Hiking with Tromsbuss
During a recent stay at the physics department of the university of Tromsø, I did quite a lot hiking in the surroundings of Tromso. This is a collection of day- and weekend hikes, which all can be accessed by public transportation with Tromsbuss. Please visit their website for the correct schedules.
Day hikes
Kjolen
A nice hike to the round hill behind Kvaløysletta. Take Tromsbuss line 40 or 42 from the center (they run a few times each hour) or 42 from Stakkevollan. Get of just behind the Kvalsund-bridge at Kvaløysletta terminal. Walk to right (as seen from the bridge) until you reach a creek. Don't cross it, but walk as close to the creek as possible (well, the goes a bit to the left, so you'll have to get back to the right after that.) The road will bring you to a track that leads up to the water reservoirs, from where you can go further up towards the right. There you'll see a lake with a dam. Kjolen should now be visible towards the west, with a white radar-facility on top of it. As you walk up to Kjolen you'll see that this 'white thing' sits on top of a tower.
Next to the radar-buildings you'll find a post-box where you can leave
a not. From here you have a nice view towards Skullsfjord, and if you
walk a bit further you can enjoy a great view of the blåman and
the other mountains along the road from Ersfjordbotn to Grotfjord.
Store Blåmannen
Store Blåman is the very impressive peak near Ersfjordbotn. You can take Tromsbuss line 10 to Susannejord Snuplass (or the Ersfjordbotn, but then you'll have to walk a few more kilometers). Otherwise you can take line 3 (towards) Tromvik which can drop you of very close to the mountain, but that bus runs just twice a weekday or so. From Susannejord walk further along the road for about 20 minutes, untill you see the signs for the trail to Blåmannen (There is another trail about 1 km further on, and you might mix both up during your way down, like I did...
The trail is sometimes quite steep, and for the last part you'll have to use your hands and you definitely need decent boots. Sometimes you might lose the trail, but if you just walk the most obvious route you'll probably get back onto it.
The whole walk from Susannejord and back might take quite a few hours (I would say about 5 if you take it easy, maybe even more.) You might want to get early to the mountain to be sure to get the last bus. Or you can take a tent which you can put up somewhere along the river just before Blåmannen. Or you can carry it all the way up, but that probably isn't fun.
Tromsdaltinden, Fjellheis and others
There are several good walks close to the city. Examples are Krokdalen (line 20), Fjellheis and Tromsdaltinden (line 20 or 26). These are very well described in A Visitor's Guide to Day Hiking and Biking around Tromsų
Weekend Hikes
Simavik-Ringvasbua-Hessfjorden
This hike will take about to days. The first day will take you through
mountainous terrain while the second day will take you through some
marsh land, forest and along the shore of a large lake. There's
plenty drinking water along the track, and you have to cross rivers
quite a few times. You'll have to put your boots off for about 3 or 4
crossings.
From Tromsø take bus 5 or 6. If you've taken number 5, you can
get of at Simavik, the first village behind the Ringvassøya
tunnel. If you took line 6 (which runs more often) you have to get off
at the first stop behind the tunnel. Then you have to walk towards the
left (as seen from the tunnel) to Simavik. It's about 20 minutes
walking. In Simavik, follow the dirt road just across the
river. Before you reach the second lake with the dam, you have to
cross the river to get to the path. It's somewhere between the first
and the second lake, but it's hard to find. If you don't find it, go
to the right shore of the second lake. The path follows that
shore. The whole track is marked with red paint and cairns. Somewhere
halfway you'll find two mountain huts. About 20 minutes walking from
the huts you'll probably find a nice place to camp next to the
river. There are also a couple of small lakes next to the river.
The next day you can proceed down the mountains towards and along the
large Skogsfjordvatnet. When you finally reach the road, you can take
bus 7 (which doesn't run too often, but connects to bus 6 to
Tromsø. Or if you've got enough time left, you can walk along the
road (to the right) towards Hessfjorden. It will take some time, but
there isn't too much traffic, and it's quite nice.
Tønsvik-Oldersvik
This hike will take either a (very) long day, or you can start in the
afternoon, camp and continue in the morning. The hike starts with some
kind of forest and then continue through a river valley along the ridge
of Nonstinden to the bend in the road between Snarbyeidet and
Oldervik.
Take bus 11 to Tønsvik, and follow the dirt road next to the
quarry. There are lots of tracks going to huts, so you might take the
wrong track somewhere. But if you've finally found the right way (and
followed it for about 45 minutes),
you'll see that the trail goes up near a small house. From there on,
it's easy to follow the trail and you'll reach the end of the Forest
very soon. After quite some walking you'll get to a hut (Nonsbu) next
to the river, which you have to cross. You'll probably have to take your boots off to cross
it. The trail then follows the ridge of Nonstinden to the Trollvasbua
hut. There are lot's of reindeer along the trail.
Just before
Trollvasbua the soil gets very soggy and the trail is marked with
sticks. From Trollvassbua it's just a short (30-45 minutes) walk through a
forrest to the road. The nearest bus stop is to the right, about 10
minutes walking.
Note that most busses from Tromsø don't go all the way to and
from Oldervik, so you have to read the Tromsbuss timetable very carefully!
Vengsøya
Vengsøy is great for some mountain hiking, but it sometimes gets
pretty steep and rocky. So you better be careful.
Take tromsbuss line 4 from Tromsø,
and take the ferry from Belvika. Walk the main road (the only road?) to
the left for about 30 minutes, past some transmitter, until you get
to some kind of second village from where you can look towards
Grotfjorden on Kvaløya. Here you can go up onto the mountain (it
is steep!) Somewhere about halfway there is a flatter area with a
small stream. From there you can continue up to the ridge.
The way down on the other side is very steep, too, but it is
manageable. Once your at the lake on the other side, the worst part
starts. The way back to the ferry goes over some huge (HUGE) boulders
and takes quite a lot of time. At the end of the boulders, there is
some forest (and a stream) where you could camp if you want to take
the ferry the next morning.
Skullsjorden-Kvaløyvåg
Coming soon...