We were in the car driving from the stunningly scenic Åndalsnes, Norway to a lodge near Galdhøpiggen (highest mountain in the country) to try to climb it, but record rainfall had caused some massive landslides in this part of Norway and several roads that we really needed had gotten deleted by mother nature. We tried asking some officials who were sitting at a closed road barricade about road conditions along our route, but they just laughed when they heard where we wanted to go. “There’s no way,” they said, “But you can ask the people at the next town what they know about the roads, and good luck.”

Armed with our new Norwegian sweaters and a Tesla, with 80% battery we set off to try to find a way through the remote Jotunheimen National Park. After an hour and a half of driving, in the fading dusk light, sure enough, the road ahead had been totally washed away in a landslide.

While we sat there considering our plight, all of a sudden a big van pulled up alongside us. Turns out this local guy had just come from a different road heading in another direction, but he said there was “some water” and “maybe we can make it.” I then saw the watermark on his van was a good 2 feet (0.6 M) off of the ground – which was higher than the floorboard of our car.

While we sat there contemplating our predicament, a large van suddenly pulled up beside us. The driver, a local, mentioned he had come from a different road and encountered “some water,” suggesting we “might be able to make it.” It was then that I noticed a watermark about two feet (0.6 meters) up the side of his van – higher than our car’s floorboard.

So, for lack of a better plan, we decided to batten down the hatches and send it, following this friendly local through deep water on an unknown road in Deep Norway – in the dark. The van broke the water ahead of us, pushing it aside and creating a perfect upside-down “V” of less-deep water for us to drive in. However, the water would reach the sides of the road and rebound, converging to form a meter-deep, Tesla-killing wave of water a few car lengths behind us. After 20 stressful minutes of submarining our way down this submerged road hoping we don’t hit something under the water, our Moses had finally led us to safety.

It is because of all of the above that we ended up at a nearby lodge for hikers to access Bessegen Ridge, a Google Maps pin I had no memory of saving but that was saved with a note “top 10 most scenic world hikes National Geographic.” And boy did it live up to the name.

This reindeer we came across on this hike was just a bonus.

Getting the shot: Calmly and quietly hoping I don’t get mauled by Rudolph.

1/200 sec | ƒ/8 | ISO 125