Whale watching – second try Nov 28 2021

Yesterday Same meeting point, same tour, same boat as 6 days before. But completely different weather! No stormy wind from the north and clouds everywhere, but a clear and starry sky.

And off we went.

It was just incredible how much brighter everything was although it was less daylight than last Sunday. After two hours the island Nordfugløya came into view. A cloud parked itself over the island.

Slowly the colours of the sky intensified and remained colourful the whole short day, because now it was the first day of polar night¹.

It took us round 3½ hours to reach our destination, the sea round Skjervøy. So we had only limited time before we headed back. Already at one, half past one o’clock it started getting darker again.

Eight hours after our departure we had returned to Tromsø.

I have been outside for round seven hours. I didn’t freeze because I was wearing my warmest winter parka. I was inside once to eat a bowl of soup and once when I stood at the ship’s bow and the sea spray soaked the whole foredeck (including me). So I was eager to take a shower not because of being cold but I wanted to get rid of the salt hands and face were covered with.

Resumé: It was a great boat tour and I enjoyed the air, the colours, the light.

And the whales? Oh yes, the whales! Almost forgot them ;-) Well, we saw some of them, mostly orcas and the first fin whale of the season. There were not many whales around and they were quite in a distance, so for photographing whales this tour was not ideal. Too little time and too high the boat decks above the water. I would love to paddle kayak there but I’m pretty sure that I never ever will dare to do that.

____

¹ Where I live in Tromsø we technically had 14 minutes of daylight yesterday but already 1.3 km north it was the first day of polar night.

No whales today Nov 21 2021

To the left the Brim Explorer, a boat located in Tromsø for amongst other whale watching. To the right the tourists waiting to be boarded. The boat is fully booked, I am not alone.

Before leaving an announcement: The crew will try its best but it’s not granted that we reach the waters where the whales are. Anyone is free to leave and given a full refund. Most people stay and so do I. First of all I’m not surprised, as another tour operator already cancelled today’s tour. And then I just want to be a day on the water. Whales of course would be a nice extra.

To the left Tromsøbrua, the bridge that connects Tromsø with the mainland. To the right the safety on board drill, that everyone had to join.

And then we’re off.

To make it short: What we didn’t get today was whale sightings. What we got today was rough weather in the open parts. The boat was rolling and pitching like a cork in the waves. More than one passenger got sea sick. The unpredictable movements of the boat and the dim light under the grey sky made photographing a bit adventurous. Several times I was forced in and one passage even the doors were locked. The rest I was outside, partly taking photos, partly just looking around and letting the wind blow around my nose.

Fisher boat followed by a flock of seagulls.

Conclusion: an awesome tour even without whales. If you want to participate as well: take your warmest clothes with you. And those of you that just want to stay home and look at some whale photos may read my article about Whale watching in Andenes. Enjoy.

Note to myself: Tromsøya –Ringvassøya/Reinøya – Vannøya – Nordfugløya – Arnøya/Laukøya – Skervøya/Kågen – Lyngen – Reinøya – Tromsøya

Not reaching the top of the Nordtinden Nov 20 2021

Today I hiked the last daylight tour this season. Next Saturday sunrise is 11:25 and sunset is 11:38. The following day a seven week period of polar night will begin.

I wanted to hike onto the top of the Nordtinden (640 m), which I assumed to have a lot of snow after last Sunday’s experience. But it turned out different than planned.

Let’s start with a funny selfie:

What’s that? Winter jacket and no snow? Aren’t you overdressed, Olaf? Well, first I was glad about the fur-rimmed hood, because it was quite stormy already in the lowlands and then I wanted to gain 600 metres in altitude. It would be colder and windier on the top of the mountain.

Part 1 – hiking the icy gravel road

At 9 o’clock – round one hour before sunrise – I parked my car in Skulsfjord on the island Kvaløya. There was enough light to start the tour. First I followed a gravel road for 2.4 km. Easy peasy when not the whole road had been covered with ice. I had snow shoes with me for later use, but no spikes for the shoes. Mistake.

Part 2 – following the trail up

After 2.4 km I turned left to follow the hiking trail up to the mountain Nordtinden. Well, mostly I avoided following it because it was very icy and slippery. I considered cancelling the tour but often I could walk on the bouncy patches of heather beside the trail and so continue the tour.

