During last year’s field trip to Sweden, at the very end of August, an early autumn snowstorm threw us of the mountain.  You can (re)read the account of that humbling hike here.  We were beaten.  Defeated.  Nature’s powers were too strong.  We managed to hike up, yes, but trying to identify plants under a growing pile of snow turned out close to impossible. 

Last year’s snow storm covering the landscape in grey and white. 

This year we came earlier to that damned valley, determined to win and find back the sensors we had hidden there when days were better and slopes uncovered.  But again, the valley would only reluctantly reveal its secrets.  Oh yes, the weather was great, we made sure we waited for the best day of our whole trip.  But there was snow.  Again.  Tons of it. 

Turned out the valley was holding on to every inch of snow it accumulated over that surprisingly long Arctic winter.  And thus, even now, the 20th of July, two weeks later than we usually manage to reach the top, we found massive snowpacks on our path. 

Low in the valley, the shadowy sides of the river were still covered with snow. 

Too early for spring!?  Yes, this is the subarctic, where spring has to hurry up as soon as winter finally releases it, before autumn catches up with it again only a few weeks later.  This is the subarctic, where the summer suns are plentifull, yet life is living on the edge. 

Early spring at the edge of a snowpack gives for beautiful flowers of Arctic willows

The snow started low enough to make us worry about getting anywhere at all, as we had to rely on a ‘summer bridge’, which only gets installed when snow is melted.  Yet we were lucky in that regard, and we could continue our conquest of this amazingly wild valley. 

Tiny flowers of Rhododendron lapponicum at the edge of a snowpatch

Unlike last year, luck now stayed at our side for most of the hike.  While a few plots were buried under a thick pack of white softness, most of our plots balanced on the edge of the snowpacks.  A bit of digging, a bit of luck, and in all but one plots at least one of the two sensors could be dug up. 

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Hallerbos 2017

The common bluebell (Hyacinthoides non-scripta), the signature flower of the Hallerbos

Single bluebell flower surviving on a wetter spot, as indicated by the field of wild garlic (Allium ursinum)

A really wet patch of forest, with giant horsetail (Equisetum telmateia) in a field of wild garlic (Allium ursinum)

Wild garlic (Allium ursinum) in the Hallerbos flowers a bit later than the bluebells, yet this one was already in full bloom

A bumblebee visiting yellow archangel (Lamium galeobdolon)

A bumblebee visiting yellow archangel (Lamium galeobdolon)

Wild garlic (Allium ursinum)

Wild garlic (Allium ursinum)

Weirdly beautiful, the inflorescence of pendulous sedge (Carex pendula), typical for the wettest spots in the forest

Weirdly beautiful, the inflorescence of pendulous sedge (Carex pendula), typical for the wettest spots in the forest

A little stream in the Hallerbos, surrounded by endless fields of wild garlic (Allium ursinum)

The herb-paris (Paris quadrifolia), less common in the forest

Wild garlic (Allium ursinum)

Bluebells (Hyacinthoides non-scripta)

Weirdly beautiful, the inflorescence of pendulous sedge (Carex pendula), typical for the wettest spots in the forest

Another one from the wet plots: large bitter-cress (Cardamine amara)

Another one from the wet plots: large bitter-cress (Cardamine amara)

Young beech leaves, as soon as they are fully grown, spring in the understory is over

A beech forest without understory, most likely too dry and too acid for any survivors

A young beech seedling (Fagus sylvatica), looking nothing like a beech, yet everything like a tiny dancer

Young beech seedling (Fagus sylvatica)

Bluebells (Hyacinthoides non-scripta)

Bluebells (Hyacinthoides non-scripta)

Bluebells (Hyacinthoides non-scripta)

Mountain melick (Melica nutans), a grass in the most amazing green

Bluebells (Hyacinthoides non-scripta) in a rare patch of mountain melick (Melica nutans), a grass in the most amazing green

Bluebells (Hyacinthoides non-scripta)

Bluebells (Hyacinthoides non-scripta)

Montpellier 2017

The entrance to the cathedral of Montpellier

The cathedral of Montpellier

The entrance to the cathedral of Montpellier

The cathedral of Montpellier

Narcissus poetics

The cathedral of Montpellier

The botanical garden of Montpellier

The botanical garden of Montpellier

The botanical garden of Montpellier

Brackish Camargue vegetation

Brackish Camargue vegetation

Brackish Camargue vegetation

A typical lagune

Brackish Camargue vegetation

Camargue horses

Camargue horses

Camargue horses

Brackish Camargue vegetation

Brackish Camargue vegetation

Brackish Camargue vegetation

Camargue horses

Brackish Camargue vegetation

Little egret in the evening sun

Flamingo’s in the evening sun

A typical lagune

Dandelion fuzz

Grass lily

Grass lily

Dandelion fuzz

Veronica in a sea of poplar fluff

Euphorbia in a sea of poplar fluff

Poplar

Gare du Midi, Brussels

Gare du Midi, Brussels

Gare du Midi, Brussels

Gare du Midi, Brussels

Sweden autumn 2016

Autumn in Abisko

Yellow leaves of mountain birch, with lake Torneträsk in the background. 

Lapporten, the gate to Lapland, in Abisko

Rain blowing over the Abisko National Park

The colours of the north: red fireweed and yellow mountain birches, with lake Torneträsk on the background

Yellow leaves of mountain birch, with lake Torneträsk in the background. 

