Seeking the Midnight Sun

I've always wanted to visit Norway, firstly after seeing pictures of Lofoten and the amazing climbing, and latterly the thought of skiing above the fjords in winter.. but for that I definitely would need to improve my skiing to get the most from it!

The Tromso coast area

Probably at about 11pm!

Then some time back a chain of events led to me reading about a mountain bike race in Northern Norway. I procrastinating over the expense and idea of it all for a few months. Then after a few drams and with Abi away one dark winter night the credit card came out and I entered the race!

The midnight sun

Tromso coast walking

I know I could have gone to Norway without entering this race, but somehow it gave a fixed point and reason to go. The trip although not long in time, became a very exciting prospect. If honest the race was secondary and I really wanted to go to Northern Norway and be in the arctic circle and explore it a little.

Walk up the wee hill near Sommaroy

We flew into Tromso and almost immediately were blown away by the place. The views on stepping out of the airport of the sea/fjord and snow topped mountains were very compelling.

The bridge over to Sommeroy

Kayakers

As it was mid summer it doesn't get dark at the moment in N Norway and we quickly adjusted to this fact. You slot into a different schedule, we explored in the day maybe chilled out for a few hours around 7 - 9pm, and then you go out again, either walking on the beach, up a mountain, or whatever really. And clearly this is normal to the locals, who would be out jogging or cycling in the middle of the night.

The fishing folk at Hella

We also took a drive West from Troms and explored some islands towards Sommaroy. This place was very different again with white Caribbeanesque (I imagine) beaches. We climbed a small hill to admire the views before returning to the city.

Stopping at Hella on the way back was pretty special. Old wooden houses and buildings removed from Tromso during modernisation have been removed and put here to form a surreal empty village museum next to the fjord. Lots of locals come to this spot to fish from the rocks and it was fun to watch the fishing as the ships passed by.

Hella still..

One night we went up Fjellheisen hoping to see the midnight sun. At the top of the gondola (we walked up) you can go onwards and higher, so we hiked to the next top (the mountain continued beyond, but we stopped at this point) and although we didn't see the midnight sun the views of the city were great. I think we got back at 1am and it was still light obviously - very strange, and yet normal...

hold ups at the supermarket

The Tromso area certainly has a lot to see and do and I was glad that we had some time here before moving on..

hiking up Fjellheisen

hut part way up

Tromso at midnight (cloudy so no sun!)

The time is nigh!

I've lost count on how many times I've nearly gone to climb the Cioch Nose in Applecross, or maybe that's an exaggeration, but there have been a few over the last 2 years. So given a positive forecast we headed out West when Jack eventually turned up (he was 5 mins late).

the bealach

We stopped for a quick coffee and cake on the way through Loch Carron and I was immediately reminded of Martin Moran being in his home village. The last time I had bumped into him was at Moy last year I think and he was with Andy Nisbet. Now both sadly gone, what a loss.

now where are we

The weather did look fine until we got near the top of the Bealach na Ba. At the top it was completely claggy with 5-10m of visibility and then started to rain. We quickly got bored and went for some respite down to Applecross where typically the weather was fine.

oh there it is!

After more loafing around, seeing the weather was improving and trusting the forecast we headed back to the Bealach. By now it was clear but very cold with an icy wind!

the approach ledge

Wearing all layers we headed up the track to the aerial mast. Mistake number 1 - I hadn't felt the need for a map as the description all sounded very straight forward.. "walk 150m East from the mast, find a grassy gully to descend".. Well we didn't have a map or compass and quickly set off the wrong way as it looked more plausible.

show boating

We ended up round on Sgurr a' Chaorachain, but with a fine view of the Cioch Nose! We later realised why, because from the mast the route to/from the Cioch Nose is very unassuming, all you can see is a rocky plateau and nothing else indicating a promontory or ridge, which in fact it very much is. I guess that's because it has hundreds of Paps/lumps/ridge undulations (well 7 I think).

From our position we were able to roll and slip down another steep grassy slope into the valley and follow it along to the start of the climbing.

the top of the pitched climbing

It's a staggering place, so dramatic with so much rock! The weather was okay, probably no better than okay, but the rock was dry and the climbing brilliant. Such a classic route. The 6 pitches seemed to pass quite quickly but it's almost after this that the fun starts.

looking back at some of the Paps

Loz had warned me that the scrambling after this goes on a while and he wasn't kidding. We decided to solo it keeping a rope and gear handy in case but we never used it. Even doing it this way it seemed to go on forever with many down climbs then re-ascents between the Paps.

up/down

It felt very alpine and grand and I think I had kind of underestimated the day, or at least thought it would be physically easier than it was, but a great day out. It will be interesting to go back for some of the other routes at some point, and Jack was a good sport carrying out a stone for the patio on the last mile or so!

goodbye cioch nose