A journey to K... ii

120 images from Sydkoster and Nordkoster July 9 and 10, 2014.

Do you want the high resolution original images? Send an email to mats.kristiansson.skovde@gmail.com, and I will send them to you.

Prologue. From K2's peak, the view seems shimmering as the clouds, frostbitten as snot, calm as nothingness. From Valfjället's and Högen's peaks, however, the view is shimmering as the sea, frostbitten as rubble-stones, calm as the horn.

Arrival i.Arrival i.
Arrival ii.Arrival ii.
Arrival iii.Arrival iii.
Arrival iv.Arrival iv.
Arrival v.Arrival v.
Arrival vi.Arrival vi.
Arrival vii.Arrival vii.
Arrival viii.Arrival viii.
Stranded i.Stranded i.
Stranded ii.Stranded ii.
Stranded iii.Stranded iii.
Stranded iv.Stranded iv.
Stranded v.Stranded v.
Stranded vi.Stranded vi.
Stranded vii.Stranded vii.
Stranded viii.Stranded viii.
Stranded ix.Stranded ix.
Stranded x.Stranded x.
Stranded xi.Stranded xi.
Stranded xii.Stranded xii.
Stranded xiii.Stranded xiii.
Stranded xiv.Stranded xiv.
Stranded xv.Stranded xv.
Stranded xvi.Stranded xvi.
Beyond the fjeld i.Beyond the fjeld i.
Beyond the fjeld ii.Beyond the fjeld ii.
Beyond the fjeld iii.Beyond the fjeld iii.
Beyond the fjeld iv.Beyond the fjeld iv.
Beyond the fjeld v.Beyond the fjeld v.
Beyond the fjeld vi.Beyond the fjeld vi.
Beyond the fjeld vii.Beyond the fjeld vii.
Beyond the fjeld viii.Beyond the fjeld viii.
Beyond the fjeld ix.Beyond the fjeld ix.
Beyond the fjeld x.Beyond the fjeld x.
Beyond the fjeld xi.Beyond the fjeld xi.
Beyond the fjeld xii.Beyond the fjeld xii.
Higher light i.Higher light i.
Higher light ii.Higher light i.
Higher light iii.Higher light iii.
Higher light iv.Higher light iv.
Higher light v.Higher light v.
Higher light vi.Higher light vi.
Higher light vii.Higher light vii.
Higher light viii.Higher light viii.
Higher light ix.Higher light ix.
Higher light x.Higher light x.
Higher light xi.Higher light xi.
Higher light xii.Higher light xii.
Higher light xiii.Higher light xiii.
Higher light xiv.Higher light xiv.
Higher light xv.Higher light xv.
Higher light xvi.Higher light xvi.
Higher light xvii.Higher light xvii.
Higher light xviii.Higher light xviii.
Room 1012 i.Room 1012 i.
Room 1012 ii.Room 1012 ii.
Room 1012 iii.Room 1012 iii.
Room 1012 iv.Room 1012 iv.
Room 1012 v.Room 1012 v.
Room 1012 vi.Room 1012 vi.
Room 1012 vii.Room 1012 vii.
Room 1012 viii.Room 1012 viii.
Room 1012 ix.Room 1012 ix.
Room 1012 x.Room 1012 x.
Room 1012 xi.Room 1012 xi.
Room 1012 xii.Room 1012 xii.
Humbler witnesses i.Humbler witnesses i.
Humbler witnesses ii.Humbler witnesses ii.
Humbler witnesses iii.Humbler witnesses iii.
Humbler witnesses iv.Humbler witnesses iv.
Humbler witnesses v.Humbler witnesses v.
Humbler witnesses vi.Humbler witnesses vi.
Humbler witnesses vii.Humbler witnesses vii.
Humbler witnesses viii.Humbler witnesses viii.
Humbler witnesses ix.Humbler witnesses ix.
Humbler witnesses x.Humbler witnesses x.
Humbler witnesses xi.Humbler witnesses xi.
Humbler witnesses xii.Humbler witnesses xii.
Humbler witnesses xiii.Humbler witnesses xiii.
Humbler witnesses xiv.Humbler witnesses xiv.
Humbler witnesses xv.Humbler witnesses xv.
Humbler witnesses xvi.Humbler witnesses xvi.
Humbler witnesses xvii.Humbler witnesses xvii.
Humbler witnesses xviii.Humbler witnesses xviii.
Beyond the mound i.Beyond the mound i.
Beyond the mound ii.Beyond the mound ii.
Beyond the mound iii.Beyond the mound iii.
Beyond the mound iv.Beyond the mound iv.
Beyond the mound v.Beyond the mound v.
Beyond the mound vi.Beyond the mound vi.
Beyond the mound vii.Beyond the mound vii.
Beyond the mound viii.Beyond the mound viii.
Beyond the mound ix.Beyond the mound ix.
Beyond the mound x.Beyond the mound x.
Beyond the mound xi.Beyond the mound xi.
Beyond the mound xii.Beyond the mound xii.
Released i.Released i.
Released ii.Released ii.
Released iii.Released iii.
Released iv.Released iv.
Released v.Released v.
Released vi.Released vi.
Released vii.Released vii.
Released viii.Released viii.
Released ix.Released ix.
Released x.Released x.
Released xi.Released xi.
Released xii.Released xii.
Released xiii.Released xiii.
Released xiv.Released xiv.
Released xv.Released xv.
Released xvi.Released xvi.
Departure i.Departure i.
Departure ii.Departure ii.
Departure iii.Departure iii.
Departure iv.Departure iv.
Departure v.Departure v.
Departure vi.Departure vi.
Departure vii.Departure vii.
Departure viii.Departure viii.