Part 3 – gaining height

A steep passage made me doubt again. Shall I return? Continue? Well, let’s go a tiny bit further, just ten other metres up. I was lucky. Now the terrain was less steep. First only a bit of snow covered the stones and the heather but soon more and more snow covered the ground.

Part 4 – coming to a dead end

I knew that I lost the regular way. The way itself was not visible anymore, but I could see on my interactive map that I was a bit lower than the trail. Maybe I could go up somewhere else.

It was stormy and gusty and the wind tried to blow me down several times. The snow was not fluffy but wind pressed and hard and therefore slippery. When I had to traverse a slope I mounted my snowshoes. It took a while because I had some issues with the bindings. Now it dared to traverse the snow field, but since I didn’t take my walking sticks with me (mistake) it was a bit hard to walk up in the wind and gain balance.

And then I came to a dead end. A quite beautiful dead end, but still a dead end. I had to return.

Dead end at the southern slope of Nordtinden

Part 5 – returning, retrying and finally returning

So I walked back until I finally met the trail again, at least according my iPhone map. The way itself was hidden under the snow. Beside of that Norwegian hiking trails can be marked quite poorly, you have to navigate by yourself.

OK, I can navigate. I even had paper map and compass with me. But where the trail supposed to be there were only snow and rocks. And it was quite steep. And the snowshoes were a bit bitchy. And sun would set at 13 o’clock. Therefore I made the decision to not to try to reach the summit but abandon the tour and return. And so I did.

First I walked on snow but then I had to put off my snowshoes. In the lower part I ignored the icy trail and walked down on the heather. Much easier! Three and a half hours later I arrived at my parked car.

Résumé

It was a pity that I didn’t reach the top, but it was a fine though rough tour anyhow. From next week I have to find alternatives that are doable in twilight and darkness using a head torch.

For the records: 9.6 km, ca. 600 metres in altitude.

Hiking up the Grønnlibruna Nov 14 2021

Here I stand on top of the small mountain Grønnlibruna (401 m).

I crossed a river and followed a forest trail that sent me deep into the mud. I trudged through knee deep powder snow and then stalked through Styrofoam-like wind-pressed snow to reach the summit and see the mountains in the sun that yr forecasted. Here I stand on top of the small mountain Grønnlibruna and there is no sun. It is snowing. It has been snowing all day and the mountains are hidden by the clouds.

As yesterday I am alone. Apparently the locals do other things in November than hiking up snowy mountains. While I walk around on the plateau of the Grønnlibruna the weather is changing and slowly the mountain ranges come in view and so the bay Sørbotn and the island Håkøya. The sun however I do not see today.

The last photo is taken with my Nikon, the others are edited iPhone snapshots.

For the records: 8 km there and back. Round 400 m in Altitude. Temperature -1 °C … -5 °C. Next time: snow shoes.

Apropos next time: Today we had 4¼ hours of daylight. Next Sunday it will be 2¾ hours. Saturday after that 13 minutes. On Sunday in two weeks we will have polar night in Tromsø until 14 January 2022.

So next time I’ll not only take snow shoes with me but some powerful headlamps, too.

Tønsnesvarden Nov 13 2021

On Tuesday we got some snow in Tromsø. On Wednesday it already has melted away. But last night a bit of snow arrived.

Today I chose a shorter tour from my book “På tur in Tromsø” (On tour in Tromsø) because I just wanted an easy hike, not a full-grown mountain tour. The weather agreed with me.

By the sea only a bit of wet snow and sleet covered the ground but already 50 meter higher the gravel path was covered with 10 cm of snow. Deep tyre tracks were carved in the snow. This part of the tour was very easy. Just follow the road up until you reach the radio unit on the Tønsnesvarden (281 m) and try not to slip, because under the snow there are some icy patches.

This summit has a big radio station on its top. Even in the increasing snow fall is was quite visible. Now I walked through 20 cm of snow. After an hour I arrived at the radio station, where I met the creator of the deep tyre tracks: A six-wheeled ATV.

