A summer overnight stay at Blåkollkoia cabin Jul 5 2026

The weather in Tromsø for the weekend didn’t look promising, but for Friday it did. I leave work just after lunch so that Annika and I can hike up to Blåkollkoia cabin together. At half past one I park the car in Tønsvik. From there, it is an 8 km walk up to the cabin. The first 2½ km we follow a gravel road that leads to some private cabins.

Then the road turns into a marked hiking trail. It leads through fern thickets and birch forests; it crosses grassy plateaus and bogs with cotton grass.

It is perfect hiking weather. The air is not too warm, but the sun is quite strong and we are glad about the occasional wind cooling us down. There are hardly any mosquitoes, but plenty of flies seem to fall in love with us and follow us everywhere.

Below the cabin we use the bridge to cross the river Goahtevuomieatnu/Tønsvikelva. We were here in August 2024 and took a bath; now the river carries a lot more water.

Then we arrive at the cabin. It is locked and we use the key provided by DNT (Den Norske Turistforening) to enter. We have booked two beds in Room 2.

I go outside several times to take photos, while the sun is slowly sinking lower and lower. It is still polar day in Tromsø, so the sun won’t set. I sleep a bit but after midnight I am out again enjoying the beautiful scenery that is illuminated by the low sun in warm colours.

The next morning the scenery is quite different. The sky is overcast, some mountains hang in the clouds and it has started drizzling a bit.

After a two-course breakfast (fried spaghetti and muesli), Annika and I pack our things, clean the cabin with the other guests and start our tour back to the parked car.

First it is just overcast, then it becomes foggy and in the end, when we are on the gravel road again, it starts to rain.

Luckily, a friend of ours lives nearby. Here we can change into dry clothes and we get hot soup and coffee. Thank you, C. for the food and good company! A perfect ending for a great hiking tour that took less than 24 hours.

Oulanka National Park, the Russian border, long dirt roads and Lokka reservoir Jun 26 2026

This article is part of the series “2026-06: Obbola—Finland—Tromsø”.

Part three of the journey from Obbola to Tromsø

Our first car trip today is short. From our mökki (cottage) by the lake where we slept to the Oulanka National Park it’s only 22 km. In the car park there are more reindeer than cars. While the older reindeer are undergoing a coat change and look quite ragged the younger ones look like animals from an old Disney film with their soft fur, their thin legs and their huge, dark eyes.

Our hiking tour to the Kiutaköngäs rapids starts through a beautiful, wild forest. After a while you can hear the roar of the water and then you see the narrow gorge through which the water of the river Oulankajoki rushes downwards.

The moss-covered rocks by the gorge look as impressive as the rapids – as if from ancient times.

We follow the yellow dots that mark the shortest circular route. The landscape is now less spectacular than the rapids but in its variety, it’s beautiful to walk in.

We pass a bog lake named Ylimmäinen Hiidenlampi. We are not alone, a group of students is doing research on freshwater and invertebrates.

For most of the walk, we were lucky with the weather but in the end we get caught in a rain shower. While we have lunch in the visitor centre our jackets start to dry.

Change of scenery. We are in the eastern part of Finland, a country that has a 1340-kilometre border with Russia. We take a small road to the east leading to the border. In the end, it is just a small forest road. It just ends with a simple barrier and a warning sign saying “Border zone—no entry without special permit” in five languages. On the other side there is an information sign – that’s it.

While this road probably never was a border crossing, there is one northeast of Salla. Or rather, was, because all checkpoints were closed in April 2024. Hardly imaginable that I crossed the border here on a journey to Murmansk in March 2019.

When will Russia’s terrible war against Ukraine end? Will there be a regime change in Russia that makes it possible to travel there again in my lifetime? I don’t know.

Change of scenery. We travel to Lokka, the most remote location we found with accommodation for overnight stay. Several roads marked in yellow on our paper map lead there and we decide to take some of them to get there. First there are some visible signs of other people – a cottage, a passing car, then we are all alone. We follow the roads according to Google’s navigation. First we drive on asphalt roads, then gravel roads and in the end narrow dirt roads with grass growing in the middle.

