#escapism – microvacation Mar 1 2023

Two days ago Annika took the train from Umeå to Narvik to visit me in Tromsø. But what do you do when there is no bus connection to Tromsø the same day? Normally you’d take a hotel and continue the next day.

This time we made it slightly different. I took the car to Narvik as well – a very stormy ride – and fetched Annika from the train station.

Then we took the car to Harstad and stayed over night there. The next day we went up early and waited for our transportation to arrive. The Hurtigruten ship MS Nordnorge.

We left Harstad round 7:45 and passed the ship Havila Castor. Havila Kystruten serves the same route as Hurtigruten.

Then we took an extensive breakfast that we had booked with our 6½ hour cruise back to Tromsø. After that we listened to a lecture about the Arctic and the Antarctic. Then one of the main attractions followed: the hot tubs at the stern of the ship.

Enjoying the hot tub (Photo: Annika Kramer)

To my delight the weather forecast was wrong. It didn’t rain the whole journey, it snowed. That’s much nicer when you travel in February – even in the hot tub. Sometimes snow fall was intense enough to hide most of the scenic mountains we passed. A pity for the tourists.

Hurtigruten views IV –mountains near Tromsø

At the Norwegian Polar Institute I often hear the tooting of the arriving Hurtigruten ship in the early afternoon. Now we heard it while we were standing on the top deck, passing the southern part of Tromsøya, where I live and then the Framsenteret, the building where I work. When we arrived I went to the car deck and fetched my car.

After arriving in my small apartment we were quite tired but decided not to take a nap but a walk to the bay Telegrafbukta. The reason: 15–20 cm fresh snow had fallen in Tromsø and it was still snowing. Just beautiful. The forecast however predicted warmer weather and a lot of rain for the next day.

This time the weather forecast unfortunately was correct. Today it really has been raining most of the day and the snow transformed into large puddles of ice and brown slush. Well, we will have snow and cold temperatures the day after tomorrow, when we travel to Svalbard for a week.

A short ski tour to the cabin Trollvassbu Feb 11 2023

Prelude

What do you need to go skiing? (A) snow? Or (B) a shopping cart?

This week started warm, rainy and very windy. On the Norwegian sea a full storm was raging. Boat traffic was cancelled, bridges and schools closed. Here’s a Norwegian article: Uværet stopper fergetrafikk og skoler stengt – NRK Nordland.

Tromsø however is quite protected by the surrounding mountains. I saw this shopping card was thrown on the empty parking lot, nothing more. The ice was probably more dangerous but I have good spikes for my boots.

Two days ago the temperatures had dropped and snow was falling gently when I went to work. Yesterday it was still snowing, but less gently as you can see on the second image.

Skiing

Since then round 30 cm of snow had fallen. I packed ski and other stuff into my car and drove to a parking place on the mainland. It took a while to go there. First it’s 40 km and then there were some heavy snow showers. Sometimes it was hard to follow the road and I almost went through a red traffic light because it was snowed in.

Then I reached the parking place. Is it cleared? Well, I don’t know, I only see white. Let’s try …

I tried to back but it was obvious, that the car got stuck in a snow drift. The problem was not only the packed snow under the car, but also a layer of ice under the snow. The tyres just were spinning. So I had to dig out my car and decided to do it before skiing. 15 minutes warm-up with my snow spade, then the car was free.

There was another car, otherwise I was alone. I dressed for the tour and started. Plan for today: the cabin Trollvassbo, just 4 km away. It started snowing and wind increased. Mountains and other features were invisible. The snow was loose and my skis sank 15 cm with each step. But I was lucky. The pale spot in the distance turned out to be three women, that had stayed overnight in Trollvassbu. Following their ski track was of course not much less exhausting and I hadn’t to care much about navigation. Nice!

After two kilometres the track was lost in nothing. Snow and wind had filled the track. Sometimes it cleared up a bit and I could see the mountains, sometimes a new snow shower approached.

But then, after 3½ km I spotted it – the cabin. Somewhere behind the drifting snow.