It wasn’t cold but a windy. It snowed more and more and the wet snow glued itself to my jacket. On my way back I left the main road and followed a small path on my digital map on my iPhone. I stopped in a forest of birches with thin and long stems. I loved the motive, but my Nikon camera gave up in this wet weather. The lens was fogged up in the inside and in the dense and wet snowfall I didn’t dare to change lens. One photo worked out ok anyhow:

Soon I realised that some of the paths drawn on the map did not exist in reality (at least not in winter) while others that exist were not part of the map. So I went cross-county through pathless terrain, partly dens forest, partly wetlands with many small streams to cross. It took only 15 minutes until I reached the other gravel road leading down again. Now the iPhone was in charge for making pictures.

I followed the path down. With each metre altitude I lost there was less snow on the ground and the snow fall became more and more sleet. When I arrived at my car my anorak was soaking wet. Having seat warmers in a car is a great feature after such a tour.

For the records: 6.5 km, round 300 metres in altitude. Temperature round 0°C.

Appendix 1:

When I show pictures of mountain tours and hilly hikes it is easy to forgot, that Norway has not only mountains but the sea, too. This is an iPhone snapshot I took from some metres from my parked car. What you cannot see is the mountains of the island Kvaløya, 3.8 km away. They are hidden in the snow clouds.

Appendix 2:

What do you do with photos taken with a fogged up lens? You start to experiment. I mean, the photo is spoiled anyhow. But the result of today’s experimentation turned out nice in my opinion.

After autumn comes winter? Nov 8 2021

This article is part of the series “2021-07: Back in Tromsø”.

Two days ago I took a promenade to take some autumn photos. I soon broke of the walk because the asphalt was partly frozen and slippery as hell. It was a mistake to leave my spikes home.

On my mountain tour yesterday I both experienced autumnal and wintry conditions. And I had spikes for my boots with me. While I had been writing the blog article yesterday it had started snowing and that’s how it looked today.

My first snow in Tromsø this season. Yay! 8–10 cm had fallen and while I walked to work it started to snow again. Temperature was below zero and the snow was fluffy. It was fun to walk in the snow.

Looks like winter, doesn’t it? But if the forecast is right it will get warmer again already tomorrow afternoon and rain a lot in the night. A short pleasure.

From autumn to winter – a tour to the Litjeblåmannen Nov 7 2021

This article is part of the series “2021-07: Back in Tromsø”.

My first concert with the chamber choir Ultima Thule was supposed to be today but due to the increasing COVID-19 cases in Tromsø the board decided to cancel the concert. That’s a pity but gave me a free day and the opportunity to continue with my #onceaweek project. I decided for a tour to the Litjeblåmannen (860 metres above sea level).

At 8:40 I have parked my car and start the tour. Temperature is -5 °C. Brr! I regret that I left my long johns home. That changes quickly when I take the first steep climb up the forest path and start to sweat. All trees have shed their leaves and are bare.

At 8:40 is sunrise. Half an hour later I can see the sun rise above the mountains. Ten minutes later I have left the birches behind and the landscape opens. I am gaining altitude and soon the path starts to cross the first snow fields.

Ten other minutes later snow and rocks start to dominate the landscape. It looks like winter. The autumn is left behind in the valley. I see a radio mast, part of the radio station on the Rundfjellet (472 m). Well, that was easy.

I decide to continue the tour. But where? The tour description mentions that I have to go down 50 metres. I hardly see any waymarks or a track but soon some foot steps that I follow. According to map and compass it’s the right direction. The terrain gets rockier, steeper and is partly icy but at least I spot some waymarks again. I stop to strap my spikes under the boots. Safety first! Less than an hour later I pass another radio station. I do not look closer because the terrain behind the building is very steep.

The terrain continues being steep and rocky but after a while I reach a plateau. Now it’s winter. Beside of some tufts of grass covered with frost there’s only snow and rocks.

The snow looks orange-yellow against the sun

From now on it’s much simpler to walk on this snow covered plateau and soon I reach the mountain summit Botnfjellet (844 m).

That’s however not my destination. Well, the summit of Litjeblåmannen looks far away but it takes only 20 more minutes to go there.

Break! Summit selfie!

