It is Saturday morning and my only plan early this day is to walk to Keiservarden, a mountain near where I live. Keiservarden means 'the Emperor's Cairn' if you translate it literally. It was named so because a German Emperor back in the day enjoyed coming to Bodø with his ship, dock it in the harbour and walk up to the cairn that marked one of the highest tops here. It's not that tall, just 366 metres a.s.l., but it's a nice walk. In fact, there are many ways of getting there. I took the more scenic one today, as you can see below.
Keiservarden is the point where the white mast in the background is located. You walk across rocks and through mountain birch forest paths to get there, and most likely there's quite a few other people out and about too. It's one of the most popular walks from a starting point in my neighbourhood, but I don't mind. There's plenty of space and it's not hard to get out of everone's way if one wants to. And it's easy to be motivated to walk on all the time, because the view changes and expands, and on the top it's just fab.
These people had probably gotten out of bed earlier than I this Saturday; they were on their way back down when I was still walking up. People of all ages walk here; today I ran into a man in his 80s who walked with sticks, and a child of three who walked all the way on her own, together with the rest of her family. And dogs. Lots and lots of dogs, of all shapes and sizes.
This rounded plaque is located on top of the Keiservarden mountain. It indicates numerous mountain tops that are visible from this spot, and they're all marked with a line, its name and the distance. Local municipalities and some islands are also indicated on this plaque. The island in the background is Landegode, which in literal translation means 'the Good Land'. That's probably so because the fisherman of the old, old days were very relieved when they arrived here after crossing the very dangerous West Fjord - a stretch of open sea between here and the Lofoten Islands, which are famous for their good fisheries. You can barely see them in the background.
An old and faithful friend who's love and willingness to serve has been repeatedly tried and tested - and found excellent :) It is hand-made by an old man in my home town, out of wood he's found on the island I come from. Yay for local products!
View towards south-west. Sandhornøya island and some other islands in the background, on the southern side of the Salten Fjord. The two men are just random passers-by, but they fit quite nicely into my picture! This is also on top of the Keiservarden plateau.
My new city as seen from Keiservarden. This photo is made in the direction of the path I took to get here - and back. It's an excellent walk, with a few lakes and a great view while underway. It's not really far to walk either, from my house to this place, so if you ever wanna come visit and walk with me, just let me know. I'll be happy to take you here, regardless of what the weather is like on that day :-D
Saturday's fireplace...
