Two promenades on Tromsøya Apr 25 2025

Easter Monday – from Sydspissen to home

On Easter Monday we got surprisingly fine weather in Tromsø. The sun was shining and the sky was blue. I took the bus to Sydspissen – the southern tip of Tromsøya – because it has been ages since I’ve been there. A lot of snow has melted away and tussilago was blooming everywhere. I passed the beach at Telegrafbukta and the pier at Folkeparken came into view. I know the this area well, because I lived nearby for quite some time.

I went on, enjoying the sun and ignoring the chilly wind. Don’t let your eyes fool you, the max temperature was about +2 °C. I passed the old boat house Engenesnaustet, saw a lonely winter kayaker and passed the small lighthouse.

I was not alone. A lot of other people took the holiday to take a promenade, sit side by side or do some barbecuing. I took the liberty to remove some people from the photos.

I wondered if the old, abandoned boathouse was still open? It was. A bit away from the shore there was some leftover snow. The tussilago flowers didn’t care, they were blooming anyhow.

Now it was not far away to the boat houses of the two kayak clubs in Tromsø. TSI Trulle and Tromsø Havpadleklubb. Here I start all my kayak tours in Tromsø, because my own kayak is in Obbola in Swede, so I use to hire one here. Season has just started and I want to paddle a lot this year!

At the bus stop Giæverbukta I missed my bus. 28 minutes of waiting or two kilometres of walking? Easy decision: I walked.

It was fascinating that the coast was mostly free of snow, while MET, the meteorological institute inside the island measured a snow depth of about 80 cm that day. At an elevation of 100 metres. And so the walk became snowy in the end. But spring showed up here as well: some willows had started to bloom.

Intermezzo – more snow

Yesterday afternoon it started snowing. Some snow showers were pretty dense. And sometimes I got one of my favourite weathers: snow flurry and sun at the same time. So beautiful. I tried to take pictures but the result became quite ugly, because the snow against the camera looks dark.

This morning ten more centimetres of snow have fallen, even in the lowland areas. All Scilla flowers in the centre were covered in snow and for the photo I had to look to find some flowers not being completely buried.

Friday (today) – from Prestvannet to home

I use to walk home twice a week after work. Then I take the bus to the lake Prestvannet to skip the boring (and steep) parts. Today I do the same. Additional snow showers have increased the snow depth to 92 cm, but it has started clearing up, when I begin my way home at 15:00. The fresh snow gives the lake an untouched appearance and the first lifebuoy is snowed over almost completely. Could it be January? No, the light is different.

I follow the ski trail a bit then I follow the smaller paths. They have hardly been used today, mostly by a single skier or pedestrian.

But then I come to an area where the snowy paths are completely untouched. No one has used them today. Imagine that: You are on a island with 43000 inhabitants. Many of them are enthusiastic skiers and outdoor maniacs. It is Friday afternoon and the sun is shining. And I trudge through 15 cm of untouched fresh snow. This is absolutely brilliant; I’ve never experienced anything like this before!

Blowing snow Apr 8 2025

It looks like winter has come back to Tromsø. At four o’clock the temperature fell below zero, at 17:30 the first heavy snow shower arrived and at 22:00 we got wind gusts up to 18 m/s. It’s not a lot of snow that fell, but the wind gusts take the snow from the ground and blow it through the streets in metre high clouds. Winter parka time, at least when I took this photo.

Blowing snow in front of my door in Tromsø

Gutta på skauen Mar 30 2025

Winterland is black’n’white Mar 30 2025

These are no black-and-white photos. It is normal colour photos in a wintry landscape of black and white. When it is as cloudy as on Annika’s and my ski tour on Friday and Saturday, then the bright colours seem to have vanished from the landscape. The snow seems to be white, the clouds seems to grey, the rocky mountain parts to be black and so do the many birch trees. But if you look closer, you see that snow hardly ever is of pure white. Here, it might have a green shade; over there, a blue tint; and in an hour, a hue of purple.

Wintry landscape of black and white VIII

Wintry landscape of black and white XIII

Skiing home Mar 26 2025

And suddenly it looks wintry again in Tromsø. About 30 cm of snow fell in the last two days. Yesterday I walked home from work, today I took the skies.