The fur hood is not only for looking wintry on the selfie. It was colder than expected and after the selfies I put on my down pullover. Checking the temperature at Tromsø airport and subtracting 0.6 °C per 100 metres altitude I guess that the temperature is round -7 °C. The wind makes my mind change about wearing long johns a second time.

I eat a bit of chocolate and drink some Sprite before the frost transformed it into slush. I’m completely alone and I haven’t met anyone yet. It’s just beautiful up here with views on snowy mountain chains everywhere but on the snowless lowlands and the fjords as well.

After 20 minutes break I start my way down. First I follow my own tracks until I met the first mountain hiker today. Now I follow her steps. Does she know a better way?

Some impressions from the way down:

While I descend more and more the sun starts to set. I hike cross-country. Less and less snow covers the ground until I reach a terrain consisting of terraces of wetlands and dense birch thickets. The wetlands are easy to cross, since the ground is mostly frozen and I have rubber boots. The birch thickets however take some time to squeeze through. Looking back I can see purple clouds indicating that the sun already has set.

At 14:40 I arrive at the car. -4 °C. According to my app I walked 15 km and 1120 metres in altitude. I started before sunrise and arrived after sunset. This gives me the right to be very lazy the rest of the day. The blog article I want to write anyhow.

I met three persons in total:

A woman in my age in clothes that probably have been used on countless tours for many years,
A young woman in a grey woollen sweater hiking up quite fast while talking loudly on her cell phone.
A packed sleeping bag on a stone in the wetlands. A sleeping bag with a book. Wait! No, it’s a hood with a book. Wait! No, it’s a person leaning against a large rock reading. In the middle of some wet slope on the island Kvaløya. People here really like being outdoors.

So much for today. And now I have to stretch!

Appendix:

I just went to the kitchen and felt, that the outside light had changed. It had! It had snowed some centimetres and is still snowing. Everything is white. Beautiful!

Winter weekend in Kusfors Oct 25 2021

Annika and I used the weekend to visit good friends in Kusfors. While it was still autumn home in Obbola by the sea, the inland experienced an onset of winter with 20 cm of snow and frost below -10°C. And so did we in Kusfors.

There’s a reason why it’s a good idea to change to winter tyres already in October.

Travelling from Tromsø to Obbola Oct 15 2021

Live from the journey …

Part 1 – written in Hotell Sørreisa.

Saturday 16 October at 12:17 my train to Umeå will depart. Not from Tromsø (no train station), but from Abisko Östra. From there the train to Umeå will take nine hours. Then it’s only twenty more kilometres to our home in Obbola.

From Tromsø to Abisko I’ve planned to take the car. And this was the forecast for the Swedish mountains four days ago:

Half a metre snow! Holy moly! Luckily you can rely on the fact, that these forecasts are unreliable. Now only some centimetres of snow are forecasted for tomorrow.

Wednesday

While some trees in town shed there coloured leaves the mountains are already clad in snow. The first photo is taken in the centre of Tromsø, the other one near where I live.

Snow has come in the mountains round Tromsø

Thursday

I change to winter tyres, a must have for crossing the Norwegian/Swedish mountains. Due to unsure weather conditions I decide to start my car trip already on Friday and book a room with breakfast in Sørreisa.

Friday

Half past three I have packed my stuff (why is the large suitcase so heavy again?) and start my car trip Tromsø—Sørreisa—Abisko. The first fifteen minutes stop and go in town, then over the bridge and onto the E6 that I follow for round 130 km south. The temperature slowly drops from +3 °C to -2 °C and gradually snow is not something far on the mountain slopes but lies left and right from the road E6.

It starts getting dark quite early. Sun down here in is already at 17:20. Here, that is Sørreisa Hotell, where I’ll stay overnight. This hotel does not only provided affordable rooms but really good Thai food as well.

Part 2 – written in Kiruna, sitting in the train to Boden.

Saturday

The next morning my car windows were covered with frost and the temperatures were slightly sub-zero. I had enough time to avoid the main road and instead took road 84 that has both mountain and coastal stages. I can warmly recommend this detour.

The smaller lakes in the mountains were mostly frozen. To my surprise even parts of the fjord Sagfjorden near Sjøvegan were covered with thin ice. I thought it would take longer to make the saltwater freeze.

After I joined the main road E6 I left it again to follow the E10 to Sweden. There was some snow on the ground, but it wasn’t snowing.

