Four days hiking in Tromsø – part one Aug 7 2024

Prologue

I am sitting in the bus number 24, the bus that usually brings me to work.

But not today. It is Saturday, my wife Annika is with me and we will not leave the bus in the center but at the last stop „Kroken“. We have backpacks with us and are about to start a four-day hiking trip through the mountains on Tromsø’s mainland. We leave the bus stop behind, follow the street to the parking place above, pass the graffitis on the “trykkbassenget” and then …

Day 1 – Kroken—Skarvassbu

… we are on the hiking trail. Between the following two photos lie six minutes.

We are following the broad trail slowly gaining altitude and it doesn’t take long till we reach the tree line, which is between 300 and 400 metres in Tromsø. When we look back we can see the northern tipp of the island Tromsøya, but soon the city disappears behind the mountains.

At the lake Krokvatnet the path gets steeper and rockier. We celebrate every cloud because it is a warm summer day with temperatures above 20 °C.

With every hundred metres of altitude the landscape is changing. Soon rocks dominate the landscape, being a perfect habitat for the lichens growing on them.Here we are at an altitude of 700 metres – the highest of our whole trip.

Now we are descending again. Larger lakes have come into view: Čazajávrrit (or Storskarvatnan) and Storskarvatnet. Yes, the Norwegian names are almost alike.+

Between the lakes the cabin Skarvassbu is supposed to be – and there it is. A couple of black-roofed buildings, perhaps a kilometre away. We cross some more boulder fields and then arrive at the cabin. We have a DNT-key with us. That key fits to all but a few cabins of the DNT (the Norwegian Trekking Association), We unlock the door and enter the “hytte”. As many in Norway it is very cozy.

We have pre-booked two beds – probably quite unnecessary, since we will be alone in the night. Since it has been a dry summer the river usually being used to fetch water is dried up completely.

Luckily the small lake nearby has clear water and I fill one of the cabin’s buckets. A bit later I return to the lake to take photos from the cottongrass.

One of the things I love being out in the mountains for several days is watching the changes of light. It still does not get dark but still the sky shows evening colours.

Day 2 – Skarvassbu—Blåkollkoia

When I wake up at 5 o’clock it is broad daylight. It is Sunday, the 4th of August and sunrise was already at 2:45. No reasons for a photo session, I continue sleeping. At 8 o’clock I take some photos with my drone. It’s the first time I have it with me while hiking. Some aerial photos can be pretty boring but the extent of the landscape is often impressive. The mountain in the background is Tromsdalstinden (1238 m).

We have Müsli for breakfast. For milk we mix our milk powder with water. Perhaps not our favourite meal, bit it easy to carry and provides energy for our long trip. Wait, did I write “long”? Today it is only 5–6 km to go.

The first part takes a bit of time because the hiking trail crosses a large boulder field. The marks of red paint – sometimes a dot, sometimes a “T” – are guiding us.

We have left the worst rock fields behind and are looking at a lovely, grassy mountain valley from the escarpment we are standing on. That looks nice! But first we have to follow the winding path that leads down. We pass one of the rare and small snow fields. It has been a warm year and even many higher mountains are free of snow.

And then we reach the alpine meadows that present us a treasure: Blueberries!

According to some tour description Annika found in the net there are rivers to cross. Wading however was not required, all rivers and brooks had very low water levels and were easy to cross and so was the river Goahtevuomieatnu (or Norwegian: Tønsvikelva). We are walking along the river and soon the small cabin Blåkollkoia comes into view where we arrive round noon.

In the afternoon Annika and I go to the river again. We want to check how to cross it the next day, we want to fetch water, we want to clean some clothes and we want to bath. Four times success: There is a bridge, there are nice places to refill our water bottles and to do some cleaning and most important: there is a deeper spot perfect for taking a refreshing bath on an even warmer day. We dry ourselves in the sun and then are sitting by the river for an eternity. This is definitely a highlight of the tour that I will remember for a long time!

And we still have plenty of time. For reading, for taking photos of birds …

… for flying my drone again …

… for preparing dinner (Pancakes with blueberries), for enjoying sun and seeking shadow and for enjoying life.

