Image Credit : Wikimedia Commons (free license)

The photo above showing a distinct mountain gap in Abisko National Park was snapped on a trip to Lapland (Sweden) to produce a film on the aurora. It appears that a huge bite was taken out of the mountain. Known as the Lapporten Mountain Gate and Goose Valley, it's one of the most photographed natural landforms in Sweden. The steep-sided U-shaped valley was carved by glaciers during the last glacial period. The peak at left (southwest) is Nissuntjarro, at 5,702 ft (1,738 m), and at right (northeast) is Tjuonatjakka, at 5,098ft (1,554 m). Lake Cuonjajavri sits between these modest summits. Photo taken on March 17, 2013.

Abisko National Park, Sweden Coordinates: 68.316667, 18.683333

Image Credit : dreamstime.com (free license)

Abisko is situated in the Swedish province of Lapland near the Norwegian border and belongs to Kiruna Municipality, Sweden`s northernmost and largest municipality. The 440 km long Kungsleden hiking trail, which follows the Scandinavian mountain range, starts or ends at the Abisko Turiststation. Abisko National Park is centered on the majestic Abiskojokk River, which spreads out from the southern shore of scenic Lake Tornetrask. Wander along the edges of fjords and waterfalls and through boreal forests. Snow-capped mountain peaks frame the panoramas and birch forest stretching out over the rolling hills.

Image Credit : Wikimedia Commons

Lapporten (Swedish: "The Lapponian Gate") or Tjuonavagge (Northern Sami: Cuonjavaggi, "Goose Valley") is a U-shaped valley located just outside Abisko National Park in Lapland in northern Sweden, one of the most familiar natural sights of the mountains there. The valley is bounded to the southwest of the mountain Nissuntjarro (1,738 m) and in the northeast of Tjuonatjakka (1,554 m). In the middle of the valley lies Lake Cuonjajavri, 950 metres above sea level. The terrain is easy to walk but has no marked trail. Lapporten is in the Nissuntjarro Natura 2000 site.

Abisko National Park in Swedish Lapland in the aurora borealis, or Northern Lights. This unusual U-shaped mountain range is known Lapporten Mountain Gate. The indigenous Swedish people, the Sami, believed it resembled the uterus, and therefore Sami women were obliged to walk around this formation whereas the men would walk through it.