DAY 11 - an island, two hikers and a beautiful sunset

this is perfect hiking weather - the sun's coming out just as we are getting up and having breakfast, and it gets nicer and nicer as we drive towards tromsø. we decide to go across to kvaløy where we leave the car in kvaløysletta and walk up some hill, first through a small wood, then among small birches. the sky is a perfect blue by now, with a few cotton clouds far on the horizon. definitely too warm for long sleeves, definitely t-shirt weather!

we stop occasionally, enjoying the view of tromsø as well as the mountains surrounding us. and we walk on and on. once we reach a kind of boggy plateau, and follow the path towards the north. we find the perfect spot for lunch, and once again it becomes obvious that food simply tastes better outdoors in such lovely surroundings!


view over straumsfjord from kvaløy

we see three people walking past, but at a distance. apart from that - peace and quiet, we are practically alone in this nordic summer paradise!

after some rest, we climb up to a snowfield, and - in sepp's case - onto a snowfield. it's pretty steep, which doesn't quite come out in the picture, but believe me - i was there. *S* we climb on, and by now, i mean climb - i am using my hands almost as much as my feet! we get to a point where we decide it's safer not to continue but to take a longer way towards the top.


going to extremes - sepp

but before we do that, we find us two rocks for sunbathing - after a while gentle snoring tells me that my dear husband is asleep! but it IS so lovely up there, and so quiet, and the warmth of the sun can lull one to sleep. it's so warm that i am down to my tank top, and i wish i were wearing shorts! the reason why we decide to move on is that we are running out of water. so we skip the peak, but hike back to kvaløysletta, which actually takes a while, since we have walked quite far.


ah! summer!

we don't find the path we walked before, but since we can soon see the area where we parked the car, we know roughly where to go, and make it back alright. off we are to the local spar supermarket - we need water!


tromsø, paris of the north

we decide to go for a drive, and before we know it we are in some tunnel below the water and then on ringvassøy where we drive north along the water and find that the local traffic consists mainly of sheep. but, at the risk of repeating myself: it is incredibly beautiful here, especially on a day like this.


ringvassøy

we go back into tromsø, contemplate seeing a movie, don't contemplate a pizza (at the price of, roughly, a 7-course meal at the best viennese restaurant, it's not really an option), but - fortunately - sepp agrees when i suggest going up fjellheisen by cable car. it would be a shame to waste this lovely evening indoors.

so we take the 9pm cable car up fjellheisen - we're opposite kvaløy now. looking in the direction of tromsø we are actually looking towards the area where we were hiking earlier that day. it's amazing - the setting sun behind the mountains, the islands in twilight ...


sun setting in fiordland

there's another little peak looming, fløfjell, allegedly about half an hour from the cable car station. so we walk in that direction. and we walk and walk, and sepp would rather stop and have a picnic, but i kind of want to walk on, i mean, once we are here. so i suggest walking a little bit further, see how far it is from there, and so on, and before we know it, we are on top of the mountain (well, it's 638m anyway). it's 10pm, and the view is breath-taking.


fløfjell, 638m, 10 pm

we walk back towards the station, clouds and mountains are reflected in little pools that lie like mirrors, cotton-grass sways in the breeze, the sun sinks towards the sea, far out behind the islands.


mirror in the mountains

we float back down around 11 pm, and our feet are rather tired by now. *S* so no more peaks that day, only a drive back to skittenelv and our tent. the sun dips into the sea somewhere behind the clouds, but by the time we go to bed (or, rather, sleeping bag) it starts to rise again, almost making us believe that, as we don't want it to end, this is a day that won't.


midnight sky

day 11 photos