowing like crazy and my own tracks would not be visible anymore in a few minutes, so I decided to return back to my family right now.

As if the situation had not been uncomfortable enough, I realized that I had forgotten my compass in the cottage this morning. I could have slapped myself! But wait – fortunately I had my Smartphone with me, though without service, but navigating back using the superb OsmAnd app should be possible.

Forgotten to record the position of my family

But even equipped with the best compass and the most accurate map ever, or with the best GPS device or GPS app – without knowing the exact location of my family my destination was missing. How stupid I had been, I had forgotten to record the position of my family … Now, how to find them again?

Nevertheless I tried to stay cool and slowly walked back, stopped again and again in order to listen if I could hear my family’s voices. The distance must have been not more than 300 or 400 meters, but did not hear them.

The happy end

 

After fearful minutes the whiteout cleared a little and I spotted some snow covered tracks – probably my own tracks from the ascent.

I finally found my family anxiously waiting for me. They had been clever not to leave their place, because otherwise I would not have had the slightest chance to find them again.

I breathed a sign of relief. Welcome back to life again!

Back again

Sitting in the warm at dusk I stared out the window of the cottage and thought about what had happened today. Obviously I had not made only one mistake, but several – despite beeing rather used to the outdoors, they felt like complete beginner’s mistakes.

Lessons learned

1. Before leaving double check your gear. Do not forget your map and compass, you will need it if your GPS device or GPS app runs out of battery.
2. Record your position over and over again, do not forget the important forkings. With these waypoints, you will always find your way back where your came from.
3. Be prepared for sudden (I mean really sudden!) weather changes and changes in visibilty.
4. In case you get lost, do not panic. Never ever.

 

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Photography has nothing to do with cameras.
Olivia Speck, 2019. [She got it.]

 

Camera gear: RICOH GR II, GR Lens F=18.3 mm 1:2.8
Editing: Adobe Photoshop Lightroom

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