Low tide by the sea
Low water and rainy weather. Time for some black and white images by the coast, this time round the bays Hakøybotn, Sørbotn and Mammakjosen.
A short after work tour of the Sørtinden.
This article is part of the series “2021-07: Back in Tromsø”.
Here I stand on one of the tops of the Sørtinden, where I was ten days ago the first time. Today the view was much better but it was very windy.
Looks like a normal mountain tour round Tromsø like I’ve made the last weeks, doesn’t it?
But it wasn’t. This time I didn’t hike alone. It was the first post-covid tour organised by the Norwegian Polar Institute. It was seven people and two dogs joining the tour. After many months of home office I fully enjoyed doing something together with other people, most of whom I didn’t know. Yes, it’s possible again in Norway. What a relief!
After we had arrived at the top we took a longer rest. While we shared some goodies I learned a lot about prioritising when being on tour. While I use to take my camera equipment with me, others provide things like …
I just can say that warm fried cinnamon rolls are extremely tasty. Another day I learned something valuable.
Dear colleagues, takk for turen – thanks for the tour.
A hike round the peninsula Klubben
This article is part of the series “2021-07: Back in Tromsø”.
#onceaweek tour 5
Today I didn’t choose a mountain top but a small coastal promenade as my #onceaweek tour. I took the car to the village Lyfjorden on Kvaløxya and went round the peninsula Klubben. I love hiking up mountains to get the view but at the coast you get views for free ;-).
One of the things that still impresses me is how tiny some houses look standing in front of huuuge mountain faces that often look like vertical walls.
Klubben lies in the Kaldfjorden (the cold fjord). On the other side lies the mountain Store Blåmannen (1044 m) – always an imposing view.
The birches on Klubben had only some yellow leaves left. Since it was quite windy (15 m/s on the bridge to Kvaløya) they will be bare soon. Soon the autumnal colours will be history for this year.
Although this tour was marked as green (easy, for beginners) you still had to watch where to go. Sometimes the path was boggy but mostly stony and I had to watch my steps.
A quite loud noise, like someone inhaling loudly through the teeth interrupted me. I looked for the sound source and spotted a whale quite nearby. Although I had the camera with telephoto lens in my hands it took me a second before I managed to make a photo of the dorsal fin just before the small whale submerged again. I saw it two more times but in quite a distance. The photo is poor but the experience to spot a whale just by chance from your Sunday afternoon walk was extraordinary.
I continued my walk but now the path had vanished and the ground was only rocks. Did I miss the path? Possibly. I checked with the map app of Norgeskart and realised that the way was a bit higher up. I went and climbed up the steep slope but did not find any path. Higher and higher I ascended until it was clear that the map wasn’t as accurate as assumed. Probably the rocks were the path.
I didn’t want to descend that slope again and so continued to ascend it until I met a small gravel road that led to some houses – the first modern and cuboid, the second traditional with a grass roof.
Soon the area had become less steep and I could cut short to the coast again.
On the way back I took an extra stop in Finnes, Kvaløya . The small reindeer herd that I’ve seen there several times was still grazing. Probably they live there.
Today’s tour was only 4 km (elevation gain and loss round 250 m) but I cannot say that it was less fun or less exciting. I have however to admit that it was much less exhausting than the mountain tours. Training effect: ±0.
Aurora hunting – failing and cheating
It’s always the same: when you wake up in the night and see the polar lights illuminating the sky it doesn’t mean, that you can take good pictures of them. In the time you need to dress, take camera and tripod and walk outside to a nice place it’s likely that they disappear again. Polar lights are shy fellows.
Last night it was the same: I saw a nice aurora from my sleeping room. But when I arrived at the bay Telegrafbukta no distinct aurora was visible anymore.
Anyhow the sky looked a bit pale. Clouds or polar lights? Let’s take a handheld photo with a long exposure. Cl… …ick.
Yes. The sky is definitely green. I set up the tripod, configure the camera and wait.
…
Nothing happens.
So I start taking a long expose shot of the sea, the mountains and the lights of Kvaløysletta.
And you can see the polar lights, at least a bit. No surprise because I exposed the photo for 30 seconds with ISO 560 and an exposure of ƒ/3.2. That puts enough light onto the sensor to catch even faint polar lights that are hardly visible to the naked eye. So this is not really an aurora photo, it’s more cheating.
Before I went back to my bed I wanted to take at least one photo with some kind of a motive. It became a shed nearby, illuminated by the moon and again with a faint polar light in the background.
Today I have to go to bed early, I have to catch up on sleep.
