Strange clouds

When I woke up today at 7 o’clock half the sky was red. It was still dark enough for stars being visible and I considered whether this could be some strange sort of polar light.

When I walked to the ski jump it has become less dark and it was clear, that the colours come from the light of the sun rise (09:17 today). Anyhow there must have been some strange clouds up in the sky reflecting the light of a sun still being 8° below the horizon. Even the snowy mountains were crimson red.

When I took a hike with a friend on the frozen snow near Tønsvik my eyes caught another special cloud phenomenon. These pale clouds were colourful due to diffraction. The effect was weak and delicate and so the photo looks a bit boring. No reason to now show it anyhow ;-)

It is 8 o’clock. The sky is clear and I can see Mars, Jupiter, Moon and Venus in the starry sky. In the north there is a very faint polar light.Will it develop? I’ll check until I’ll go to sleep.

The sun is back in Tromsø

Today I saw the sun for the first time this year. Polar night in Tromsø has already ended one week ago but it always takes some days until it rises over the mountains. Yesterday it was cloudy but today was the day. Welcome back, sun.

This is a shot by mobile phone. I may have taken better photos with my small Sony camera but I forgot it in the office.

A winter visit to the cabin Trollvassbu

Annika and I have been in Trollvassbu before. Once in August, once in October. Yesterday it was time for a winter visit by ski. There’s a parking place by the road to Oldervik and from there it is just 4½ kilometres.

It is 4 January and it is polar night in Tromsø. This means, that the sun is below the horizon but not, that it is dark all day. There is light for about four hours and the light can be quite beautiful.

These are photos I took on our way to the cabin. The first one I shot at 10:42, the last at 11:33. The light is dim but bright enough for skiing and both sky and snow are surprisingly colourful.

We arrive at the cabin at noon. There are a lot of people around, but they are leaving. We know, that the cabin with its sixteen beds is almost fully booked for this night, we are just the ones who have arrived first.

I am walking and skiing around to take some photos. My favourite motive is the half open, half snow covered river Trollvasselva.

To be honest – most parts of the river are open and so it is easy to fetch water. When I take photos of the cabin I saw other skiers arrive – most of them parents with small children. I adore them. It must be fantastic to stand on your first skis when you are just two years old.

And then it is getting dark and the cabin is full. Five parents with their six children, three other guests as well as Annika and me. Everyone knows, how a Norwegian mountain cabin works and so the oven is constantly fired and fresh water is fetched by the river. Everyone returning from the outhouse takes some logs of wood with them and used water is brought to a place nearby. Two parents have portable battery lights with them and candles are standing on the wooden tables and in the windows. Outdoors it is cold and clear. Moon and Venus, Jupiter and Mars are visible at the starry sky.

And later – round half past five polar light appears.

Annika and I are incredibly lucky, we have a room for ourselves. Advantage one: we can sleep in the lower beds of the two bunk beds. Advantage two: we do not disturb others when we have to go to the outhouse in the dead of night.

The next morning the weather is as fine and clear as at the previous day and the temperature has dropped to -15 °C.

After having breakfast, packing and cleaning Annika and I leave at 10:15. We are faster because many other skiers had made the trail resemble a cross-country ski trail and it also goes downwards.

Clouds are gathering. What luck we have had with the weather. The very same tour could be much rougher and harder when it is snowing and blowing.

A photographers comment

This is me (Photo: Annika Kramer):

It shows me taking a photo with my telephoto lens. I don’t like to use ISO > 800 and so the shutter speed in the dim light is quite long. I have a tripod in the pulka, but it takes some time to set it up. Therefore the photos taken while skiing are hand-held and many of them are blurred.

Another issue is the brightness and the hue. How bright was the light or how dim? The camera itself does not know. It exposes according to my settings. Also: how violet was the sky and was it more violet, lilac, pink or purple? These photos are no standard photos and so the camera is wildly guessing the white balance.

I try to edit the photos so that they resemble the actual light and hue but I have to do it by memory and sometimes it is hard to remember the type of green of a polar light or the intensity of the purple sky.

Photographers: How do you deal with these issues?

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:

Back in Tromsø and it’s winter

When I worked in Tromsø on 20 November I took a snapshot through the window panes of the 5th floor. You could guess the sun between the mountains. It would be the last time I’d see the sun in Tromsø this year.