Epilog. At Göstases in Strömstad, I'm eating Bohuslän's perhaps biggest shrimp sandwich with 300 grams of shrimps (a small piece of bread is also included, but it takes a while before I discover it). The shrimp sandwich isn't cheap, but often enough I have gotten less food for more money, so it is, nevertheless, affordable. Moreover, the staff is outspoken, both internally and externally, which makes the visit at Göstases even more affordable.

Comments

The Koster archipelago, with the two main islands Nordkoster and Sydkoster, are Sweden's westernmost inhabited islands. Through direct contact with the North Atlantic, the water around the islands is Sweden's saltiest.

Prologue: K2 in the mountain range Karakorum at the border between Pakistan and China is with a height of 8,611 meters above sea level the world's second highest mountain. No one has ever climbed K2 in winter. – The phrase frostbitten as snot refers to an image of a man with a huge icicle of snot under his nose, that I found when I made a Google search for K2. – Valfjället is, with a height of 50 meters above sea level, Sydkoster's highest point. Högen, also called Kosterbonden, is, with a height of 58.8 meters above sea level, Nordkoster's highest point. – The terraced fields of rubble-stones at Valnäsbukten on Nordkoster are remnants from the inland ice and the subsequent uplift. Rubble-stones are smaller stones, that through friction and moving water have been polished and rounded against each other. A fossile field of rubble-stones, also known as a stone square, is an old beach with rubble-stones, that through uplift has been raised above present sea level.

Arrival: I followed Västtrafik's instructions to the letter: left the boat at Långegärde, Location A, turned sharply left onto Unknown road, walked 62 m, and arrived at Unknown road after about 2 min.

Stranded i - viii: Go into the sheep pasture and follow the water, one of the staff at Koster's gardens says when I ask for directions to the sculpture park, that is described in detail in several articles I have read (for example, Kosterbladet 2014 says that this summer's exhibitor in Koster's sculpture park is Solveig Egeland. [...] The exhibition theme is The Earth we inherited. In the area between Koster's gardens and Bölebacken, Solveig will, by using materials that nature offers, build a couple of small tree cabins, that visitors at the exhibition are supposed to use practically.). I do this, but shortly there's no more water to follow, and I don't find any sculpture park. It will be in the sheep pasture, another of the staff at Koster's gardens says. He continues: But there are no sculptures yet, so you have to imagine it. What to do? I had planned to take a number of photos of sculptures. I simply take photos of the first sculpture-like objects I find: a sheep and a boat.

Room 1012: Is the name of the hotel Koster or Ekenäs? I ask myself. The information in several leaflets is ambiguous, and there's no sign outside the entrance. The staff at the handicraft shop has an answer: The hotel is trying to change its name to Koster, because nobody knows what Ekenäs is.

Beyond the fjeld vii: Approximately in the middle of the image, you can see Sweden's most westerly lighthouse Ursholmen.

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