At one junction where we should turn right the road is closed. I follow the other road but it is difficult to know if we are on the right track. There are too many other dirt roads and there are no signs, nor is there any mobile coverage. Finally we find a way back to Hietaniemi that we passed perhaps an hour ago. From there it’s another 50 km back to a paved road. Another minor road finally leads us to Mummon Mökki, our cozy overnight stay where we arrive around 8 o’clock Finnish time.

The last part was fascinating. We passed Lokka Reservoir, one of the largest artificial lakes in Europe. There are large areas of grass and some birch trees by the shore. When I walk there after dinner I realise that these immense mats of grass are actually floating on the lake. Fascinating but not a place to stroll around. I take my photos from the safety of the road.

Around ten o’clock I’m back at the mökki. I try to jump in as fast as possible to keep the mosquitoes outside and take a hot shower. Then it’s time to sleep after this long and varied day.

A hill hike and a bog walk May 9 2026

Trehørningen

While the mountains around Tromsø are still snowy and the locals are still going ski touring I was looking for a mountain or hill that I can actually walk on by foot. On Facebook people were talking about Trehørningen, not the large one but the small and child-friendly one near Skulsfjord with an astonishing height of 283 metres. Today I drove there, because most places are not accessible by public transport which makes hiking a bit of a motor sport most of the time. I arrive at around half past eight and I’m the first there. After three minutes I and a bit of ascending, I get the first views of the fjord Gállafjerda or Kaldfjorden and the mountain range around the Store Blåmannen.

At first, the path is muddy but then the ground is much drier. The track leads up through an open forest of birch trees. They are still bare.

A bit further up, there is a plateau with a beautiful view of Gállafjerda and the mountains behind.

There are some small snow fields, but only one covers a few metres of the track.

By that snow field there are some water-filled depressions. To my surprise a thin layer of ice covers these puddles. Was there frost last night?

While I am taking these pictures another hiker passes. I’m not alone anymore. Anyway, the mountaintop is near, as usual marked with a huge cairn.

The view is awesome. In the background you can see the island Vengsøya with its mountain Kvantotinden. The island is surrounded by islets and skerries, behind that the Norwegian Sea.

Vengsøya can be reached by ferry. It was just heading back while I was at the top.

The ferry connecting Vengsøy with Bellvik

The sun makes the air feel warm but the wind on the top wins: The air is still cold and I put on my anorak again, hood over my head. As often, I take less photos on my way back. I only want to take another photo of the bare birches. While I looked through the viewfinder I saw a movement. A reindeer that I haven’t noticed before it trots into view. Does it want to be photographed? Probably not. It continued its walk carefully looking at me to see what I intend to do.

After a four-kilometre hike I am back at the car. Six other cars are parked there now. I liked the tour. It is easy and the parking area is just 20 km away from Tromsø so you could do it as a small after-work trip. You get clean air, awesome views and maybe – if you’re lucky – a reindeer trotting by.

Peat bogs south of Tromvik

I had another tour in mind. A tour that could become pretty wet. I want to walk from Tromvik to the lake Storvatnet, but not on the track east from the river Storelva but instead crossing the mires and bogs. First I have to go there by car. Both Trehørningen and Tromvik are on the island Kvaløya but it’s a one hour drive. Remember, Kvaløya is the fifth largest island in mainland Norway. Then I put on waterproof clothes – you never know what happens and start my tour.

To make a long story short: I think, the lake is pretty boring. I took a souvenir photo, here it is. I guess this view is much nicer, when the lake is calm and the sun comes from the other direction.

Much more interesting were all the small ponds with mossy islets and also the muddy peat flats with their scattered grass tussocks forming small islands. Pretty fascinating. Some photos:

After a six-kilometre hike – a pretty wet one – I am back at the car. I liked this tour, too and I plan to come back on a sunny night this summer. Then the sun should be low in the north illuminating the mountains behind Storvatnet. Hopefully …

Mountains

Some mountains and mountain ranges are extremely fascinating in their combination of white snow and rough rock. The first photo I took from Trehørningen, for the other two I stopped the car on my way to Tromvik.