Note to ourselves: if you want to make pancakes, bring butter or oil …

The next day we will continue to Trollvassbu, with 13+ km it will be the longest day of our four day hiking trip which on the one hand is far, far away from everything and on the other part of the neighbourhood of my work town Tromsø. What a special place in many ways!

Summer weather in Tromsø May 17 2024

10:30. I am sitting in my car on my way to Sommarøya – “The summer island”. The sun is shining and it is warm already. Today it is supposed to be 19 °C, much warmer than the last weeks (or months). The first photo stop, a parking place by the sea. Tussilago is blooming everywhere.

The road leaves the sea and leads through the valley Kattfjordeidet. The lake Kattfjordvatnet lies on 149 metres of altitude. Does not sound much, nevertheless it is high enough that most parts of it are still covered with ice. I like the open areas – small waterfalls and beautiful reflections.

Kattfjordeidet I – a small rapid in the mountain river

Kattfjordeidet II – an open patch by the ice.

The valley is 12 km long. I leave it behind and meet the sea again. And two locals – reindeer that know the traffic rules and walk on the other side of the street (or better said in the ditch).

Just before the tunnel Oterviktunnelen there is a parking place and shortly after a beautiful sandy beach. It looks so warm, but I didn’t measure the water temperature …

I am lucky, I find a nice shell, a “pelican’s foot”. Then I continue my ride and enter the tunnel. It is not long, just 607 m.

Almost wherever you stop there are nice places to explore, for example this tiny beach, less than ten metres wide. It is not far away from the bridge to Sommarøya.

A small beach by the road Sandneshamnvegen

From the bridge you can see a lot of small islands, many of them with sandy beaches. A kayakers paradise, although the weather can be pretty rough. But if you like challenges, take your boat, head west and after 1600 km you are in Greenland. ;-)

The last weeks I have seen three kinds of wild flowers blooming in and around Tromsø. (1) Tussilago – 17 April (always the first). (2) Dandelion – 26 April. (3) Oxlip (or another primula) – 8 May. Today I discovered two others. According to Pl@ntNet, which I use for identification a Goldilocks buttercup (91.2%) and a Purple mountain saxifrage (94.6%).

Would I find one of my favourites flowers as well – the Marsh marigold, which loves wet places and has an incredibly beautiful hue of yellow. Yes? I found some of them beside a small pond.

On Sommarøya I hardly took any picture, on the outer island Hillesøya I took a photo of one of the boat harbours. In my back an open door, a dark room and in there a man cleaning fish.

After taking lunch in the snack restaurant Havfrua (“The mermaid”) it was time to drive back. I chose the way round the south of the island Kvaløya and made some small stops. One at the ponds and puddles in a boggy area, which now are free of ice. Another by the church Hillesøy kirke, which is by the way not on the island Hillesøya.

And then the time came: 20 °C according to the car thermometer! Last time it was so warm here was last August.

I took another stop to take a photo of one of the mighty mountains on the other side of the strait Straumsfjorden. When I looked down into the deep water I spotted a shoal of fish. It was hundreds, probably thousands of fish resting in the shadow. The photo is heavily edited to make the fish more visible.

After a while I came back to more known areas – less than 30 minutes away from my “work flat” in Tromsø. I stopped at a small grave yard. Most tomb stones were free of snow, but those located in the snow drifts will have to wait a bit longer. Anyhow snow in the lowlands has become the exception. Even the bogs that tend to be cold are hardly frozen any more. And so I had to be quite cautious to avoid wet feet, when I looked for a good place to take a picture of that beautiful pine tree other there – the last photo for today.

Those of you that are not so familiar with Norway as a country may ask yourselves: Why did Olaf make an excursion on a Friday? That’s because today it is Constitution Day. On 17 May 1814 the Constitution of Norway was signed and this is the most important day of the year. Even through our street a marching band walked by and all people have their best clothes on – many of them the traditional bunad which shows, from which part of Norway they come from.

And so I shout out: “Gratulerer med dagen, Norge!” – Happy birthday, Norway!

Here is an article from 10 years ago: Syttende mai (German text).

Ski tour in Sweden – from Vistas to Lisas Stuga to Civilisation Mar 24 2024

This article is part of the series “2024-02: Ski tour Sweden”.