An after-work tour onto the Rødtinden and Storbogtinden
This article is part of the series “2021-07: Back in Tromsø”.
Last week I worked a lot of extra hours. When I realised that the weather would be nice today I stopped working at 14:00, took the bus home and then my car to Kvaløya where I took an after-work tour, first on the Rødtinden (470 m) and then to the Storbogtinden (568 m).
I had my Nikon with me but I think these photos are boring and so I let the iPhone speak today:
I didn’t edit the image beside of cropping them to the ratio of 8:3 and editing contrast and sharpness a bit.
And the tour?
sunny, blue sky, round 15 °C ❦ t-shirt weather ❦ some really muddy parts ❦ first birches and mountain ashes with coloured leaves ❦ then bare trees ❦ above 350 metres no trees at all ❦ I’m alone on the mountain tops, sweating and panting ❦ 360 °C view on different mountain ranges, fjords, sounds and the open sea to the northwest ❦ not the most impressive look but beautiful anyhow
A short tour to Sørtinden
I have to admit that my motivation to go out was low this Saturday where it was grey weather with a slight drizzle that made everything damp. So this time I chose a shorter tour for my project #onceaweek.
And since the light was so dull that the autumnal colours looked pale and grey it was simple to choose a photo project: Only black and white and only rocks.
Telegrafbukta and the first autumn storm
This article is part of the series “2021-07: Back in Tromsø”.
The first autumn storm approached Tromsø. Nothing extreme but the tide and the waves were higher than usual.
Autumn colours on Kvaløya
This article is part of the series “2021-07: Back in Tromsø”.
Tromtinden
This article is part of the series “2021-07: Back in Tromsø”.
It wasn’t planned, that I woke up already before 6 o’clock. Anyhow I took the opportunity to get an early start for my 2nd mountain tour of #onceaweek. Todays destination is the Tromtinden in the northwest of the island Kvaløya. The starting point is 50 km away so I had to take the car. It won’t be the last time.
The car ride however is incredible. Now many trees bear autumnal colouring. It is already impressive in the shadow, but then I suddenly drive into the sun and was almost blinded by these colours, to bright and intense they were.
I have to take another photo, that shows the road to Tromvik. It lies in the shadow while the sun illuminates the bald mountain peaks.
Already at 7:20 I start the tour. It’s 2 °C. It seems that most Norwegians prefer to start their hiking tours much later and so I am completely alone. The first part crosses boggy ground. There are some planks leading over wet parts but they are quite slippery because of ground frost.
The way leads up through a sparse birch forest. Now the path is less muddy and starts being dominated by rocks. No wonder – it’s going to be a mountain tour.
On a small plateau I find some cloudberries. There are overripe and have a bland taste, but the frozen one in the shadow is really tasty. Cloudberry sorbet!
On a saddle between the Mellomtinden and Tromtinden the view opens to the northwest and a mountain lake as well as the sea appears.
I follow the ascending path until I stand on a larger plateau. From here I can see the steep northwest face of the Tromtinden and the marking of the summit.
After traversing the plateau the path gets steeper, leads mostly over rocks and I have to stop several times to look where it continues. Do you see the mark on the next image?
After crossing some rock fields and a bit of level I “climbing” I arrive at the summit plateau with its impressive cairn and an even more impressive 360° view.
9:15 – finally time for breakfast. Three cloudberries didn’t fill me up.
I almost spend one hour on the Tromtinden and enjoy being outdoors completely undisturbed.
Finally I start walking down. Slowly and carefully I take my steps on the rock fields but then the path gets easier and easier. When I am halfway down I meet the first other hiker – a woman with a dog. From now on I meet twelve other people (plus three dogs) until I arrive at the car. The sky is blue and it has become so warm, that I only wear a t-shirt.
I arrive at the car at round 11 o’clock. I’m surprised that the car thermometer shows only 7 °C, but the sun has still quite a lot power. Now I’ll head home, only with a detour to the grocery to buy a huge bowl of salad for lunch.
For the stats: 8.3 km, summit altitude 636 m.
The first polar light of the season
This article is part of the series “2021-07: Back in Tromsø”.
Is the polar light shy? It was quite bright, when I peeked out of the window of my tiny room in Tromsø. It got pale when I took pictures at the bay Telegrafbukta. And it got really bright after that while I was returning home because clouds had been gathering.
Anyhow, it’s the first polar light of the season 2021/22 and therefore worth photographing.
There was another light at least as fascinating as the polar light. Plankton that was washed ashore. This plankton was bioluminescent and glowed blue-turquoise. I have a real ugly photo for the records. When this a common phenomenon I’ll try to take better photos some other time.
