Tromsø 2024 – a special end-of-year review

Last December I changed my “work home” in Tromsø from a tiny studio to a flat with bedroom and kitchen. First I was a bit unhappy because the studio was near to the beach Telegrafbukta while the current one lies amidst the island Tromsøya.

But then I realised how beautiful nature nearby is. There are hilly forests, bogs and ponds and a zillion ways and paths leading through.And each season looks different. I walked there the whole year, either walking home after work or just taking a promenade. In winter I used my skis.

Here is a selection of photos from this year:

November thaw

It took only four days to melt away 47 cm of snow.

Last Sunday I used skis to glide over the snow in the forest. However, the forecast at yr showed already that this pleasure would be temporary. And yr was right. It became much warmer and rained a lot. My way home on Wednesday was wet and so was the jogging on Thursday.

On Monday the snow depth had been 47 cm. On Friday it was zero. Thaw and the amount of rain led to flooding and several roads and bridges were closed. In the forest and on the bogs it looked like autumn was back.

Today I took another promenade through the near forest and felt like being back in October regarding the weather. With a clear difference: Having this cloudy weather it is not longer bright outside anymore.

Sixteen more days and the polar night in Tromsø starts with the absence of the sun for the following seven weeks. The darker it gets the more I’m longing for snow. It makes everything brighter.

 

Ski premiere 2024/25

After the snowfall in the first half of the week …

… snowfall continued in the weekend.

Saturday,  2 November – walking

When I woke up yesterday morning another 10–15 cm of snow have fallen over night and it is still snowing. I get myself dressed, grab my camera backpack and go out. At the kindergarten I follow the way to the ski jumps. The light is still dim and I am quite alone. A strong wind gust blows snow from all trees and for some seconds snow is everywhere in the air.

I turn left and head to the small pond. The pair of Red-throated loons has left long ago and now the pond is frozen and covered in snow.

From there I cross the small grassy bog and follow some of the many forest paths.

I walked here quite a lot last summer but now that everything is covered in 25–30 cm of snow I miss some of the paths. That circumstance gave me wet feet quite soon. While trudging through the snow I suddenly felt my rubber boots sinking in something else. Seconds later I stood knee deep in a patch of mud. Brownish water eagerly filled my boots and the mud was so sticky, that it took me a minute to get free again. The rest of my walk I had wet and pretty cold feet. Back home I praised the inventor of the hot shower. (And that of the shoe dryer.)

Saturday,  2 November – jogging

Two hours later I go out again, this time to jog. I just have started again three weeks ago and I want to continue in wintertime as long it is possible. This time I stick to the “official” ways – some of them  are already packed and groomed for cross-country skiers. Luckily you are allowed to bike or walk on the side of these tracks. It is fun to jog while it is snowing again. And my feet remained almost dry (just a bit of snow came into the Icebug winter running shoes).

Sunday, 3 November – skiing

This morning even more snow has fallen and I decide to take a ski tour. Not elsewhere but directly from home. I fetch my “fjellski” and poles from the shack and start my ski tour right from the entrance of my apartment. As the day before I pass the kindergarten and the small pond. The snow depth has grown to 45–50 cm and the skis sink in 20 cm with each step. Mostly I take those forest paths that are not too steep, but sometimes I follow the ski tracks where even I am as twice as fast.

Some more snow showers pass while I’m skiing cross-country. But then the sun comes out and colourises both sea and clouds deep orange. While I try to find a good spot to take a photo (I have my DSLR with me) the sun has begun to hide again. Photographer’s bad luck!

I pass the lake Rundvannet, while another snow shower approaches. No bathers today.

While I am heading back the sun comes out again, this time for longer. It is pretty low and soon disappears behind the mountains. In 3½ weeks polar night will start in Tromsø.

The huge ski jump of the Grønnåsen Ski Jump Center is a good landmark. Since it is on top of a hill it is visible from many places. Today I will climb up and finally ski down the ski jump to see how far I … well, just kidding.

From the ski jump it is only 800 metres back home. I ski the whole distance although I always feel uncomfortable skiing on the roads. The snow is so slippery there. After 7.5 kilometres – sometimes on tracks but mostly cross-country I am back home again.

Some hours later – 16:12. It is dark and another snow shower has approached. More snow! Anyhow it is only a temporary pleasure. Next week it will get much warmer and from Tuesday 78 mm of rain are expected for the next seen days. I guess the road conditions can be pretty ugly then. I am glad that I was outside in the “preview” of winter 2024/25. Let’s see when the next snow will arrive.

 

October snow in Tromsø

After a period of warmer weather it got colder the weekend and on Monday, 28 October it started to snow. After work I took the bus to the lake Prestvannet and walked home. Some snow showers passed through making the landscape brighter. Most small paths are still wet and some are pretty muddy but apart from that it looked so nice with the first cm of snow.

