Sunrise winter paddling Nov 25 2025

Three days ago it thawed and stormy weather crushed all the sea ice. The day after, the temperature dropped below zero again. This morning the weather was clear and calm at -12 °C. Time for another morning kayak tour, just like four days ago.

At 7:50 I stood on the leftovers of the old ice that covered the small bay. In front of me – a fresh layer of new ice. How thick may it be? I have the feeling it will not hold my weight.

You see the photo above? The kayak is tilted sideways. That’s not because of the waves or because I’m edging, but because the kayak is lying on the ice. The ice is stable enough to bear us with me sitting in the kayak. I move forward by using ice safety picks that I drive into the ice in front of me and then pull the kayak and myself forward. It’s exhausting, but it works. I have done it many times before. The ice is approximately 3 cm thick.

But then the ice gets thinner and has exactly the thickness I loathe: between 1.5 cm and 2 cm. Then the kayak breaks through and is jammed in a narrow water channel, where it’s almost impossible to use your paddle – no open water reachable – or the ice picks – the ice will break when pulling. Luckily the water channels often tend to widen, so you can kayak back some metres, get some forward momentum using the paddle and break another two metres of ice. That takes a lot of time and extends the distance paddled by a factor of four or more.

But then – finally – I reach open water by the island Lillskär. It took me almost half an hour for less than 300 metres!

Anyhow I manage to reach the sunrise in time. Now the surface of the sea is multicoloured. The back of the waves are reflecting the orange horizon, the front of the waves the blue sky above.

Now I just paddle a short round, because it is a weekday and I have to work. Just some more photos with my mobile phone in its waterproof bag …

Water to the left, thin ice to the right

… before I return home. First it is easy, because the channel that I had broken through the ice is open and I can easily follow it. Then the ice gets thicker again. I’m tired and since the water is pretty shallow I exit the kayak and walk the kayak home. I learn that the ice does not bear me at all. So I break it with my knees or – when deeper – with my rear. I would not dare to do this with my kayaking drysuit, but today I wear my survival suit made of thick neoprene, which is very sturdy.

I reach the shallow part of the bay where I manage to grab a large piece of ice and put it upright. Time to play a bit with the translucent motif in front of the sun.

It is two o’clock in the afternoon when I decide to take another break from my desk to watch the sunset. To make a long story short – I got it. No kayaks involved this time.

Season’s first winter paddling in Northern Sweden Nov 21 2025

While there is a lot of snow in Tromsø, is is only round 2 cm here in Obbola in Northern Sweden. Here it is the coldness that defines the winter. Today I took my kayak and made a small tour on the Baltic Sea which is just outside the garden. With temperatures round -13 °C and a light wind it was pretty chilly. The small bay is frozen and you can walk on it and on the open sea thin layers of ice are building where the sea is calm. Here are some photos from today’s kayak tour.

Protected against the cold air and the cold water

Now the kayak is lying in the floor of the house. The kayak’s steering mechanism was frozen and is currently thawing.

Tromsø—Obbola by car Nov 16 2025

You may know that I have two places to live. My “work home” in Tromsø, where I work at the Norwegian Polar Institute and my “home home” in Obbola near Umeå, where my wife Annika works and we have a house together. Mostly we use the train and the bus to travel, sometimes the plane and occasionally even the car, although it’s a long way.

It is early Friday morning, I’m in Tromsø. My car is packed and I’ve cleared last night’s snow. It is mid-November and the conditions are wintry.

Norway

I start the trip at 6:50. In Tromsø the weather is fair, but then I experience some heavy snow showers. When it’s dark the snowflakes seem to form a tunnel that looks a bit as if a spaceship in a science fiction film were going to warp drive. Some short passages have streetlights. That makes seeing the road much easier.

Around half past eight it is bright enough outside to see the landscape, not only a fraction of the road. It is still snowing, but driving is easy. Around 9:20 I reach the border to …

Finland

The snowfall has stopped but a lot of snow lies on the road. I guess up to 15 cm with some deep tracks of a few cars. After a while a snowplough approaches, but it is clearing the opposite lane. In Kilpisjärvi I make a stop at the supermarket and buy some breakfast. The rear of my car is plastered with snow.