Day 12 – 9 March – Vistas—Lisas Stuga

Today is the last day of Annika’s and my ski tour. From Vistas we will follow the valley Visttasvággi to Nikkaluokta, where I have parked my car eleven days ago. We will however only ski part of it because the distance is round about 35 km. Too long for us on a single day.

After breakfast and cleaning we say farewell to our friend Dirk who is warden at Vistas for a month and follow the snowmobile track that turns left right after we have crossed the river. I’m glad that we can follow it since it crosses the river Visttasjohka many times and I feel saver to follow the track than to find our own way.

At one place there are two tracks in parallel. One track leads into an open patch of water, we wisely choose the other one.

We head to a small, old hut called Lisas Stuga. We were told that it lies by the scooter track and so we do not really have so seek it but just continue following the snowmobile track. After 11.7 km of skiing we arrive there at 12:30. We are half an hour early and so is the snowmobile driver that is here to fetch us.

We have never been here before and we take a look into Lisas Stuga which is tiny. The beds are definitely not my size at all.

Then we pack pulka, skis and Annika’s backpack on the back and hop ourselves into the front of the snowmobile trailer. Off we go. Although it is quite warm – perhaps round zero – it is nice to have the down parka to warm us, because the trip takes a while.

It is more than 20 kilometres and even if we had the fitness to ski this on a single day we think it would be pretty boring. The mountains get rounder, the valley broader and then there is a large lake to cross. And another one. And another one. Annika recognises a cabin by one of lakes and she is right. It is the last lake and we are there. Nikkaluokta.

While Annika pays for the snowmobile transport I check that my car is still there (it is). And then we enjoy the features of civilisation. And it’s not only about ordering lunch in a restaurant. It is also about washing your hands under running water. Hot running water. With soap! And dry them with paper towels.

Thank you Annika for a wonderful ski tour – our longest so far. I enjoyed every single hour.

Some days later …

I am back in Tromsø for work. It is the Friday after our ski tour. In the night it started snowing and round about five cm of new powder snow cover the street, where I live. That’s round about twice as much snow fall as we had on our whole ski tour ;-)

Now it is the week before Easter holidays. What will it bring? Rain and the first flowers? Or more snow?

Ski tour in Sweden – Tjäktja—Alesjaure—Vistas Mar 21 2024

This article is part of the series “2024-02: Ski tour Sweden”.

Day 7 – 4 March – Tjäktja—Alesjaure

I may repeat myself but again we have sunny weather and blue sky at -6 °C. The only difference, it is windy today. It started last night when we were out to watch the Northern Lights and now the wind is blowing snow over the mountains and through the valley. While we are starting our tour we are having an impressive parhelion and a piece of halo right of the sun. I’m pretty sure that it isn’t created by stratospheric clouds but by the blowing snow.

Tjäktja in front of the mountain Lulip Muorahisčohkka

We descend into the valley Alisvággi and leave the blowing wind behind us. Now sun feels warm but on the ice of the river system Aliseatnu the cold air still wins.

It takes some time until we can spot some of the cabins of Alesjaure. I can see them behind the rocky hill. No, they are on the rocky hill. I remember having tried to climb this turtle shell-like hill with skis and pulka years ago. I have learned my lesson, we walk up. And then we are welcomed by the warden with a hot and very sweet juice. We chat for a while (we have met once years before) and then Annika and I sit on the reindeer skin lying on the bench by the table and take an outdoor picnic. We may choose a room because we are first. We enjoy the weather, inside and outside. Later, after dinner we will head for the sauna.

I thought it would be extremely crowded here but we arrived on the right day. Yesterday: 40 guests. Tomorrow: 50 pre-booked guests. Today: 11 :-)

Day 8 – 5 March – Alesjaure—Vistas

Today is a special day. We do not take a break day, we continue to Vistas where our friend Dirk is currently warden. With 18 kilometres it is the longest distance on our ski tour this year and I was a bit afraid that it could get tough. Is there a track? How is the snow? Therefore I have urged Annika into raising up ridiculously early. We have the large kitchen for us while ptarmigans are hopping and clucking outside of the windows.