Rain on the background, the ski lift in Abisko on the foreground

The steep slope of mount Nuolja on a dramatic looking morning

The beautiful colors of lake Torneträsk in Abisko

A little stream on top of the mountain, with a view on Lapporten, the gate to Lapland

Well, that is a beautiful table with a nice view on lake Torneträsk in Abisko

Our little experiment on top of the mountain in Abisko, with a view on Lapporten

Autumn in Abisko is extremely colorfull

The ski lift with a view on Abisko National Park and Lapporten

Hiking dowhill towards lake Torneträsk

This green is greener than the greenest green: moss on top of mount Nuolja

Well, that is a beautiful table with a nice view on lake Torneträsk in Abisko

The ski lift with a view on Abisko National Park and Lapporten

The ski lift with a view on Abisko National Park and Lapporten

The most beautiful hiking trail of the world: Nuolja in Abisko

Angelica archangelica, often the biggest plant of the Arctic

The most beautiful hiking trail of the world: Nuolja in Abisko

Cirsium helenioides, the melancholy thistle

Hiking down mount Nuolja

The steep slope of mount Nuolja on a dramatic looking morning

The colours of the north: red fireweed and yellow mountain birches, with lake Torneträsk on the background

The prettiest yellow and blue: autumn in Abisko

Fireweed, Epilobium angustifolium

Campanula or bellflower, I think ‘uniflora’

Vaccinium myrtillus

Cornus suecica, the prettiest red of the world

Hieracium alpinum, alpine hawkweed

Carex atrata, one of my favourite sedges

Alpine clubmoss, Diphasiastrum alpinum

Agrostis capillaris, bentgrass

Common yarrow (Achillea millefolium)

Anthoxanthum odoratum, sweet vernal grass, fully grown and mature

Snow scooter trail

Our plot in the mids of a field of horsetails (Equisetum pratense)

Equisetum pratense

Cliff overlooking the valley with the road to Norway

Seedling of Taraxacum officinale, the dandelion, after two years of growing in bad conditions

Poa alpina, the alpine meadow-grass, with its viviparous seeds

Massive flowerhead of Angelica archangelica

Angelica archangelica

Blueberry (Vaccinium myrtillus) in autumn

A lowland marsh in Abisko in autumn

Installing the plots of our trail observations on top of mount Nuolja

Installing the plots of our trail observations on top of mount Nuolja

Tanacetum vulgare (Tansy), non-native for the high north

Autumn forest down in the valley

The valley of Nuolja to Björkliden

Summer on the Nuolja-side

A full rainbow behind mount Nuolja in Abisko

It’s raining in the west, clouds trapped behind the mountains

A strong wind blowing rain from behind the mountains to our side

A strong wind blowing rain from behind the mountains to our side

Betula nana, the dwarf birch, mini autumn forest

Betula nana, the dwarf birch, mini autumn forest

The valley of Björkliden in autumn

The valley of Björkliden in autumn

The valley of Björkliden in autumn

The valley of Björkliden in autumn

Sweden spring 2016

A rainy hike

Silene acaulis

Ranunculus glacialis

Trifolium repens

Melting snowpatch on a lake

Eriophorum vaginatum

Dryas octopetala

Cornus suecica

Western European species like the red clover (Trifolium pratense) here are often listed as non-native species in mountain regions. 

Trifolium pratense

Ranunculus glacialis

Bartsia alpina

Silene suecica

Salix reticulata

Overlooking the valley of Laktajakka

Oxyria digyna

The valley of the lakes

Although the alpine zone has been harder for invasives to access than most places, human structures like trails are often an easy gateway for the invaders to get up there.  Picture from Abisko, Swedish Lapland. 

Rubus arcticus

Amiens

Just outside of Amiens

Cathedral at night

Enjoying silence and the morning sun

Almost cold enough for ice-skating

Cathedral at night

The southern side

House on the square before the cathedral

Nice architectural curve

Cathedral at night

Cold! 

Sunny but cold, the Quai Bélu

Frozen mirror

Winter sun on the Place du Don

Sunny but cold, the Quai Bélu

Cathedral at night

View from my office window

Colourful mirror

Amiens is filled with cute little houses

Le Club d’Aviron in winter weather

Maria without a shirt

Frozen to the bone

Cathedral seen from the frozen Parc Saint-Pierre

View from my office window

The museum behind the beautiful gates

Cathedral with a glimpse of spring

Sun rising above the water

Gargoyle planning to eat the cathedral

Sweden autumn 2015

Lichen

Sweden summer 2015

View on the 1000 meter plots

Doing research on a cold Arctic morning

Plots flooded by the snowmelt

Flooded by the snowmelt

Meltwater river, racing down the mountain

After a hike, even the most basic house looks cosy.  Little hut in the mountains, open for everybody

Snowbridge, maybe don’t cross…

Snowbridge

View from a cliff

Silene acaulis or cushion pink, cutest plant of the Arctic

Two seasons in one image

Steep slope

Hiking down

Narvik Kirche, church of the subarctic

Narvik Kirche

Reindeer on top of the mountain

Narvik Kirche

Summer at the church

Summer flowers

Massive waterfall

Young willow catkins

View from Narvik’s hospital, with lilac flowers

Building a bridge over the fjord will gain al drivers at least an hour