The next day I travelled to Germany to visit friends. I returned yesterday, 30 November and could see the sunset a bit north of Bergen from the airplane back to Tromsø.

In Tromsø we have polar night from 27 November until 14 January next year and it looks like this:

No, it doesn’t! Just kidding.

Polar night (the English term) does not mean, that it is dark all day. Only, that the sun won’t rise or set. The Norwegians – more affected than other countries – have two words. They call the polar night mørketid (darkness time) and reserve the term polarnatt (polar night) for the time where the sun is at more than six degrees below the horizon for the whole day. This applies only to places north of 72°33′ such as Bjørnøya or Svalbard.

Since it is not pitch-black I took a small ski promenade in the forests nearby. And so it looks like on a cloudy 1 December (-4 °C) on Tromsøya:

 

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.

 

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.

 

 

Four autumnal pictures

It is the first of October. The wind is blowing and it is raining against the large window panes of the Framsenteret, the building where the Norwegian Polar Institute is located.

After work I take the bus to the lake Prestvannet and walk home. That’s about 4 to 5 kilometres depending on which of the zillion routes you choose. I prefer the small paths. Rubber boots recommended. It is still raining anyhow it has become colder and more and more sleet mixes with the raindrops. When I cross one of the broader ways the sun peeks through the clouds creating a beautiful light. I really enjoy these walks home and do it twice a week.

Today it is three days later.  I wake up early and it is snowing, but the roads are dark and wet. After work I’m taking a smaller promenade through the neighbouring forest. Some patches of the morning snow have remained.

My way back home leads along a small path over one of the bog. The grass is turning yellow and so are the birch trees. Some of them have lost there leaves. The mountain Tromsdalstinden in the background has been snow white for many days. And the weather is pretty fair. A good end of the workweek. Now it is weekend and guess what – it will rain tomorrow.

 

A chilly tour to the Steindalsbreen

Yesterday I took a hike to the Steindalsbreen together with my friend C. and her husky. I’ve been there last year at almost the same time of the year. The previous days of this year however have been colder. The mountains are coated with snow and the ground is covered with frost.

What I really love about this hike is the different landscapes you cross. First we follow the rising forest path.

We can see the river Gievdanjohka below. After a while the path leads back down until it meets the river.

We pass the cabin Steindalshytta, follow the path a bit further and the valley Gievdanvággi opens up to a broad U-shaped valley. Reindeer are grazing on one of the slopes. While we are taking a short break the sun vanishes behind a mountain. In an instant it gets colder and I put on a woollen cap and gloves.

After the break we continue the path. We ascend a stony slope and leave the birch trees behind. A quarter ago the landscape looked more like “The hills are alive ♩|♩🎵𝅗𝅥 …”, now it appears grey and  harsh.

And then we get a great view on the glacier and the glacial lake in front. We continue until we reach the lake’s shore.

The lake is frozen. In the icy pattern on the surface the snowy mountains and small cumulus clouds are reflected.

On the northern side of the valley it is possible to pass the lake until we reach the glacier. It looks quite different then last year.

This year it is easier to walk around for taking photos, because the soft sand you can sink in is frozen. And creates its own visual world.

We take photos from the glacier and the surrounding landscape. I took the following two images from almost the same place. It is just two different directions. (For the photographers: the white balance it the same on the following two images.)

After a while we decide to return to the car. It will be eight more kilometres to go. The edge of the stony slope provides a view on the levels of the landscape. In the bottom the branching river in the shadow. Above the wooded hills, now in autumnal colours. In the background a chain of snow covered mountains. They are already on the other side of the fjord Storfjorden. At half past five we are at C.’s car.

I feel privileged that I may live in Tromsø and have such a gorgeous landscape within reach for a day trip like this.

Takk for turen C., thanks for the tour!

Appendix I

In the evening the sky was still clear. At a quarter to ten I went on the balcony of my rented apartment to check for polar lights. I was not disappointed and got my first aurora of the season. I just took a photo from the balcony.

Appendix II

Today I compared the tracks from last year’s and this year’s hikes to the glacier. The satellite imagery on the screenshots is old. I do not walk on glaciers without guide.

On both hikes I approached the glacier until I could touch it. The glacier is in the west (or left). You can clearly see that I came further west this year which means, that the glacier has shrunk within the last 12 month. Where will the glacier calve next year? In five years? In ten? When will it be gone? Depressing thoughts after a wonderful tour.