Another 800 metres and I arrived. The cabins of the Norwegian tourist association DNT are locked, but luckily all with the same key – which I had with me today. So I could take a rest inside.

Oh, lovely! The cabin was cosy and still warm. I took a frugal lunch – water and crisp bread. I regretted, that I didn’t took some real lunch with me, here where I could use the gas stove. Anyhow I stayed there for almost an hour.

I took a photo of the snow drift behind the cabin and then started my way back to the car. Just while I took out the camera to take a picture of a mountain a snow cloud approached. Half a minute later the mountains was gone. Another half a minute later I skied through a heavy snow shower.

I put off my backpack to firmly tie up my snow spade and continued. Anyhow this was last stormy shower. Then it cleared up a bit and I could see the mountains again. I was more easterly than on the way there. Here the terrain was more sheltered from the wind. This means less wind but also deeper snow. Since there was no track left I skied through 20 cm of loose snow. So although I skied down a bit I was hardly any faster than on the way there. But that doesn’t matter, it’s not a competition.

The whole ski tour took less than 3½ hours including the break. Plus 15 minutes of shovelling. Plus 1½ hours of car driving. It’s near to impossible to reach all these great places round Tromsø by public transport, especially on weekends.

Warmly recommended if you have a car and want to have an easy tour without steep slopes. Perhaps you’ll get more friendly weather.

Tromsø – waiting for the sun Jan 29 2023

This winter polar night in Tromsø was from 26/27 November till 15 January. While the sun has been above the horizon at noon since 16 January it took some additional days until it could rise above the mountains to be seen in Tromsø. That day was last Saturday, the 21 January. It is called soldagen (the sun day). On this day it is tradition to eat “Berliner” doughnuts called solbolle (sun bun). When I went shopping in the afternoon only a few were left in the shop. But I already ate one in the cantina in advance the day before.

Saturday, 21 January

It is soldagen today. I walk to the bay Telegrafbukta at noon. Other people have gathered waiting for the sun. Some of them are barbecuing. But it is too cloudy to see the low sun itself. So: no sun.

Sunday, 22 January

Weather has changed. It has been raining at temperatures up to +7.6 °C. All the ways are icy. A misery!

I take a walk in the afternoon. Sunset has been one hour ago but through the thick rain clouds still comes a purple-violet shade of light. It looks very dramatic. But no sun.

Tuesday, 24 January

While I’m working some heavy snow showers move over the city. The large cruise ship that moored in the centre is almost hidden from my view through the windows of Framsenteret. Definitively no sun today.

Thursday, 26 January

It has become slightly colder and 15-20 cm of snow have fallen since last night. I walk home early, the first time not in darkness. It’s bright, but – no sun.

27 January

Warmer again. And today it really rains a lot. While I’m out at 15:00 it just pours down and large and deep puddles are everywhere. And wet ice. A real misery! And of course: no sun even today.

28 January

I take a long walk by the coast of Kvaløya. Temperature has dropped to +1 °C and it snows a lot. The snow is wet and sticky. Later it clears a bit but still no sun.

28 January: the wet snow is pretty sticky

29 January – today

Will the sun ever come out? Even today it snows and it is quite cloudy. Since I can see some small blue patches between the clouds and want to get some fresh air anyhow I again walk to Telegrafbukta as eight days ago. There are a lot of clouds and there’s a ship in the distance.

A ship? If I have time I always check which ship it is using the app VesselFinder. OK, let’s see … . What!? I’m really surprised: It is the Kronprins Haakon, the very ship I’ve been on at my polar expedition last year. I didn’t know that it arrives in Tromsø today. I directly get a strong longing to be on that ship cruising to the high Arctic again. (Spoiler alert: I may, later this year.)

29 January: Kronprins Haakon arriving in Tromsø I

29 January: Kronprins Haakon arriving in Tromsø II

But I can see something else. While I take photos of the bright spots between the dark clouds I spot a bright orb through my telephoto lens. The sun, the sun! Can it be true?