The next day more snow came at temperatures round zero. After work I walked back pretty the same route (there are zillions of small paths leading through the hilly forests and over some overgrown bogs.) New snow depth: 6–7 cm. That makes a difference, at least visually.

Yesterday I took the bus home, today I walked again. It is 31 October, the last day of the month. The temperature is slightly below freezing and the now snow is fluffy. New snow depth: 15 cm. As the days before I pass the lake Prestvannet that starts freezing over at the edges. It is fun to plunge through the snow but as long as I leave the main tracks – and I do – I’m still glad about my rubber boots because under the clean white blanket of snow there are the same mud puddles as three days before. On the broader gravel paths however the first people have started using their skis.

Fun fact: the photos #2, #7, and #15 show the same motive. From open swampy water to frozen and snowed over in three days.

To Trollvassbu and back

Annika and I used last weekend to hike to the cabin Trollvassbu where we’ve been already in August this year. It’s just a bit more than five kilometres to walk, mostly through the forest. In the strong wind it took a long time to warm up the cabin and we were glad to have down sleeping bags with us. Next time we will go there it will be with skis.

Tamokdalen, Rostadalen, Dividalen

Sometimes the trains in Northern Sweden run and sometimes they don’t. Last weekend, when my wife Annika planned to travel from Obbola to Tromsø they didn’t. Anyhow she was lucky and got a lift for most of the distance ending in the town Bardufoss. That’s less than two hours from Tromsø so I fetched her from there.

Sunday morning my car was covered with ice flowers. I was very happy that I got my tyres changed two days ago. Now I have studded winter tyres and I feel ready for winterly road conditions.

On my way to Bardufoss I took a detour through the valley Tamokdalen and the side valleys Rautadalen and Dividalen. Still many trees were clad in colourful leaves but a bit higher there where white of snow.

In Dividalen the temperature dropped to -4 °C and the road in the shadow was icy. Thank you, winter tyres!

The valley Dividalen is long and I didn’t make it to the end. On my way back the sun began to set. I crossed the river Målselva that has some river isles and turned left to the main road.

One other stop for a bog covered with frozen grass and a hill with green pines and spruces and yellow birches.

One day later – Annika and I take a walk through the forests nearby. Nature here may be less impressive but I like it very much as well. Two photos with the same theme: autumn, meet winter. What luxury to have access to nature nearby but only two minutes to the next bus stop.

 

 

Autumnal equinox 2024

It is autumnal equinox, the beginning of autumn today. Despite of the unstable weather a friend of mine and I took a tour to Oldervik and took some photos. Yes, we got wet and the friend’s dog was not amused. The good thing about unstable weather: You have a good chance of interesting light situations and rainbows.

Spåret

After two weeks on the sea between Svalbard and Greenland I took the plane from Longyearbyen back to Tromsø and two days later the bus to Narvik and the train to Umeå. Since Sunday morning I have been in the familiar surroundings of my real home (“home home”) in Obbola again.

Two days ago I walked Spåret, a four kilometre promenade through the forests near us. It was warm and summery but also visible that Autumn has begun in parallel. What a contrast the forests are to the open ocean in the Fram Strait, the ice sheet near Greenland or the treeless valleys of Svalbard.

Before the cruise – Longyearbyen, Svalbard

This article is part of the series “2024-08: Fram Strait cruise KPH”.

Sunday, 11. August

I am sitting in a plane heading north. Tromsø lies behind, the plane goes to Longyearbyen, the largest settlement on Svalbard. If everything goes according to plan I’ll be on board of the Norwegian research icebreaker Kronprins Haakon two days from now to join a scientific cruise to the Fram Strait between Svalbard and Greenland.

Eight other participants are in the same plane, there are not so many flights to Longyearbyen. The rest will arrive tomorrow or has been joining already the previous cruise. We wait for the luggage and then for the “Maxitaxi“ that brings us to our different accommodations. I check in at Gjestehuset 102 and start a photo tour back to the center.

In August the town looks brown. It’s brown water, brown mountains and brown dust everywhere. As a photographer I prefer winter. Longyearbyen lies by the fjord Adventfjorden and there lies the German research icebreaker Polarstern that I visited in Tromsø three days ago.

It is windy but surprisingly warm with temperatures round 19 °C. Later I learn that the maximum was 20.3 °Con this day, the warmest August temperature measurement ever. I stroll around and go to the huge supermarket to buy some goodies. Then I head to the beach again to take some more photos. At 18:30: dinner time with nine of the cruise participants. After that I walk the 2.3 km back to the guesthouse. And take some more photos in the evening light.

Monday, 12. August

Before the cruise many things are on hold. When will the ship arrive? When are the first scientists allowed on board? Is my help needed? When is the flare gun training for the ice people? And so on. Let’s wait and see.

KPH has arrived in the morning but only a few selected scientists were supposed to go on board to get a handover. So I have time to stroll around again – it is still warm and sunny – and take some more photos while constantly checking our WhatsApp group for plans being updated. And I meet some of my colleagues that joined the previous cruise.