Norwegian “kalfjell” between Narvik and Riksgränsen

45 minutes later I arrived in Abisko Östra. Here’s a cozy cabin, where I had stayed several times to explore Abisko. The owners generously allowed me to park my car here for free, while I am in Sweden. Thank you, Anneli and Thomas! It was nice meeting you again!

In Abisko it started snowing. I bought some lemonade and then waited for the train to come. It came in time. I got into the train. Now it’s only round nine hours to Umeå. With the car it is 700 km to Umeå so taking the train is not only more ecological and comfortable but also faster.

Part 3 – written in the train between Kiruna and Gällivare

When the train arrived in Kiruna it was winter. Everything was covered with snow, it was windy and constantly snowing. We had a stay of half an hour and I went out to take some photos. My anorak was warm enough, the summer barefoot shoes weren’t. No problem, since the train was overheated I quickly got warm again.

After we left Kiruna more and more snow sticked to the slightly warmer train windows until I could hardly see through the window anymore.

Part 4 – written in the connection train somewhere between Älvsbyn and Jörn.

In Gällivare and Nattavaara there was more snow, but then the train approached the coastal region where it uses to be slightly warmer. The ground was also snow covered but the snow looked wet and probably won’t last long.

Meanwhile it had started to get dark. We were late but the connection train in Boden was supposed to wait for us. And so it did.

In Älvsbyn I took the last out-of-the-train photo today. It was dark and mostly I took photos from my own reflections, not from the outside.

I’m glad when I can leave the train. First of all I’m tired and want to arrive home. Then the train compartment is strongly overheated, too. I’ve been in saunas colder than this!

Part 5 – written from home on Sunday.

There’s not much more to tell. Leaving the town Vindeln behind I could see less and less snow until soon no more snow covered the ground. At 21:09 the train arrived in Umeå where Annika already waited on the platform. Half an hour I finally was home.

Today, after a rich breakfast:

I’m so glad to be here. At more than two weeks I’ll spend home in Obbola until I’ll take the same way back to Tromsø in early November.

A hike to the Stor-Kjølen Sep 12 2021

This article is part of the series “2021-07: Back in Tromsø”.

Let’s be honest and face it. I’ve been really lazy this year and my outdoor fitness is near non-existent. I don’t like that. There is a simple solution for that: Be more outdoors!

Today I started the project #onceaweek. I want to make an outdoor tour with at least 10 km every week. (Thanks M. for your inspiration.)

I will try to blog about these tours and I want to give each tour some photographical focus. Today’s theme: vegetation zones.

From forest to fjell

The gravel road is quite steep in the beginning. First it leads through birch forests that have started to colorise autumnal. Then the landscape opens and is not dominated by trees anymore.

Gaining height

At the lake I leave the gravel road and the character of the hike starts to get alpine. It’s however still a hiking tour, no climbing needed on the whole tour.

From earth to moon

The vegetation is becoming more and more sparse. Some tufts of grass, a fern, moss, map lichens. And then I pass the first snow field. I look up the mountain I wish to climb. It is just an enormous pile of stones. Fortunately there’s a way round this slope.

The mountain top of the is a plateau of rocks with even less live. It’s almost like being on another planet or moon. And there it is: the space station.

“Varmebua” – asmall cabin for hikers to find shelter

“Oh, the space station looks so cozy inside!” – „Well, that’s not the space station, it’s the varmebua, a small wooden cabin to give shelter to hikers.“

“Um, hikers? On an alien moon?” – “Well, we are on earth and the ‘space station’ is a radar station used for controlling the air traffic of a larger part of Northern Norway.“

I had been almost alone on my way up but on the summit there were many other hikers. Some passed, others took a rest like me.

Looking around

The plateau provided a 360° panoramic view. I could see many mountain chains, the higher tops all snow covered. Anyhow, it’s Tromsø and so fjords and open sea are present as well.

Mountain chain on the other side of the fjord Kaldfjorden

This could be a favourite place of mine in Tromsø’s gorgeous nature. But it is way too early to know this. Remember, it is my first tour of #onceaweek. There will be other places to discover.

For the stats: 16 km, summit altitude: 788 m.