Ways, paths, tracks, and trails May 2 2026

When I thought the weather had been bad on the kayak trip the day before yesterday, it was much worse today. It was colder, it was windier and the mix of precipitation was more varied: rain, snow, soft hail and sleet. At the northern tip of Tromsøya, storm gusts almost knocked me off balance and the graupel blowing straight into my face hurt. I wished I had brought a face mask and ski goggles and I bent my head low to avoid the heavy weather. That’s why I did not walk all the way home but took the bus, boarding it looking like a drowned rat.

At home the same procedure: a long, hot shower and a fire in the stove, which was drawing like mad in the storm.

However the photos are not about weather, they are about the ways, paths, tracks and trails that I followed or crossed on my hike on Tromsøya today. Some are ski trails, most are summer and winter trails. Some still offer very wintry conditions; others look like early spring – or late autumn. My rubber boots splash through water, bog down in the mud and disappear into the snow. It will take some time until most of the ways, paths, tracks, and trails are dry – if it ever happens.

Tomorrow will be different, tomorrow it will snow.

Ski tour in the Pallas-Yllästunturi National Park – day three Mar 8 2026

This article is part of the series “2026-03: Ski tours”.

4 March 2026

Today is the third and last day of the ski tour Annika and I are doing in the Pallas-Yllästunturi National Park. We slept in the hut Hannukuru. We expect to ski about 15 km and parts of it will be on groomed cross‑country ski trails. Day one of our tour was snowy and windy, day two was foggy, but today the sun is shining.

After our morning routines – breakfast, packing, cleaning – we set off at 09:45 local time. (Finland is one hour ahead of Central European Time.) We follow the trail back a hundred metres, cross the small lake and to our surprise we already meet the cross-country ski trail.

I expected to ski at least half the distance without any groomed trail, now it feels like “civilisation”. At the same time the calm weather and the blue sky give a completely different impression than the days before. First we have wide views of the snowy landscape and the mountains in the distance and many trees are covered in hoarfrost and snow.

We slowly descend into a large conifer forest and the terrain gets a bit hilly. A sign says “Vaarallinen lasku” which means dangerous slope. I walk a small section of this stretch but most of the trail is easy to ski.

We take a short break in the Varkaanjärven kota, not because we need to rest but because it’s there. Two young skiers arrive, looking for matches. They want to ski up to Hannukuru. As most skiers here they have cross-country skis, not the broader backcountry skis that we are using. Probably they are four times faster uphill then we are downhill.

Now we can see the first huts, houses, a snowmobile trail and then we arrive in the village Vuontispirtti. At the hotel Tunturihotelli we take a cold coke and I eat a sandwich. Our ski tour has come to an end. Not the planned one but a good one.

The distances: 17 km + 11½ km + 13½ km, summing up to 42 km.

Our speed: 2.8 km/h in average including all shorter and longer breaks.

Will I – or we – do another ski tour in Finland? A few days ago I definitely had denied this idea. Now, while blogging I see the tour and the landscape much more positively. So my answer: I don’t know. Ask me again a bit later.

Fresh snow in Tromsø Jan 25 2026

It has been a while since it snowed in Tromsø. Nevertheless, the trees have been white this week, not because of any snow but because of the hoar frost. Yesterday many trees – large and small – were still covered in hoar frost. In the afternoon it started snowing.

When I woke up today the outside scenery looked as wintry as it could be. The next two photos I took from the balcony of my flat on Tromsøya this morning.

Today after breakfast I went on a ski tour. Not a big one, just starting at the gravel road that leads into the forest 350 metres from here. The road leads to the ski run and crosses a cross-country ski track on the way there.

I like the scenery there in all seasons, but I adore it in winter when fresh snow has arrived. Just some photos, especially from the more open places – bogs in summer, snowfields in winter:

While I cleared 14 cm of fresh snow from my parking space in the afternoon it started snowing again leading to a snowburst with snow bucketing down and adding another one or two centimetres additional snow within minutes. In my snowed-covered teddy fleece jacket I looked like a snowman.

Next week there will be not much snowfall, but it will be cold enough to preserve the snow. I love winter in the north.