I check the photos at home. Although the orb is not visible on the photos (too bright) the altitude fits. So now I’m sure I saw the sun today, at least for some seconds through my camera.

This year will be a bit special. If everything works out Annika and I will see the sun coming back again in five, six weeks. In March work in Longyearbyen on Svalbard for a week and before that Annika and I stay there as tourists for about a week. One of the events I’m looking forward to is the 8 March: A quote from visitsvalbard.com:

[…] Marking the sun’s return is a long-standing traditional for the residents of Svalbard. When the sun returns on 8 March, we gather on the old hospital steps to celebrate the ‘sun’s return’. The saying here goes that ‘the sun is declared back in Longyearbyen when its rays reach the steps’. […]

Addendum: 30 January at lunchtime

30 January: finally a sunny day (taken from the canteen)

Coastal walk through the snow Jan 28 2023

Yesterday it was warm in Tromsø and it rained a lot. Last night it got slightly colder and today it snowed at +1 °C. I decided not to ski but to take a coastal walk by the shore of Kvaløya.

Especially the first half was a wet experience with some heavy snow showers coming from the front. The clouds seemed to start just above my head and I couldn’t see Tromsøya nor any mountains.

Although I have become pretty wet the way back was more comfortable. The wind was in the back, the snowfall decreased and finally I even could see the mountains again.

Round three hours later I arrived at the car. The luv side was plastered with wet snow. And I was glad that a had spare clothes in the car I could change into.

SE—DE—NO Jan 5 2023

Sweden—Germany—Norway, that’s the short version of my travel route the last two weeks.

Obbola – Sweden

Christmas was less than two weeks ago but it feels much longer. The kayak defrosting in the winter garden on Christmas Eve to prepare for a last paddle tour in 2022 with Annika. The drag marks of her kayak in the snow the day after. Last year. Long ago and far away.

On 25 December we travelled to Germany – a 24-hour train journey from Umeå to Bremen to celebrate the 90th birthday of my mother.

Bremen, Oldenburg, Münster, Heidelberg, Düsseldorf – Germany

After two days of celebration we visited friends in Oldenburg and Münster and then continued to Heidelberg by train to meet my old and loved friends I got to know in Munich many years ago. I love the north but I miss my friends in Germany. Some of them I haven’t met for many years. But that’s another story.

On 30 December we travelled to Heidelberg by train, our southernmost destination in Germany. From Tromsø, Heidelberg is further away than the North Pole though much easier to travel to ;-).

While the weather in Bremen was partially rainy, New Year’s Eve in Heidelberg was warm and sunny. The temperature of 18 °C was much warmer than usual for the season and felt like a warm spring day in Obbola (or like a great summer day in Tromsø).

In the air

On 2 January we took the train to Düsseldorf Airport, from where we flew home the next day. I travelled to Tromsø in Norway with an early direct flight, Annika to Umeå in Sweden some hours later. I could see the sun for many hours while flying on 11000 feet altitude but it didn’t reach the earth. Norway lay in the shadow. In Southern Norway it was too early, in Tromsø the sun won’t rise before 16 January.

Tromsø – Norway

Today has been my 2nd work day in Tromsø this year. With temperatures round -10 °C it’s almost 30 degrees colder than in Heidelberg 5 days ago. I enjoy spring but I embrace winter. I feel home in the North. And when I can watch polar lights from my doorstep with just a parka and warm boots over my pyjamas I realise how privileged I am that I may live here – both in Obbola and Tromsø.

Break at work IV – skiing through the forest Dec 16 2022

It’s Friday, the last day before weekend and the last opportunity this week to take a break at work.

In the morning I participated a workshop via video conference from my home office in Obbola. I just love the view through the window, where I can see the sun rising over the Baltic Sea and the snow covered backyard.

The workshop ended at 12:20. Right after that I took my old backcountry skis and dressed for a ski tour through the forests. Sunny, calm, -12°C. I wanted to go “Spåret”, a local forest trail. I followed the gravel road, crossed a ditch and followed the trail. Some hundred metres I was lost. When the snow is fresh everything looks quite alike. So I just made my own path. The fluffy snow was as deep as on the trail.