I continue south and it is clearing up. Even the road is in much better shape now. Easy driving.

In the Finnish village Karesuvanto I turn right, cross the Muonio River and thus the border to …

Sweden

… where I arrive in Karesuando. I turn right again and join the E45 which ends in Gela, Italy. The sky is clear and the outside temperature dropped more and more. In Övre Soppero the display in the car shows -13 °C. It also shows a lot of warnings because the packed snow in front of the car is confusing the sensors for the cruise control. I feel tired and find a parking bay where I take a nap.

I sleep less than half an hour but I feel refreshed again. I continue my car trip to Vittangi and while I’m following the road see the slowest sunset I can remember. Perhaps, because I’m driving southwards?

In Töre, where I reach the E4 I fill up the car with fuel. From there it is not far to Råneå, where I visit friends and stay overnight. I’m asleep before 9 o’clock.

Still Sweden

After ten hours of sleep and breakfast I feel fit again to continue my car trip. The day before I made already two thirds of the distance and today I’m more or less only on the E4, so driving will be easy. To be honest, it’s a bit boring. That’s also because I’m leaving winter behind. There is less and less snow and it gets warmer. The good thing – the snow on the car has melted and the cruise control is working again.

Around 14:15 I pass Obbola and drive southwards to “home home”. No snow.

And then, after driving 966.8 km I am finally home home again. Here I’ll stay for about three weeks, then Annika and I will make the return trip to Tromsø together.

The route

Tromsø—Nordkjosbotn—Kilpisjärvi—Karesuvanto—Karesuando—Övre Soppero—Nedre Soppero—Vittangi—Tärendö—Överkalix—Töre—Råneå—Skellefteå—Umeå—Obbola

Scotland NC500 – day 8 – a hidden pass, palm trees, and a famous castle Nov 11 2025

This article is part of the series “2025-10: Northern Scotland”.

October 20

Today is the eighth day of our road trip in Northern Scotland, which my wife and I are taking together. Last night we slept in a hostel near Applecross. Now we want to take the road over Bealach na Bà pass, that is known for its hairpin bends and scenic views. Unfortunately it is still raining and the clouds are low. The beginning of the road is marked with several warning signs, but Annika can drive single track roads and we do not have wintry conditions, so we can take the road. But clouds we have. Soon we are in the middle of them. It is raining and the visibility is pretty bad. And so is the view of the hairpin turns from the top of the pass. Well, you cannot have everything.

We descend and slowly visibility improves. When we look back we can see the colourful mountain scenery with the summits in the clouds. In front of us we see the other clouds floating down to the sea loch Loch Kishorn, where they start hiding the coastal islands.

Two hours later we arrive in Plockton, a beautiful village by the sea. The climate is particularly mild, so that palm trees can grow here. An older chap I meet in the street tells me that he has different sorts of palms, a eucalyptus tree and other trees I never heard of in his garden.

It is low tide. Some fisher boats lie in the mud and it is possible to go to an island nearby. From the sandy tidal flat you can see the long row of houses by the seaside – sea view for everyone. We spend an hour and a half here to visit the craft fair, to go to the island, to pet a cat, to take photos and to find a geocache. A charming place with views of the sea, an island called Sgeir Bhuidhe, Duncraig Castle, hills, and steep mountains.

Finally we continue our tour. Next stop: Eilean Donan Castle. This castle is regarded one of the most photographed landmarks in Scotland, and it’s very popular with tourists. Visiting the interior costs money, and there’s even a charge to cross the bridge, so I take photos from the outside. It is not easy to take photos without too many tourists in the shot.

From Eilean Donan Castle it is not far to the An Spiris Accommodation at Dundreggan Rewilding Centre, our last overnight stay on our road trip. My highlight of the evening is the toddler in the large common room singing “Do-Re-Mi” from the Sound of Music.