Crisp and clear winter Jan 4 2026

After ten centimetres of snowfall, the sky cleared during the night and temperatures dropped. I woke up at one o’clock simply to see the full moon with a halo and Jupiter nearby. I resisted the urge to go back to bed and went outside to take a photo. What a beautiful sight, especially in combination with the wintry coast.

I also took some photos of the snow and the ice at the coast tonight. Nine hours later the sun managed to climb above the cloud layer that had gathered on the open sea. Time to take a photo of the same scene again.

I guess this is my favourite combination of winter weather: first snowfall and wind, then a clear sky and cold air. I took two other pictures from the same place. You can see the sunlit ice fog on the horizon, which forms when very cold air meets the open sea.

At noon my wife Annika and I took a promenade to the beach Vitskärsudden. The sea was still open, but a layer of ice had begun to form along the beach. The small harbour on the other side of the breakwater was covered with ice floes. When the sun is low ice and snow in the shadow often look blue, while in the sun they look orange.

Vitskärsudden – the beach starts to freeze-beach

13:52 – fifteen minutes before sunset – the landscape became even more colourful. We were back at our house in Obbola and I took some photos through the windows of the winter garden that were covered with frost. The temperature had dropped to -16 °C.

Now it is 17:37 and I sit writing this blog article. The temperature is now -20.4 °C. When you are outside at minus twenty degrees and inhale through your nose it tickles, because your nose hairs freeze. If you think that is cold, in Gielas in the Swedish mountains -40.7 °C were measured at 10 o’clock.

Tomorrow I will travel back to Tromsø. Then it will be a while before I see the sun again, as the polar night lasts until 15 January. It will also be less cold, but more snowy. At the moment there are 67 cm of snow there. And the great thing: winter has just begun!

My first winter paddling 2026 Jan 2 2026

It may not look like the ideal conditions for kayaking: -10 °C, snowfall and winds of 7–10 m/s, according to SMHI. Anyway, I wanted to open this year’s kayak season today, though not for a long trip.

It all start with dressing properly: stay warm, stay dry. Then I dragged my kayak to the small bay. I was lucky, the ice was thick enough to cross, so I was in the water within minutes.

I followed the coastline southwards. I would have loved to come closer to the photo scenes, but there are a lot of underwater rocks there and the waves were breaking on the shore. So I had to keep my distance.

Paddling became much easier with every metre away from shore. Most rocks were covered with ice, a result of the cold, windy weather over the past few days. The sea was open but some long bands of wet ice floes were drifting on the open Baltic Sea.

I turned right and headed to Vitskärsudden, our nearest sandy beach.

I turned my kayak and paddled the same way back. First to the south, then south-east, and finally east

We use this rock as a waymark to enter or exit the bay of Vitskärsudden

And then home again, which lies to the north-northeast – that’s where the cold wind and snow come from. I can feel the cold air behind my face mask. Time to put on the ski goggles. (Nice side effect of being bundled up like this: you do not have to smile on your selfies ;-) )

I tried to take some more photos but was blown back by winds with around 1 m/s. Time to reach the ice edge – from there it’s less than 100 metres home.

The 3.8 km took me an hour. Partly because of the wind, partly because my neoprene survival suit is pretty stiff but mostly because of the photos I took. Even though my iPhone, in its waterproof case, hangs around my neck, it always takes time to put off the warm mittens and put the paddle aside.

Despite the forecast, it has been snowing all day and the kayak lying on the terrace is covered with snow. The survival suit is still drying in the shower. Sleeves and legs were encrusted with ice when I hung it up.

Low water level in Obbola Dec 30 2025

On the evening of 23 December, it got colder and frost patterns formed on the windows of the unheated winter garden.

It takes some effort to cross the new layer of ice in the bay when my wife Annika and I go kayaking on the morning of Christmas Eve, but we manage and most of the sea is free of ice.

Two days later – on 26 December – the situation has changed. It has become much warmer – up to +7 °C – and the ice is gone.

Yesterday – on 29 December – the water is gone as well, maybe caused by the storm Johannes that crossed Sweden two days before.