The sun starts to illuminate the highest mountain peaks, soon we will have sun as well. 7:05 (sic!) we start our tour.

… and get a little lost. We navigate by eye and sync the stones marked in red with the summer trail on our map. Anyhow it doesn’t fit. The GPS helps and now we know where we are. While finding a good route to get more north were we assume the correct route to be we realise that the summer markers are all over the place. Not helpful! Our assumption was correct, there is the unmarked winter trail. It is obvious, because now we see snow mobile tracks, ski tracks, pulka tracks, boot tracks, snowshoe tracks. I guess we won’t have any navigation challenges anymore today.

We cross the first lake Bajip Čazajávri and the second lake Vuolip Čazajávri, then we stand at the “abyss”. The steepest part of this declining slope falls 50 metres on 200 metres and we both decide to unmount the skis. Beside of a patch of soft snow the snow is good to walk on.

Now we are in the beginning of the valley Visttasvággi which will gently descend for the rest of today’s tour. And since it descend we leave the barren kalfjäll and meet the first birch trees, the first ones since a week.

Leaving the kalfjäll – one of the first birch trees

The next hours we will ski in the sun. The hot sun. First I take off my jacket, then cap and gloves, then I roll up my sleeves. Finally I put on the shirt’s hood again, not for cold but for sun protection. Some photos from the tour:

Moose droppings are not the only animal tracks we see. There are the typical deep moose tracks, the smaller reindeer tracks, countless ptarmigan tracks (both feet and feathers) and a special track – like a fox on snow shoes. This was the description of the Sami on Sälka when he described wolverine tracks. The wolverine track follows the trail for a long time and watching it is pretty exciting.

The wolverine tracks are special, since these animals are rare. Only round about a thousand wolverines live in Scandinavia. But I love the ptarmigan prints as well. They often seem to tell stories.

My titles: 1. Zen garden / 2. Hieroglyphs / 3. Salsa party

After some hours of sun we finally come into the shadow. Almost a relief. Now it is not far anymore to the Vistas cabin, which is not part of the famous Kungsleden trail since it lies in a side valley. Skiing there was much easier then I expected and we had a faster pace then on the preceding shorter distances.

Dirk has seen us already and welcomes us outside with two cups of hot juice. Later we get an incredible five star afternoon snack. It consists of two surprises. First surprise: We found cookies in the leftover food in the kitchen cupboard! Two sorts, one of them with chocolate. That has never ever happened to me before and I hardly can imagine why people should leave cookies behind. I won’t! Anyhow I’m grateful. Second surprise: Dirk does not only invites us to coffee but also to Christmas stollen, a traditional German Christmas cake. It is never too late to eat stollen. Thanks, Dirk, for sharing it with us!

After dinner – Dirk invited us again – I just walk around to take photos. A faint polar light can be seen but it is nothing compared with the last days, especially the night in Tjäktja.

Day 9 – 6 March – Vistas

Today is the fourth and last break day we take on this tour. Are we lazy? Yes and no. Annika is sawing logs, I am chopping the wood (not my best day though). I fetch water from the river by lowering a bucket from the bridge into a patch of open water. The ice on the river is not save. But we also sit outside reading and I am using the short period where the sun shines on the cabins (yes, another fine day) to take some photos.

Tomorrow we will ski to Nallo and stay there over night, then we will come back to Vistas.

Ski tour in Sweden – Sälka—Tjäktja Mar 19 2024

This article is part of the series “2024-02: Ski tour Sweden”.

Day 5 – 2 March – Sälka—Tjäktja

It is our second morning in Sälka. The night was quiet – no storm, no snow. That’s quite a bit of luck for the travel group that left pulkas and skis on the ground without even thinking about finding shelter for their equipment.

Pulka chaos – how not to stay over in wintertime

Today Annika and I will have a short distance to ski. It’s only twelve kilometres to Tjäktja but we have to cross the Tjäktjapasset which is pretty steep. 8:15 – we say goodbye to the warden and his friend and follow the undulating terrain north. We can already see the pass in the distance. It is still 8 km away.

The terrain is still undulating but it slowly changes. First we skied up and down, now we ski up or straight ahead, a sign that the terrain starts to rise.

