Early September in Tromsø Sep 4 2026

The first signs of autumn have arrived in Tromsø in recent days. I took some snapshots with my mobile while following the paths through the forest and the wet trods over the bogs. Still many birches are green but some are yellow and have starting shedding their leaves while parts of the undergrowth are bright red.

Today I left Tromsø behind for four weeks. I flew to Oslo and will spend the night in a hotel near the airport. Tomorrow I’ll fly to Amsterdam where I’ll meet my wife Annika and then we head for our furthest journey yet. Canada for four weeks! British Columbia and Alberta. I’m very excited, a bit nervous and pretty curious how it looks like.

Mountain tour on the Ullstinden Aug 30 2026

The weather forecast looked good for Saturday which was yesterday, so my friend Christine and I decided to do a mountain tour on Mount Ullstinden on Tromsø‘s mainland. We met at her place, had breakfast and drove to the car park, the very same where our tours to Trollvassbu start.

This time we head north-east. The unmarked path leads over several bogs and some parts are pretty wet and muddy.

We cross some stretches of birch forests and the ground gets drier. Even at this early stage, we have wide views of the mountains and valleys to the south and west.

Some parts are covered with Arctous alpina whose leaves turn bright red in early autumn. The colour can be pretty intense and although the birches have hardly turned yellow they give the mountain landscapes an autumnal atmosphere.

In the north we can see Grøtsundet, which connects Tromsøya to Ullfjorden and so to the open sea in the north. Here the Hurtigruten ships can continue to Skjervøy, the next Hurtigruten port in the north. The Hurtigruten ship we see however is probably an expedition cruise ship because the ships from the north arrive in the night.

I am a bit confused. I thought Ullstinden was the mountain we already headed to on the bogs but I was wrong, our destination is more to the west. Here we see the first reindeer, first just a couple, then more groups – they are at least fifty. Since they stand more or less on our trail we slow down and give them a head start.

While we wait and watch, the wind picks up a little. It is carrying a lot of willow seed with it and against the sun it looks like a late-summer snow shower.

We turn left now following the red-painted rocks that mark the trail up. The Hurtigruten ship is out of sight but the view of Grøtsundet is still there, including the island Nipøya and the mountain Istinden with its glacier in the background.

The terrain gets rocky. We cross a broad but shallow mountain stream with green patches of moss and the “high alpine” part of our mountain tour starts.

The slope is covered with rough, angular rocks. Sometimes there is a tuft of grass or a small ground-cover plant but moss and crustose lichens dominate the sparse vegetation.

I took the selfie at an altitude of 800 metres. In Bavaria you have towns like Oberstdorf or Bayrischzell at those altitudes, here in Tromsø you are in desert-like Arctic alpine terrain.

Finally we reach reach the summit of the south-western summit of Ullstinden (in some sources called Stortinden) at an altitude of 1078 metres. We drop our backpacks, drink some water and share some chocolate. We have been completely alone for the whole tour, but now a young woman is approaching. It is her taking the photo of us. Thank you, unknown hiker!

Ullstinden Panorama, taken from Ullstinden (a.k.a Stortinden) – 1078 m

The view from the peak is absurdly spectacular, almost unreal. To the southwest we can see the slope we ascended. To the west, behind Ullsfjorden we can see the northern half of the Lyngen Alps. Also to the west, more than 600 metres below us – the lake Riehppejávri or Storelvvatnan with its intense turquoise water. To the north, the other summit of Ullstinden – 15 metres higher and there are other fjords and snow fields and mountain ranges and two eagles and … . I am speechless.

I take some photos. For the one with the lake I have to lie down, because there the terrain is much steeper than the comfort-zone part of me likes.

I even try to take a series of shots for a panoramic photo (thanks, Martin for your inspiration!) but I’m not content. I should have taken more time to find a better angle.