Later I found Spåret again and followed it. I walked through the shadows because the sun didn’t rise more than 3.3° above the horizon today. But at the part north of the treeless swamp the sun had a chance to peek into the forest edge.

At the road I decided to walk straight ahead instead of turning right to avoid the asphaltwith my skis. This was when I lost Spåret for good. Mostly I followed animal tracks because optical orientation is hard when it looks like this:

But it was fun because there was always something to see, even in a forest covered with 40 cm of snow. A frozen puddle at the rim of a swamp – a small pine covered with rime – thick animal tracks – the temporary (and abandoned) snow cave of a black grouse.

Sometimes I could see a roof of the house or hear a car. It’s Obbola, no wilderness. And so I came to the road that we use to take to town. I didn’t follow it but took a side road today. Less asphalt, more snow!

I arrived home at 13:55, some minutes after sunset. Again the horizon was coloured orange – and again I had a video meeting.

Break at work II – ice paddling Dec 14 2022

Today has been another clear and calm day. It was colder than the day before with temperatures round -19 °C. Today’s plan was paddling, at least round Lillskär, the small skerry nearby.

Step 1 – fetching the kayak

I knew exactly where our kayaks are. They lay in the garden – hidden under a layer of powder snow. So the first part of my paddle tour was digging out my kayak.

Step 2 – dressing and get equipment

Survival suit · thick mittens · ice claws · smartphone · camera · waterproof bag for the camera · paddle. Just the basics, I won’t go far.

Step 3 – crossing the ice

After some frosty days the ice on the shallow bay seemed to be thick enough to support my weight. I walked over the ice dragging the kayak behind. At the edge of the bay there was an ice range that I had to cross. I entered the kayak and mostly I used my ice claws to drag myself forward. Sometimes the ice supported the weight of me in the kayak, sometimes we broke through. Although the ice range to cross was only 100 metres wide I had to take several breaks. Some to take photos, some to catch my breath.

Step 3 – paddling

Then I reached open water. Almost. The water was covered with a thin layer of transparent ice needles that made the water look crystallised. It slowed down the waves and I could hear the high-pitched clinking while I was paddling through. Very fascinating!

In addition to that the sea was smoking. When it is as cold as today, the surface water evaporates and quickly resublimes to tiny ice grains that build this moving fog that colours the sea in a pale white.

Step 4 – visiting an ice exhibition

When I passed Lillskär I bent right to the mainland. There were some ice-coated rocks and thicker ice floes there – an extremely beautiful view in the low sunlight. I just went straight ahead. The first ice floes were split by my kayak, on the thicker once I had to use my ice claws again to move forward.

Step 5 – back to land

I realised, that my tour has taken much longer than planned, although the distance was tiny. I was clad in my survival suit, the kayak was on the ice and in 20 minutes my video meeting would begin. I had to hurry up!

The ice near the mainland was too thick to paddle through, but too thin to walk on. So, ice claws again. Not easy, when you lack trained arm and abdominal muscles. When I approached another shallow, I just left the kayak, splashed a bit trough soft ice and knee deep water until I reached the bay again.

From there I could walk on the ice and drag my kayak behind until I reached our property. I went to the house and transformed from paddle guy to IT guy as fast as possible. I informed my boss and colleagues that I would by 5 minutes late. That gave my the chance to take a hot shower, because I was freezing.

Did I miss anything of the meeting? No, the others had to fix audio and that took longer than my shower.

After the meeting, round 12:15 I walked out again to make a photo of the cloud bank and the sea smoke in the low winter sun.

Tomorrow shall be another cold and sunny day. Let’s see how I’ll spend my work break …

And suddenly it’s winter Dec 12 2022

Last Tuesday it got sunny and I paddled kayak. On Wednesday it got cold and the small sound between island Lillskär and mainland was covered with ice.

Wednesday morning in Obbola: ice onthe sea

Although it’s mid-December and despite temperatures between -10 °C and -14 °C there were still whooper swans around. Don’t they migrate south? In the morning they managed to paddle through last night’s fresh and thin sea ice. In the afternoon the swans had left. Perhaps they finally decided to fly south.