It is so much fun to ski through the wintry forests on the top of the island Tromsøya even when the snow is as warm and sticky as today.

From Obbola to Tromsø – home home and work home Mar 25 2025

Thursday, 20 March – Obbola

Annika and I are in Obbola, my “home home”. In the morning we get visitors. Three deer stand in our garden – always alert. Are they happy, that much of the snow is gone?

In my lunch break I am kayaking round the island Bredskär. That’s just 3 km. There is still some ice round the rocks at the shore, but much snow and ice has melted away the last weeks. What a warm winter.

Friday, 21 March

Annika and I take the car to Tromsø. We will make a stopover in Jokkmokk, because the total distance is almost 1000 km. Hejdå home home!

In warm and sunny weather we head northwards to Piteå and then northwest to Jokkmokk. Now we are north of the Polar Circle.

In Jokkmokk we meet a good friend and take a walk round the lake Talvatissjön. Around the sun a halo appears .

Saturday, 22 March

After a good sleep in the hostel Åsgård Annika and I continue our car trip. Gällivare, Kiruna, Abisko. Torneträsk – the 6th largest lake in Sweden – is still completely frozen. Good for recreation such as skiing.

Parts of the road were closed some days ago. You can still see some remains of the snow storm.

Some weeks ago it would have been impossible to drive from Jokkmokk to Tromsø in daylight. Anyhow two days ago astronomical spring has started and the days are as long as everywhere. After hours of driving the sun is low but visible. It illuminates the beautiful clouds. And then we arrive at our apartment in Tromsø, my “work home”.

Sunday, 23 March

On Sunday the weather gets nasty. Max temperature: +9 °C and wind gusts up to 23.5 m/s. Annika and I take a promenade anyhow. With spiked shoes because some of the ways are just bare, wet ice and the friction is next to zero. We arrive at home before the rain. Good luck.

Monday, 24 March

On my way to work I spot the first spring flowers in front of the Tromsø Cathedral. I could believe in spring …

Tuesday, 25 March

… but do know the forecast and it is correct: Snow, snow, snow on the next day. So it looks like in the morning outside of the apartment …

… and so in the afternoon, when I walked home.

Me and the old Anorak I’ve bought 2nd hand

So we did not solely travelled between countries but also between seasons. Anyhow I hope for some more winter days (or weeks), before my seasonal clock will jump to spring mode. Perhaps in mid-May?

Waves and flying ice at Vitskärsudden Mar 15 2025

No paddling today. The reason, why? Strong winds and rough sea with breaking waves.

The wind blew onshore, carrying the sea spray several metres inland. Normally spray is liquid, but today it consisted mostly of peaces of crushed ice. Ice from floes that the waves had been crushing into smithereens. So yes – ice can fly, at least a few metres.

A result of these conditions was the ice wall you can see in the front of some of the photos. It was built today and was up to one metre high.

So as I said, no paddling today and no winter bath either.

Kayak – 3rd try and success Mar 14 2025

It’s less the temperature than the wind who makes the sea ice on the Baltic Sea vanish. Although we had -10 °C this morning the sea was more or less open. Time for a slightly longer kayak tour in the afternoon under a blue sky enjoying the calm weather.

But still there is some ice shield attached to the coast. As the days before I push myself forward using ice spikes.

First the ice holds then I crash through. It takes me 10 minutes to cross 100 metres of ice until I reach open water. Yay!

I decide to paddle round the islands Obbolstenarna. There is hardly any ice left on the way there but at the eastern shore it still looks pretty wintry.

The western part of Obbolstenarna however looks like another season. Is winter over now? Anyhow, time to kayak home.

If you look carefully at the photo with the red bow of my kayak you see that the water is very smooth but with some crystal like structures. Let’s take a close look:

Despite of the sun air temperature is still below zero. Not only the sea water on the kayak freezes but new ice is also formed on the water surface. It is thin and fragile but so soft, that the smooth waves do not break it. An even closer photo (heavily edited):

Through this smooth though icy water I paddle back until I reach the ice edge again. I choose another place, take a run-up and paddle onto the ice. I’m lucky. This ice is more stable and I do not break through. I slide back to the shore. Meanwhile the sun is already low. I was slower than planned, because it took some time to take all these photos.