Panorama, taken from Ullstinden (a.k.a Stortinden)

I was glad that I took my trekking poles with me. I hardly use them, but my knees appreciated it when I was descending about 950 metres in altitude. I have eaten the chocolate, I have drunk most of the water but now I had another weight to bear: A quartz rock of about one kilo that I found on the way up. Until it has found its final place in my apartment it stands on the coffee table and reminds me of this exhausting but pretty spectacular mountain tour.

Thanks for the great hike, Christine. Takk for turen!

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.

The sea and the mountains Jun 6 2026

Back in Tromsø after some travelling I joined the “Thursday paddling” organised by the Tromsø Sea Kayakers Club. We were eleven kayakers and it was proposed and we decided to paddle to Grindøya, one of the common tours.

On Sálljnjárnuorri / Sandnessundet, the sound between Tromsøya and Kvaløya, it was windy and short waves came from the right. Here I preferred to hold my paddle and didn’t take any photos. In the lee of Grindøya, I started taking photos again.

We paddled alongside the island and took a break at the southern tip.

Taking a break on the southern tip of Grindøya

After half an hour, we continued our tour. The wind had calmed down and so did the waves. We paddled around the island and then headed to Monsterbygget (the monster building), a landmark on Tromsøya often used for kayaking navigation. After three hours, we were back at the boathouses.

Next day, another tour. I stopped working early to meet my friend Christine. We took my car to a parking area on Kvaløya and went up the Sørtinden. This is a short tour, about 4 km long with 250 metres of elevation gain., but you are immediately in the mountains.

Some parts were still covered with snow while others were covered with carpets of flowers. Even the cottongrass was blooming.

Gaining altitude, we had views of the lake Finnvikvatnet and the mountains behind, such as Kjølen.

The top of Sørtinden is a bit like a cliff. Here, you also have a view of the sea and the island Vengsøya. After a rest on the windy summit, we went back the same way.

A day and half a night in Bergen May 30 2026

28 May – I am sitting on a plane to Bergen, Tromsø lies behind. Finally the layer of clouds has opened and Vestlandet – Western Norways reveals itself with vast glaciers, mountain ranges, fjords, forests, archipelagos and the open sea.

The reason I am in Bergen is sea ice in the Arctic. On board the ice-breaking research vessel Kronprins Haakon there is a special radar used for navigation through sea ice. Researcher Polona Itkin wants to store this data for scientific purposes. The companies Sea-Hawk Navigation AS and dspnor AS are responsible for the hardware, I handle the software to read and store the data. And since these companies are in Bergen and have a working setup including a radar on the roof, I am working there for two days. The only work-related detail I will mention is this: the data volume to be stored is immense and can exceed 2 TB a day. Quite a challenge.

At 16:00 I finish work. Since the weather is warm and sunny, I decide to walk to the hotel in the centre of Bergen on the other side of Puddefjorden. Let’s go down the concrete ramp and start our tour. First, I walk through an industrial area …

… but then the surroundings change revealing marinas, parks and older wooden houses.

I cross the Damsgårdssundet and head towards the centre. A myriad of small alleys, footpaths and stairs make me ignore the polite navigation of Google Maps and stroll around, enjoying the town in the sun.

I don’t want to own this car, but I envy the driver’s parking skills.

But of course Bergen is an evolving city, not a museum and a lot of contemporary architecture is found there too. But sometimes the glassy facades reflect the older world.

From there it is not long to Vågen, the central harbour bay with a view of the historic quarter Bryggen.

I check in at the hotel and leave again straight away, first to get some food (Pasha – Peruvian food – not cheap but delicious) and then to take Fløibanen, a 848-metre-long funicular railway that leads up to the mountain of Fløyen (320 m).

Of course I could have walked up the 302-metre ascent, but I have a plan: I want to walk to the mountain of Ulriken (643 m), the highest of De syv fjell that surround the city centre of Bergen. The route is between 13 and 15 km long and leads through hilly terrain. From there I want to take the cable car down and the last one leaves at 23:00. So I don’t have the whole day, just a long evening.