On Thursday it snowed. In the afternoon 10 cm of fresh snow had fallen and everything was white and bright, even in the night.

On Friday Annika and I had a day off and visited friends in for a long weekend. They live in Kusfors in the inland, round 180 km north. On the way there and there we found more winter. It was not very cold but it snowed quite a lot. I took some images from the car while Annika was driving.

Yesterday on Sunday we came back to our house in Obbola round 20:00. Our property was covered with 45 of fresh snow. Since it had been sub-zero all the days the snow was pretty fluffy. We had to do quite a bit of snow shovelling – but after taking a photo.

Today it’s Monday and a new working week has begun. I had a lot of meetings today and therefore no time to paddle kayak. Oh yes, the kayaks … where are they? I know they lie beside the wooden terrace. Here they are, well hidden under a thick blanket of snow, right beside the window of the winter garden.

But there are other things to do as well. For example opening the afterwork ski season in Olles Spår near Umeå together with Annika. The snow is still soft and the cross-country skiing trail still slow but the first time of skiing is always special and we are happy and grateful that we live in a place where winter is around us.

Now it’s half past nine in the evening and I’m blogging. Snow is falling and the thermometer shows -9.5 °C, the same temperature as the last hours.

And you? What kind of winter do you like? Or do you prefer other seasons?

Scotland: wetness Oct 31 2022

This article is part of the series “2022-10: Autumn in Scotland”.

You cannot deny, that Scotland can be a pretty wet land. There are however different kinds of wetnesses.

Bathing in the sea

This kind of wetness I love: bathing in the sea. Finally Annika and I managed to find a sandy beach that looked very promising for taking a bath. And it was perfect. No stones, no currents, no sharp-edged shells, no waves as high as a house. The water was warmer than expected and it hardly rained.

Rain and muddy trails

We continued our road trip through the region of Assynt and parked our car by the Stoer Lighthouse. From there we took a circular hike to the Old Man of Stoer, a 60 metre high sea stack. It rained and the trail was soaking wet and partially quite muddy. I managed to keep my rubber boots dry but Annika’s hiking boots were soaking wet after our hike. Her dancing experience helped her to change to dry shoes.

Adventurous roads

As the days before it was Annika that drove the rental cars. You don’t want to fall asleep while driving in Scotland. Beside the single file tracks with its many meeting points sometimes the roads are blocked by sheep. The road sign warning of a 25% steep hill however looked much more dramatic than the road was.

Ardvreck Castle

We have passed Ardvreck Castle several times the last days. Now it was time to stop and have a look.

The lake Loch Assynt was flooded and so was the path to the castle. I like hiking in rubber boots which is a bit overdressed sometimes. In Scotland however I think it’s perfect footwear. Here they helped me to wade to the castle to take some more photos, while Annika waited ashore.

Sea monsters

I almost forgot to tell: At the beach of Clashnessie I observed sea monsters! Carefully I sneaked up to one of them and I managed to take a photo as a proof. There are sea monsters in Scotland!

10 cm high sea monsters.

10 cm high sea monsters buried in the sand.

10 cm high sea monsters buried in the sand looking suspiciously like seaweed.

Sleet weather in Tromsø Oct 23 2022

Last night I was woken up my a crackling noise. I peeked out of my front door – everything was white. It was however not snowing but sleeting heavily and the ground was covered with zillions of small snow pellets.

This morning more sleet showers crossed Tromsø. I took a short promenade to the coast where the beaches where covered with snow pellets as well.

I would have loved to take the car to Kvaløya to places where it actually was cold enough for real and dry snow but my car still has summer tyres. I’m even not sure if I can make it to the appointment for tire change in two days or if the streets are too slippery to get there.

So I did not get real winter snow today but at least I spotted the first snowman. Or should I write snow pellet man?

Later the day sleet turned into wet snow with the result, that the streets are covered now with 5 cm of wet slush.