Majestic mountains, glittering seas, lush forests, and vast open fields reveal Earth’s beauty in its purest form. When we surround ourselves with Nature—and surrender to it—serenity enters our being. The body relaxes, the mind reboots, the spirit rejoices.
Being in Nature is one of the most powerful paths into the 3D mind. Standing on a peak, wandering the woods, yielding to wind and rain, watching water fall, we experience a humbling of the ego, an expansion of the spirit, and a deep sense of connection.
I have always loved mountains and seas. Mountains are steady, unmoving; seas in perpetual flow. Both, in their immensity, inspire reverence and awe. Both can be treacherous for survival. Yet, both have harbored life for millennia of humanity and for eons long before.
Fjords, where mountains and seas meet in spectacular grandeur, are among my favorite natural wonders. Fjords are long, deep, narrow arms of the seas surrounded by mountainous cliffs. Formed by the movement of glaciers through the ages, and bedecked in waterfalls each spring and summer as melting snow speeds to meet the seas, they harbor some of the world’s most breathtaking scenery.
In years past, my love of the fjords has taken me to the pristine Fiordland National Park in New Zealand and the stunning Patagonia coastline in Chile. Yet, it was a visit to the fjords of Norway this summer that has left me longing to return again and again. Perhaps because there, at the edge of the midnight sun, Nature was always in sight, inspiring insight.
The magnificence of the fjords can scarcely be conveyed by two-dimensional photographs. Yet, sometimes pictures move us to move. They inspire us to wander forth and gather our own, as enduring symbols of a deeper journey. May these, from this summer in Norway, inspire you to meet Nature more, wherever in the world it finds you.
Warmly,
Amita
The majesty of the fjords rests in lush green mountains with snow capped peaks rising from the still seas, which mirror their beauty:
Sunrise in the fjords is magical. As the sun’s first rays reach the cliffs, waterfalls glisten. Wispy clouds gently float above the calm waters that reflect their splendor:
As the sun continues its upward journey, the waterfalls begin to glow:
And there are spectacular waterfalls all along the fjords. The specks of boats below offer a sense of scale:
One of the most gorgeous fjords in Norway is the Geiranger fjord, a UNESCO World Heritage site:
The above panorama photo was taken from a vista point reached by driving up the 11 hairpin bends of Eagle Road:
Another incredible view of this fjord is from Mt. Dalsnibba (4843 ft above sea level), which is reached by a winding road with beautiful scenery. The images below begin in the valley and ending at the top of the mountain (Eagle Road is visible in the distance in the third and last ones):
Blessed by sunny skies, which are rarity in a landscape that sees many more days of rain and snow, the farms and coastline along the fjords gained an iridescent glow:
But, even when the clouds played hide and seek with the sun, surprises such as this often splashed on the sky:
Traveling farther north, the coastline becomes more barren. North of the Arctic Circle, the sun does not set from mid-May to the end of July. The northernmost cape of Norway is Nordkapp at 71° 10′ 21″ and shown in these three photos:
Here is the sun, dancing on the seas north of the Arctic Circle close to midnight:
This photo of a postcard shows the movement of the midnight sun at Nordkapp:
Farther south, where the sun did sink into the seas, it did so with equal grace. In that spirit, I’ll leave you with this final sunset image, one of my favorites. (One just like it inspired the cover of Enduring Edge.) It shows not the sun but the crescent moon, whose glow is made possible by the sun setting, reminding us of the beauty of endings and the inevitable new beginnings they make possible.