At 18:45 I start my tour. First, I cross a small, but surprisingly dense forest then I follow the wide hiking trail.

When I approach the mountain Rundemanen with its tall radio mast, the trail branches into many paths leading in different directions. I ask for directions twice and get it – together with the warning that it is a long hike. The younger women told me it would take four hours from here, another woman said it would take her six hours. I decide to walk a bit faster and see where I am after two hours. I could still turn back then.

Now the trail looks more like a mountain trail. Smaller, steeper, rougher and sometimes very wet. Normally I walk with rubber boots but on this journey I only have an old pair of low shoes, so I try to avoid all the wet patches walking around them or stepping onto the stones.

I pass the lake Øvre Jordalsvatnet, use the stone causeway to cross the small stream that transports water to the lower lake Tarlebøvatnet. My planned destination, the TV tower near Ulriken, can already be seen.

Now the trail is excellently marked by large square cairns with a sign “←Fløyen, /Ulriken→“. It is easy to follow them. I try to walk at least 4 km/h, ideally 4.5 to catch the cable car. At 20:30 I reach one of the few signposts with distances. I’m happy, because I made more than half the distance in one hour, forty-five minutes. Decision made: I carry on.

And on I go across the Vidden. Sometimes the point of interest is nearby, such as the tube with the first aid equipment including a stretcher. Sometimes it is far away, such as the snowy mountains in the east. Will I see snow here as well?

Tube with first aid equipment and stretcher

And there it is: one of the two patches of snow on the Vidden plateau.

Slowly the sun is setting and the light gets warmer. I walk against the sun and have to protect my eyes with one hand when the path descends steeply into one of the valley cuts. But I’m sure I’ll arrive in time.

I spot some cabins, first a small red one then a larger one. When I researched this while writing, I found out that this is Turnerhytten, a DNT cabin with thirty beds. I think that when I plan a trip to Bergen again, I should stay there rather in some hotel in the centre.

I decide not to climb to the top of Ulriken but to go straight to the cable car station. I’m tired and exhausted because my only rests were to take photos and once to put on a jacket. I follow the signs to the station, take another photo, one of the TV tower, buy a ticket at the ticket machine and two minutes later I am in the cable car that leads me down. It is 22:30, so the hike – 14½ km long – took me 3¾ hours.

From the descending cable car I watch the sunset …

… then I’m in town again. It is five more kilometres to my hotel, so I take a bus (the wrong one), a tram, and another bus. At 23:15 I am in my hotel room.

Today I walked around 25 kilometres in total and now I only want to take a shower and fall into bed and sleep until breakfast at 7:00 the next morning.

Hill hike III – Ruksesvárri May 16 2026

Today I did my thrid hill hike within 8 days. After Trehørningen (283 m) and Nattmålsfjellet (296 m) I chose Ruksesvárri (470 m) today. Most people refer to the mountain by its Norwegian name (Rødtind), which more or less means the same as the Sámi name: red mountain peak. Like the other hills Ruksesvárri is located on Kvaløya.

I park the car in Storelva, put on my rubber boots and shoulder my camera backpack. From there it’s about one kilometre along the river Stuorajohka/Storelva until I leave the wide gravel hiking path and branch off. From now on the track may be wet and – looking at Ruksesvárri – snowy.

I hike up, following the track. Soon it vanishes under the first larger snow field.

The track is less muddy than I remember but wet, because the snowmelt turns everything into a brook, even the boardwalks. Further up I see that under sand and water there is blank ice. However, it is the only patch I see.

I look back. To the south I can see the island of Håkøya and mountain chains in more or less all directions.

The further up I go, the more the terrain is covered in snow. The barren sections show, how popular this hike is: the track is several metres wide.