Back in Obbola – opening the kayak season Mar 9 2025

Friday

Two days ago Annika and I returned from our Finnmark and Finland journey. Just north of Umeå there was a low layer of strange clouds. Any of you who knows what kind of clouds this is?

Saturday

We are back home in Obbola in Sweden. The sky is clear and blue. In wintertime this often means that it can be pretty cold outside. Instead we had up to +8 or +9 °C. What a strange winter.

The wind is strong. The waves have already crushed the ice floes. In the afternoon the floating ice has been blown away into the open sea.

There is still some snow around but parts of the ground is free of snow. That‘s early for the season. And so is the arrival of the first whooper swans.

Sunday

The wind has calmed down and so have the waves. Time to fetch the kayak from the garage and open the kayak season. While there was not much of ice left at the shores of Obbola and the island Bredskär there was another highlight today: A 360°C halo round the sun.

Next week?

It looks like we expect colder temperatures, sun and calm weather. I hope, I have more opportunities to do some kayaking.

A gorgeous cross-country ski tour in Saariselkä Mar 1 2025

This article is part of the series “2025-02: Finnmark”.

After days of car driving through the Norwegian Finnmark we crossed borders to Finland two days ago. Yesterday we arrived in Saariselkä in the northernmost Finnish region “Lapland”. Saariselkä is a popular tourist destination, especially for cross-country skiers. So we decided to make a cross-country ski tour today despite of the grey and dull weather that the weather forecast showed us for the region.

After breakfast we took our skies, walked to the tent-like starting point and started skiing. Oh my – after using the broader “fjellski” a lot the thin cross-country skis felt like skiing on matches! I had some difficulties and blamed myself but then realised, that beside of my stiffness one of the skins – permanently glued to the ski – started to peel off. We abandoned the tour in hope to find someone that can fix this. So the first ski tour was just 1.17 km – yay!

We were extremely lucky. We soon found a ski rental and got the problem fixed within a minute. The employee even refused getting paid. Kiitos paljon! So – back to the starting point.

Meanwhile the weather that had been ignoring the forecast as usual started clearing up. Temperatures were around -8 to -9 °C and it was calm. Perfect skiing conditions, if you ask me. This time I felt a bit more comfortable.

We unmounted our skis at a short but uncomfortably steep passage, where the trail crossed a stream in a small valley. Last night’s fog had added rime to the snowy trees.

After this short obstacle the trail got easier and was extremely pleasant to ski on. Plus, the trail was perfectly prepared and the sky cleared up more and more. But let the photos speak for themselves:

Was it as empty as on the photos? Almost. There were a few other skiers, but not many.

After about 7 km we reached the first cabin – Rumakuru Päivätupa. We took just a short break and decided to continue to the next cabin – Luulampi, taking a break there. We passed Rumakuru Vanhatupa and after 4 km we arrived at the large cabin Luulampi.

My dreams of eating cake in the cabin were destroyed. The café was closed. So we skied to the small hut nearby were we took a lunch break. Annika grilled sausages in the fire, while I ate two Karelian pirogs. Then we shared some biscuits.

And then? Taking the more advanced ski trail that climbs at least 150 other metres, leading to the road and then hoping for a bus or a lift? Or just taking the same way back? We chose the latter.

As usual I took much less photos on the way back. One of the reasons: it had become cloudy and the sun had vanished. Now the landscape was more monochrome, but still very beautiful.

We passed the other cabins again, and again we unmounted our skis at the steep descend and ascend. And then, after some more descends we were back in town. Here there are a lot of people, that do not ski and you have to remind them, that ski tracks are – well – ski tracks and not open for pedestrians, cyclists or snowshoers. Mostly it helps …

“Skiers only, no matter what Google Map says”

I tracked today’s tour. The second and real tour was 21.95 km, which adds up to a total of a bit more than 23 km on cross-country skis. I guess, Annika and I will feel our muscles tomorrow. I feel them already now.

This was one of the finest cross-country ski tours I’ve made in the last years. Thank you, Annika for the tour!