In the evening we have another dinner, this time with all 19 participants. That is quite a small team this time, there are 35 berths on the vessel. We have pizza and the first opportunity to get to know each other. What a nice and interesting team I am allowed to work with for the next two and a half weeks :-) !

Tuesday, 13. August

Today is the day. I was already in town and bought a woollen sweater that I wanted to buy for years. Then at 13:00 the first group of people gets a ride to our swimming research platform – Kronprins Haakon. Welcome back. At 13:15 I have boarded, at 15:00 I have checked in. I have got the very same room as on the first cruise two years ago. It’s on deck 3 in the bow and when there is ice, it is shaky, loud and noisy. I love it! Arctic lullabies. This time I have it eben for me alone. That’s luxury!

At 16:00 we get a safety briefing. After that I fetch my safety boots and my survival suit. Will I ever wear it on the ice on this cruise? At 17:00 we have our first dinner. Salmon and rice – delicious. Ice cream as dessert. And at 18:19 I realise that we have left port. Now we will be on our way west.

I will work with a software project and I want to join the sea ice team. The ice situation however is doubtful. Last year there was so much ice, that navigation was a real issue, not its the absence of ice that can lead to problems for the ice people. But as on each cruise – let’s wait and see.

Anyhow I’m lucky and happy to be on tokt – on cruise – again!

I decided not to blog regularly while being on the cruise. There is just too much going on and too much work to do. Anyhow I may show some photos in a few days. Let’s wait and see.

Four days hiking in Tromsø – part two

It is the morning of 5th of August, the third day of Annika’s and my four day hiking tour in the fjell of Tromsø’s mainland. (Part I)

Day 3 – Blåkollkoia—Trollvassbu

We are at the small and cosy cabin Blåkollkoia and will hike to the next and last cabin Trollvassbu. With round 13 km it is the longest stage, which is actually not so long after all.

The weather is still calm, sunny and pretty warm. We leave round 9 o’clock. The way leads up through sparse birch forests with wet ground. The air is humid and feels hot in the sun. We are sweating and walk quite slowly. After a good km we leave the forested valley behind. Now we have an easy path to walk on over the vidda – the mountain plateau.

But still we are pretty slow. Why? Because of the many berries to pick and to eat. It’s not only the omnipresent blueberries but a lot of multe, Norwegian for cloudberries. They prefer boggy ground with normally zillions of mosquitoes around. This year however the summer was dry and so was most of the ground. Too dry for the mosquitoes. Yeah! I don’t think I ever ate so many cloudberries on a single day as today.

This part of the trail is very easy to hike and it is a pleasure to follow the small path. We really liked it. Some birds – long-tailed-jaegers – however don’t want to have us around. They are flying mock attacks. Soon they realise that we’re just passing and leave us alone. Beautiful birds nevertheless.

We continue walking through the mellow landscape and meet only a single person – a hiker we already met two days before.

The terrain is undulating and the views are constantly changing. So the question is: when will we see the cabin for the first time? Oh – there it is, less than a kilometre away. It lies on an idyllic place by the river Trollvasselva. We are lucky, the river carries water. Most of the smaller streams have been dried out and it was not so easy to find water to drink.

We arrive at the cabin in early afternoon. There are two hikers in the cabin but they do not stay overnight. So we will have the cabin completely for ourselves. We unpack our things, take a snack and wash ourselves in the river. In the evening it is spaghetti time. „Pasta pesto.“

Day 4 – Trollvassbu—Snarbyeidet

Today it is only five kilometres to the bus stop by the road. We have to leave early to catch the bus at 9:55.

I was awake early and took the opportunity to fly my drone. I need some training for the cruise I’ll join next week. Again the vastness of the landscape is impressive. Then we take breakfast, pack our stuff, tidy up and are ready to lock the cabin with the DNT-key.

And off we go. Some hundred metres in open terrain before we enter a dense birch forest that will surround us for the next kilometres. To the right, down in the valley we can hear and sometimes see the river.

The last hundred metres are more open terrain again. There is even a short boardwalk we follow. Minutes (and a bunch of blueberries) later we arrive at the parking place where the busstop is. Time to drop the backpacks and wait for the bus.

At ten o’clock we climb into the bus. We have reliable internet again and are back in civilisation. I’m glad that we did the tour. It is pure luxury to have such tour opportunities right on the doorstep.

Change of subject while sitting in the bus: where is the Polarstern actually? I will visit this German research ice breaker two days later. Oh it already arrived in Grøtsund. And there it is, we can see it from the bus.

Thanks Annika for the wonderful tour. Takk for turen!

I really want to thank the people from the Troms section of the Norwegian Trekking Association (DNT). The cabins are great, in great shape and you all do a fantastic job. Now we are looking to visit the place again in wintertime which according to the guestbooks seems to be the preferred season of many locals.