Now I am above the timber line and snow dominates the scene. Mostly it is good to walk on and I do not sink in too much, but there are some nasty holes, especially above the mountain brooks, where you can easily break through up to your thighs. I’m on a gentle slope, angled at 10–15°.

I reach the saddle below the peak. In summer the path gets steeper and rockier, now all I can see is the peak and snow. The snowy slope is pretty steep.

I wasn’t the first one today. I met an elderly man who was already on the way down. Perhaps it’s his footsteps that I follow now on the way up. At the steeper part I use my hands as well. Then I reach the top plateau, cross another snow field and stand on the surprisingly unimpressive peak.

The impressive part are the views, especially to the west and the north.

At the tall cairn from where I can see Kaldfjorden meet the open sea is my turning point today. If I had skis or at least snowshoes I would continue. Without then, it’s time to return.

This hill walk was 7.2 km long. Elevation gain and loss: about 500 metres.

The weather is still sunny while I am editing the photos. In one of the photos I can see a small figure – the man who passed me on my way up. On his left side he has something blueish. I magnify the photo to 400%. It’s a pair of blue snowshoes strapped to his small backpack.

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.

Snow depth = 0 Apr 19 2026

The meteorological station Tromsø (Vervarslinga) measured the following snow depths yesterday:

Time	Snow depth [cm]
2026-04-18 17:00	1.0
2026-04-18 18:00	0.0

Time

Snow depth [cm]

2026-04-18 17:00

1.0

2026-04-18 18:00

0.0

Thus, yesterday was the last day with snow cover at Tromsø (Vervarslinga) this year. Let’s compare the values with previous years:

Year	Snow depth 18 April 18:00	First day with 0 cm of snow at 18:00	Difference in days
2025	72.9	2025-05-18	30
2024	71.0	2024-05-10	22
2023	87.1	2023-05-15	27
2022	45.5	2022-05-18	30
2021	82.7	2021-05-20	32
2020	157.0	2020-06-01	44

Based on the median values from the data above, around 78 cm of snow should have covered the ground at Vervarslinga yesterday, and snow should have remained for another 30 days. I also checked older data and couldn’t find a single 18 April that was without snow at Vervarslinga within the last 50 years.

Average snow depths Tromsø Vervarslinga18 April per year (source: frost.met.no)

That doesn’t mean that all the snow on Tromsøya is gone. Tromsø Vervarslinga is just a single station, but it illustrates how unusually early the snow has melted this year.

This morning I took a walk through the Tromsømarka on top of the island. As you can see, the snow varies. Some forested hills are completely bare of snow, while some boggy places still look wintry, and the lakes and ponds are covered with ice.

The second photo is typical. In winter, cross-country skiing is extremely popular. So popular that countless skiers compact the snow. As a result, it melts more slowly and so you can see “snow lanes” that cross the snow-free ground at this time of the year.

Another typical feature is the contrast: In one spot, thousands of tussilago are blooming while a hundred metres away in the shadow there is still ice on the water puddles.

What I am really curious about this year is the birch trees: will they get their leaves earlier or as usual?

Spring winter in Tromsø Apr 6 2026

You want spring? Go to the left.

You want winter? Go to the right.

This may be exaggerated a bit, but in the spring winter season you really can have both. Spring feelings by the shore and winter as soon you leave shore and gain a bit of altitude. Yesterday I took the first two photos near Tromsø airport, The other two photos I took today, when Annika and I were skiing with a friend in the valley Tønsvikdalen.

Skiing to Njunjes Mar 22 2026

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

Monday, 9 March

Last week, in our second week of holiday my wife Annika and I wanted to visit the stugvärdarna – the cabin hosts – of the Swedish mountain cabin Aktse. We had loads of food with us, among others chicken filet.

It is 16 km by ski from the car park Sitoälvsbron. Or would have been if the road to the car park had been cleared of snow. However, when we tried to drive there, the last 13 km of the road were just a snowmobile track not suited for cars. So we had to change plans.

