Scent of New Snow

By late April, the harsh grip of the Arctic winter had finally loosened across the Lyngen valley. The immense glaciers that crowned Mount Skugg groaned as the first warm southern breezes swept across the fjords, melting the lower snowpacks into cascading ribbons of crystal-clear meltwater that sang over the dark basalt rocks. Fields of purple arctic bellflowers, golden buttercups, and fragrant mountain heather burst into bloom across the thawed slopes,…