And so, our week in Helsinki came to an end and we packed up again and pedaled the 15 or so km out to the airport for our flight to Trømsø. The airport was chaotic and there was some fuss about our lightweight bike packaging but they took them anyway (I guess we can blame them for the broken spoke we discovered a week later).

We slept soundly and awoke over mountains and water as the plane made a low banking turn down the fjord to land. While reassembling the bikes we discovered that one of our bags, containing one of our tents amongst other things was missing. And so the replanning begins…

Trømsø itself, touted in some pamphlet I read somewhere as the Paris of the North, is pretty enough, has good shops and facilities, a decent coffee but sparse in attractions and they had dug up the main street and pavements to install underfloor heating. Those wacky northerners!

Without tent there can be no camping and so while waiting for the luggage to arrive we scored a last minute Airbnb apartment for two days (grand lux), climbed the 1206 Sherpa Steps to the local viewpoint (good view but actually very cold), bought 3 backpacks via the local second hand website, signed up as DNT members, got a key, and booked a stay in one of the DNT huts in the mountains above Trømsø.

The next day, we cycled across the bridge and a few km into Tromsdalen valley, locked our bikes and baggage to a tree and began climbing, destination Skarvassbu hut via the alternative route (8km, 585m). The route, unmarked, climbed steep through the trees until opening up onto gentler peatland which transformed gradually into open boulder fields with much rock hopping for several km, losing and refinding the path with some deviations. Finally we ascended to a ridge and descended into sight of Skarvassbu, a trio of tiny huts perched on the valley rocks, some last hold out snow patches around it and a long lake before it. The land features here are scale invariant, making it difficult to judge distances and it still took a long time to get to the hut.

From Skarvassbu, we had intended to continue a further 6km to Blåkolkoia hut but in the end we just stopped here as we had underestimated the effort to walk in this terrain and we had started quite late as well. In the land of the midnight sun, there is always light to keep walking but it does get cold and stomachs need filling and this just was so beautifully positioned that it would be foolish to leave it. We bagged some bunks, lit the fire, bathed in the ice pools, and made ourselves at home. So cosy.

The huts are very well equipped which means we could travel very light. But we didn’t know that yet so we had still brought for example sleeping bags when we only really needed a sheet/liner bag. We had brought food for just one night but loving the experience, and knowing that we usually have too much food and moreover that some kind soul had left a few handfuls of oats in the cupboard, we decided to extend our stay for another day. We walked around the lake and found a fishing rod with no tackle. Souvenired it for future expeditions.

Finally, after the two nights and out of food, we turned back towards Trømsø, taking the primary route which was much more straightforward, passing in front of Tromsdalstinden (1238m), a temptingly very steep side journey that we unfortunately did not have the time nor legs to take in.

We recovered our bikes and baggage and pedaled down to Trømsø Camping, a disappointingly sad and overcrowded RV park, much in contrast to the airy huts on high. The good news that our missing bag with tent had been delivered and at least we got our laundry done, by hand though as the machines were oversubscribed. Like the showers. And toilets.

Finally, we were ready to exit Trømsø on our bikes. The hut detour had given us a taste for walking in this country and we definitely wanted to include more in our itinerary…