Ah, I love my pulka. Most of the time I can pull it effortlessly over the hard snow, although there is a lot of food in it and a tripod and safety equipment and two down jackets and other clothes two sleeping backs and more. But when I have to climb steeper passages I realise that both my fitness and my strength could be better. So at the pass I have to take small breaks to catch my breath. The next photo is taken by Annika and long before the steep passage where we were too occupied to take any pictures.

Each of us climbs up in his/her own pace.

Me ascending Tjäktjapasset (Photo: Annika Kramer)

But then we are on the edge of a platform where I just must look back. 19 years ago on my very first ski tour I stood there and was completely flabbergasted when I looked into this valley Tjäktjavagge. And so it still is today. We stand there for a while before we continue skiing further up the pass.

Whew, that was exhausting, but now we are on 1100 m, the highest altitude on our tour. Time to take a rest at the shelter. No photos, just some tea and nuts before we continue. Now it only goes down, down, down and we remove our climbing skins. Soon Tjäktja comes into view. It is smaller then the other cabins on the Kungsleden. To our surprise we are the only guests tonight.

Inside the kitchen – outside the kitchen

Day 6 – 3 March – Tjäktja

The weather on this tour has been extraordinary well and today we have another sunny day with blue sky. We are staying at Tjäktja and after breakfast we start our “duties”. The stugvärd (warden) is sawing logs, I am chopping wood. And then Annika and I take two empty canisters to fetch water. This means we have to go down to the frozen river where there is a hole and some tools to crush the ice. We have heard that the ice was very slippery and so we put on our spikes. Good choice.

The first container I pull up the snowy slope. Yes, it works but it is pretty exhausting. The other container Annika drags over the ice. I fetch the first container and we pull both back to the cabin. Well – pull … . It is a bit like walking puppy dogs. Twenty kilo puppy dogs. The containers stay behind, hurry ahead, bump into each other and then leave the path again. But finally we “walked” them home and have 40 litres of fresh and ice cold water from the river Čeavččanjira.

I go down to the river again to take some photos. I like the bridge and the icy area beneath.

But what I really love is the huge snow drift hanging there near the now frozen and invisible waterfall. I crawl in more and more until I can make the last of the three photos from my private “snow cave”.

Resting days are made for – well – resting. We are reading and taking a nap while other guests arrive. Slowly the sun is setting and the colours on the mountains go pink.

Time to cook and eat something. Right after dinner a beautiful polar lights have formed, although the sky is still kind of blue and not black yet. What a luxury to see it so early.

The northern lights are lasting for hours and are everywhere. Annika and I are standing there for a long time together with two people from Switzerland. Every now and then I leave to take photos. And more photos. It is an incredible experience to see the aurora far away from the light pollution of the cities. This is an extremely beautiful moment and this evening which marks the first half of our ski tour is a perfect end of the day.

Yes. The northern light continues, but the photographer has to catch some sleep. God natt. Good night.

Obbola—Boliden—Kusfors—Obbola Jan 7 2024

Just some photos from a car trip to Boliden and Kusfors to visit good friends this weekend. Temperatures: everything between -13 and -28 °C.

Autumn tour to the glacier Steindalsbreen Sep 25 2023

After being abroad in Germany, “home home” in Sweden and on vacation in the Netherlands for almost a month I have returned to Tromsø, my “work home” one week ago. Time to work again for the Norwegian Polar Institute but not only that …

Some days ago my colleague Marika asked me if we should go out for a hike to the glacier Steindalsbreen in the weekend. I knew the place from hearsay but never have been there. I gladly accepted – I like hiking with good company. Yesterday on Sunday we met at 7 o’clock and off we went. First by car.

Car trip

Steindalen is on the Lyngen peninsula and round about 100 km away. According to Google it takes 100 minutes but we stopped several times, either to take pictures of the reflections in the fjord or the curious fox beside the road.

Through the forest

After the car was parked we started our tourat 9:25. The birch and alder trees were clad in autumnal colours. The path led westwards through the forest along a small mountain river.

To the cabin

After the path going up and down it led nearer to the river. We passed some moraines – witnessed from the ice age – and spotted a waterfall falling vertically down from a mountain. Then the cabin Steindalshytte came into view. There is a wooden bridge to cross one of the rivers.