At the Kvikkjokk Fjällstation we could sit inside and use wifi and bathroom to make new plans. We decided to stay there a night and to ski to Njunjes – the nearest cabin of the Padjelantaleden – the next day.

Tuesday, 10 March

After breakfast Annika packed her backpack and I packed my pulka and we started our ski tour to Njunjes. The first part is on the river Darreädno/Tarraätno – by boat in summer, on the ice in winter. More or less the whole river was covered with snowmobile tracks and they were so icy that I put off my skis and walked using spikes under my ski boots.

I stopped and asked Annika: Do we have the chicken filet with us? No, we didn’t, we forgot it in the fridge.

Later the snowmobile trail continued in the forest. Here it was easier to ski despite the warm weather with above-freezing temperatures. It was apparent that there had been not much snow this season and occasionally you could see patches free of snow.

Wet and icy snow, grey weather, a snowmobile track through the forest – I didn’t take many photos of this dull scenery. It seemed to take ages until we finally got a view of the cabins. But first we had to cross wet and icy terrain were we broke through into a few centimetres of water several times. According to the map there is neither a lake nor a bog. Maybe it was a partially frozen meltwater pond.

But then after about 17 km we arrived at the cabins of Njunjes where we were welcomed by the hut warden. The main cabin of Njunjes is a “Fjällstuga 65”, sometimes called Abrahamssonstugan. It was renovated lately and the new wood-burning stove is just awesome!

Our skis and ski skins were soaking wet from the final stretch but at least we ourselves stayed dry, because luckily the forecasted rain came later after we already had arrived.

Wednesday, 11 March

On this day we took a rest day. I was up early and went out to watch the sunrise because rain and clouds had disappeared overnight. What a beautiful morning!

The rest of the day we were pretty lazy. While Annika was reading in the sun (and my pulka was drying) I was taking some photos nearby.

Annika is reading and the pulka is drying in the sun

It was quiet, but occasionally we could hear loud rumbles. The southern cliff of the mountain Njunjesvárre was dewing in the sun and the large ice blocks were thundering downwards. This added some drama to the otherwise peaceful scenery.

In the afternoon Annika started to make food. Although we forgot the chicken filet we still had loads of other food, among others feta cheese, peppers, zucchini, and onions, all of them dried at home by Annika in the weeks before. This home-dried food has to be soaked in water for hours, so the resting day was a good opportunity to use it. In the evening we got a very delicious dinner.

Thursday, 12 March

Time to return to Kvikkjokk. The mountains were cloud-covered and it had snowed over night. Just one centimetre or two, but enough to make the scenery look a bit more wintry and more important: to make the icy track a bit smoother to ski. Before we started I fetched water from the river. About 200 metres away the river is partially open and there is a bucket to fetch water with and a funnel to pour it into the canister. I pulled the heavy canister after me back to the cabin. Now there was water and wood for the next guests to come.

Then we packed our things, cleaned the room and said goodbye to the friendly warden. And off we went, taking a slightly different track in the beginning. I only took some photos on our way back and none at all in the forest.

This day we realised again that of course you can ski here, but the omnipresent vehicle is the snowmobile. We met about fifty on our way back. In the last kilometres most of river was more or less covered with their tracks. But then we saw other skiers gliding effortlessly on the other side of the river. We skied there and right: there was a freshly prepared cross-country ski trail that we used until we were in Kvikkjokk.

A zillion snowmobile tracks on the river

A freshly prepared ski trail on the river

Here we picked up the forgotten chicken filet, bought something to drink and put everything into the car. This night we would stay in Solberget, the touristic wilderness retreat that I visited the first time in 2005. We had three-hour car drive ahead of us but it was still early and probably we would make it not only for the dinner but also for the sauna before. And yes – we made it. The smoked reindeer in creamy sauce was delicious!

Sunday, 15 March

Annika was back in Obbola, I was back in Tromsø. I finally fried and ate the chicken filet.

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