Weekend Reflections

Sunny days have been few and far between in January and there hasn't been much to inspire photography. Last weekend snow and ice was washed away by rain again for a few days. To me that was a relief, as it meant I was able to walk into town for a few errands. On Monday, I even managed to fit in a long overdue visit to my hairdresser (my last haircut before that was nearly five months ago). Winter + corona restrictions is rather a tiresome combination...

Since Wednesday, we're back to a white world again. Temperatures have been down to -8°C or so, so going out takes some preparation (multiple layers of clothes etc). But there's only a thin layer of snow on the ground just now, and less hard ice, so less slippery. And yesterday, a sunny day to lift the spirits as well - so it seemed worth while again to take the camera for a walk down to the river.

The Waterfalls - Trollhättan (5)

The waterfalls at Trollhättan have a total height of 32 metres, making up a large part of the 44 metres total fall of the river Göta älv from Lake Vänern to the west coast. Before the hydroelectric powerplants were built, the discharge of the falls was 900 m³/s, and the lower part of the fall was known as the "Hell” falls.
 
The name Trollhättan, by the way, may be translated troll’s hat, or could also refer to a troll’s mountain. With a bit of imagination it’s easy enough to see strange figures both in the steep cliffs and in the waterfalls.
 
These days the river is only allowed through its original course on special occasions, to regulate the waterlevels of Lake Vänern, or as tourist attraction. The discharge is then 300 m³/s. There is a special waterfall festival celebrated every year on the third weekend in July; but the falls are also let on for a few minutes every afternoon in July and August (the main tourist season).
 
So on our day in Trollhättan, at 3 pm we were waiting with all the other tourists on the bridge with the best view of the show. Even with heavy rain falling from the sky as well, it is a sight worth seeing...

Waiting...

 

Still waiting...

See that bit of white in the middle? Here it comes...

No mistake now!

LOTS of water

This is what we've been waiting for!

Time to rush over to the other side and see what's happening there.

The Bold and the Fast run down the stairs to the lower levels to get closer.

Others like me stay on the bridge and just zoom in...

By now, people are running to and fro across the bridge to see Everything at once.
You have to watch out for traffic as well, though, as cars are allowed on the narrow bridge too...

  

Still full flow

Can you see the trolls?

"The Trolls of Trollhättan" - by Ingegerd Lindbom
(a postcard I've had for not-sure-how-long)

Now they're shutting off the water... Troll shower time over!

Linking to: 

Through My Lens

Weekend Reflections

Passing by a familar river view today, it struck me that there was something strange about it. It took me a moment to figure out what it was.

The thing is that in this little dam below the bridge, the water is usually always kept in motion – but today it was still.

Usually there is a waterfall running over that edge, splashing and spluttering as it hits the level below; and  no clear mirror images to be seen in the dam either.

▼ Below is an older photo of how it normally looks. ▼

Weekend Reflections # 300