The sun is back in Tromsø Jan 22 2025

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.

Short days in Obbola II Dec 29 2024

Just some photos from Obbola in the last days.

A flock of fieldfares in our rowan tree ❦ an icy morning by the coast ❦ sunlit ice fog hovering above the bay Vitskärsudden ❦ three roe deers eating rowan berries, leftovers of the fieldfares’ meal.

Translation:

English	German	Swedish	Norwegian
Fieldfare	Wacholderdrossel	Björktrask	Gråtrost

Short days in Obbola Dec 21 2024

17 December

Clouds are moving eastwards where they block the low hanging sun, but here and there the sun peeks through holes giving the whole thing a dramatic touch.

18 December

It is chilly and ice fog hovers over the sea. I take a promenade by the icy coast.

20 December

It is quite clear and not too windy at temperatures round -12 °C. Yesterday I dug out the kayak from the snow, today it is time to take a tour. It’s a short but a beautiful one.

The coast of the Baltic sea in early winter I

The coast of the Baltic sea in early winter II

After the tour the line for the kayak rudder was frozen. The kayak is a bit too large for taking it in so I had to improvise a bit. Well, it worked.

21 December (a.k.a. today)

Today is the day of winter solstice. We could see the sun rise at 09:25 while having a comfortable Sunday morning breakfast. Today’s motive: the rowan tree under which Annika and I got married in 2020, taken through the windows of our living room.

Advent season home in Obbola Dec 16 2024

It was four days ago that I arrived in my “home home”, Annika’s and my house in Obbola. And we got some winter weather. First we got twenty centimetres of snow. We took a Saturday promenade to our favourite beach Vitskärsudden which looked like this:

It continued snowing and blowing the whole Saturday but then it cleared up in the night and Sunday morning the sky was clear at temperatures round -12 °C. I waited until 9:20 to watch the sun rise over the sea.

Later that day Annika and I took the very same promenade to Vitskärsudden again but it looked so differently in the sun.

In the night it became stormy. We have experienced some storms here before, but this was the very first time that I couldn’t open the front door at all. It was completely blocked by snow. I had to climb out of the snow-plastered kitchen window and shovel away the compact snow drift that blocked the door.

And this is how our house looked like some hours ago. Now it is clear and calm weather and -14 °C.

Back in Tromsø and it’s winter Dec 1 2024

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 promenade in Tromsø on 1 December II

Ski promenade in Tromsø on 1 December III

Ski promenade in Tromsø on 1 December IV

Bjuröklubb over night Jul 1 2024

Annika and I have been in Bjuröklubb a lot, especially when I lived in Skelleftehamn, but never we stayed overnight. Anyhow, there is a cabin called Spanarstugan and that we booked for a night last weekend. The cabin is modern and quite large but still cosy. It has electricity, and running water as well as toilet are not far away.

Spanarstuga. Bjuröklubb – the living room

After a short lunch in the shadow of the large yellow lighthouse building we took a promenade to the beacon Bjuroklubb NÖ. The way there involved some climbing over rock fields but the view was worth it.

At 7 o’clock in the evening we went down the gravel road to the small marina where we sat for a while and watched the sky, the sea and a lonely sea bird.

Then we went up again – the ways are short – to the lighthouse building. The sun was partially hidden behind clouds and the light was warm and beautiful.

Round 11 o’clock in the evening I took another stroll up to the wooden view platform. I wanted to watch the sunset. First the sun was round and red then it resembled more and more a huge glowing jellyfish until it morphed into a small dash and disappeared behind the horizon.

Annika and I were in doubt if the lighthouse would be active in summer, when it doesn’t get dark. But round sunset I could see the light go on, blinking in a steady rhythm.

I sat there for a moment but then I became tired. So I walked down and went to bed where after slaughtering some mosquitoes I fast fell asleep.

In the night it rained, in the morning it was foggy but after breakfast and cleaning up the cabin the weather was sunny again. We enjoyed our stay there very much and started wondering, if this place is accessible in wintertime as well.