Today I have a day off and used the sunny weather to take a long stroll by the coast. The water level is even lower at –66 cm, so I walk part of my route in the Baltic Sea. Air temperature is around -8 °C and so you can see ice on the sea and on land, as well as huge fields of boulders that normally are underwater. Some photos from this morning:

Larger parts of the shallow bay Nagelhamnsviken by the camping ground Fläse have completely fallen dry. That looks pretty strange, when you know how it normally looks like.

Large parts of Nagelhamnsviken have fallen dry.

The only thing we do not have at all in Obbola is any snow, but it seems to be a matter of days before it snows. And Tromsø – I’ll travel there at the end of the week – has 60 cm of snow right now.

30 days – 30 photos Dec 20 2025

19 November – Obbola, Sweden

The morning is cold. -14 °C. The sea has been freezing over. At the horizon lies a layer of clouds. Will they bring snow? Ice fog indicates open water. Later this morning I walk Spåret, the local circular hiking trail. There is hardly any snow, but the ice on the ponds is covered with frost patterns.

27–29 November – Obbola, Sweden

The weather has changed back from winter to autumn. Rain and storm dominate. The crushed sea ice gathers in our bay and big waves roll up the beach of Vitskärsudden. Even the last tiny bit of snow has gone.

1–2 December – Obbola and Umeå, Sweden

We got some centimetres of snow and Vitskärsudden looks completely different. Our plan to take the car to the inland with our German guests however was stopped by the weather. Too slippery the wet and icy roads. At least we make it to Umeå, where parts of the river Umeälven are frozen over.

3–4 December – Obbola, Sweden

The snow is gone. On 4 December my wife Annika and I leave our house behind …

4–5 December — Obbola, Gagsmark, and Pajala, Sweden / Palojoensuu, Finland

… and we are on our way to Tromsø. First stop is the village Gagsmark in Sweden, where we visit friends and stay over night. Next morning we continue our journey. We pass Piteå and Luleå, leave the E4 in Töre and take lunch in Vippabacken, a small restaurant with a back-room museum. We buy food in Pajala and cross the border to Finland. We stay the night in the village Palojoensuu.

6–7 December – Skibotn, Tromsø, Norway

The road between Palojoensuu (FIN) to Kilpisjärvi (FIN) is lonely. Beside of the village Karesuvanto (population: 140) hardly anyone seems to live here and only a few other cars pass. As soon as we cross the border to Norway snowy mountain ranges come into view. Near Skibotn we see the first fjord and at a quarter past two we arrive in Tromsø.

Next day is the second Sunday of advent but I only have a single candle. I have to cheat with a mirror.

7–13 December – Tromsø, Norway

I am member of two choirs and Christmas is near. That results in a pretty busy week, where I have three rehearsals and three concerts beside of my regular work. The first concert is in the hospital, which is in walking distance. While Obbola was free of snow 60 cm lie in Tromsø.

After the second concert, this time with the Sami choir Romssa Rástát we got Northern lights. Annika and I watch them from the balcony. I try to make photos with my Nikon and a tripod as well, but the aurora has weakened and I had some camera issues.

On Saturday we open the skiing season. It is polar night, so we ski round noon, when it isn’t dark. In the evening I am singing the last concert, this time with the choir Ultima Thule in the Tromsø Cathedral, a wooden church in the very centre of Tromsø.

15–18 December – Tromsø, Norway

On Sunday Annika travels back to Obbola. I will take bus and train a week later (that’s tomorrow) and spend the rest of the year there, too. Will we get a white Christmas? Probably not. It is plus degrees and rainy weather both in Tromsø and in Obbola. While the Christmas decoration in the office building looks cozy, the streets in the centre of Tromsø don’t. Brown ice and sleet and water puddles dominate and it is extremely slippery.

On Thursday I have a special workplace: The research ice breaking vessel Kronprins Haakon lies in the port of Tromsø for two days. I walk down with my spiked Icebug shoes. On board of the ship I test some of my software components that read from the ship’s systems. It is always a relief to see your software to work in real life, not only with simulations. And I get a free lunch :-) . I get a bit nostalgic. I joined three scientific cruises on board of this ship. Will I ever join a cruise again, standing on the helicopter deck while we break through the ice? I hope so.

A photo of another Northern light in the evening ends this photo series.

On the helicopter deck of Kronprins Haakon

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