Well, I’m back in the mountains, but this time I’m mingling with the (other) tourists in the popular Fulufjället National Park, the popular part being the Njupeskär waterfall. I’m doing my best to avoid the crowds so I first drove to the Göljån creek which became famous in August 1997 when a record downpour transformed the quiet creek into a raging torrent, washing away some 10000 cubic metres of forest. They estimate that when it was at its worst, there was 500 times more water going down than normal. Since the old riverbed couldn’t contain all the water and debris it was flushing away, the water found new ways down the slope and the creek is now meandering in several small trickles. I was absolutely spell-bound when I got to the fern covered forest. It’s the kind of scenery I normally just dream about!

For more information about Göljån, read the PDF brochure (in Swedish), or check out this page (in English).

In the evening when the crowds had finally left Njupeskär, I headed to the big waterfall. My plan was to get some good Njupeskär pictures with the help of HDR, because otherwise I think it’s a real nightmare to photograph. In order to get anything out of it even with HDR, you need a reasonable sky behind the falls. When I was approaching, all I got was this milky white cloud so my heart sank. So much for that, then.

When I was leaving the falls, the scenery changed though and suddenly I had a view where the ugly cloud was just a small detail and the sun was still shining on the left side of the ravine. Now I knew I had my pictures!