Through the U-shaped valley

We followed an inflow of the stream and soon the valley opened more and more. And there it was – still in the distance – the glacier!

It gets rocky

The path went further up and the ground started go get rockier and we left the delta like wetlands behind. But still there were many crouching plants present, many of them in the brightest autumnal colours.

Approaching the glacier

A hill and the glacier Steindalsbreen came in full view, another hill also the glacial lake in the front. Quite depressing were the signs that marked the retreat of the glacier. Oh – so many hundred metres in so few years ;-(

Nearer and nearer …

The first photos Marika and I took from the edge of the glacial lake. Then we followed a path to the right that brought us nearer to the ice. Here we walked on gravel covered ice. I found a hole, perhaps 80 cm in diameter and 150 cm deep.

On the mud flats

As usual I hiked with rubber boots and so I could walk on the sandy mudflats right in front of the glacier. Oh, so beautiful the turquoise blocks of ice!

Mud, ice, and water

I also took some photos of the ground. Was it sand? Hard mud? Ice? Sometimes probably all the three.

Then I looked back to the lake. Hard to imagine that we hiked through autumnal forests some hours ago. This landscape looks eternal somehow although it is the opposite: very fragile and threatened by the global warming.

Heading back

After a meal break by a large rock it was time to head back. The times of midnight sun and bright nights are over and at 7 o’clock in the evening it would be dark. Just some more photos from our way back.

After round eight hours we were back at my car. What I great tour!

Takk for turen, Marika!

A promenade on Kvaløya Aug 13 2023

Today I didn’t hike on a mountain, I just took a promenade. Just some photos from today.

Reindeer I – a certain preference for flowers

Reindeer II – not in its most photogenic posture

This mountain stream is almost dried out

Everything will be fine Jul 16 2023

This summer vacation with Annika had a clear photographical focus: showing the bathing areas we or I hopped in. It was ponds, lakes and rivers where we enjoyed bathing and swimming on our one week trip through northern Sweden and Finland.

The places and bodies of waters were:

Bygdeträsk (Göksjön) — Mårdseleforsen (Vindelälven) — Harads (Luleälven) — Tolkibadet — Harriniva (Etuväylä/Torne älv) — Kittilä (Ounasjoki) — Aarniluosto (Aarnilampi) — 2× Ylitornio (Etuväylä/Torne älv) — Hovlösjön.

Ylitornio (Etuväylä/Torne älv) – evening bath

Ylitornio (Etuväylä/Torne älv) – morning bath

And the motto? Allt kommer att bli bra. Everything will be fine.

Everything will be fine – allt kommer att bli bra

Taking orthophotos on Kvaløya May 15 2023

That’s me, nine days ago, near a parking place by the lake Finnvikvatnet on the island Kvaløya.

I just got a drone from the Norwegian Polar Institute, a DJI Mavic Pro 2. Since it is forbidden to fly a drone in Tromsø (too near to the airport) I chose a place on Kvaløya to check out the drone and practise a bit.

What you may expect from drone flying is photos like this:

What I actually did that day was taking a bunch of photos like these:

Back at home let the computer do some heavy work. That’s the result:

What I wanted to achieve is creating a so-called orthophoto. That is a stitched image that also contains geographical information. You need quite a lot of photos to get good results. In the map above it is only 9 photos and 11 photos in two distinct groups.

I used two softwares: First OpenDroneMap to create the orthophoto and then QGIS, an open source Geographic Information System, to present the orthophoto in a geographical context.

This afternoon I took a trip to Kvaløya again, this time to the way to Sommarøya and stopped by the lake Kattfjordvatnet. Here I pulled up the drone to an altitude of 80 metres and tried to navigate a rectangular zig-zag pattern with a lot of overlapping between the images. Beside of the fact, that the images are underexposed (and I was too lazy to correct them) I’m quite content with the result. The first image is an oblique shot, the second image is an orthophoto calculated from about 80 images and then placed into QGIS.

Today’s orthophoto from the eastern part of Kattfjordvatnet

Plan for the next two weeks: getting more practise!