A Hike in Alta
Today we arrived in Alta, a little bit further North than we we were yesterday. Better still; the skies were clear and the sun shone on the surrounding snow-capped hills. Even better-er… we were not on tour escort duty, so with a late-night departure time, we had the whole day to ourselves.
We decided we would go for a walk – a ‘proper’ hike if you will.
I may have mentioned this before, probably several times, but if I have, then it’s worth repeating several times more… We use a mobile phone app called Maps.Me, which is a free navigation tool that provides maps for every known corner of the world. Not only that; as well as roads, it also shows footpaths, and has route-making and route-following capabilities. Before leaving home, Tracey downloaded the maps for Norway, so it can be used offline, only requiring Position information to be able to tell us where we are and where we need to go. I’ll say it again… the app is FREE, and has been invaluable on our travels (in other words; highly recommended!).
So, after a hearty breakfast, and a final check that we had on all the appropriate layers of clothing to prevent us from freezing to death; Maps.Me in hand… we headed outside…
Tracey had identified a modest peak that looked like it was within walking distance. One of the main considerations of any such walk in this area at this time of year is that it starts to get dark between 2 and 3 o’clock, and we didn’t want to get caught up an unfamililar hill in deepest darkest Norway.
Our route took us out of the port area and up a nearby tree-covered slope to a ridgeline, where we could see a mast and the back side of a ski slope. As we approached the bottom of the slope, we stopped to speak to a local man who was busy chopping logs with a hatchet. We simply wanted to confirm that there was indeed a path up the hill as we suspected. He was a very pleasant chap, who seemed somewhat concerned for our welfare, warning us that the hill would be dangerously slippy, and that the woods at the top may prove to be confusing to us. We assured him that we were hardened walkers, and thanked him for his advice. Before we left, he showed us his wood stash, which would hopefully see him through the winter, and he explained that he had some coal, which was an old order, since it was no longer an acceptable form of energy in Norway, but which would be a useful backup should the chopped wood run out.
About three years ago, we climbed Catbells in the Lake District, which is a relatively small fell, but which proved difficult in winter conditions because of packed ice making the ground extremely slippy. Sometime after that, we bought some Micro Spikes, which we have never actually used… until now. At the foot of the steep slope, we took out our virgin spikes and attached them to our boots… and started climbing. I have to say that they performed brilliantly. Not only did they prevent me from slipping over, but they gave me the confidence to walk with more fluidity… I felt like I could walk up the side of a building in them… like Spiderman!
When we reached the ridge, we headed off to the left, following a visible footpath through the trees. The snow on the ground was lovely to see, and the views across the bay, and back towards the Magellan, were quite stunning.
At the end of the ridge, the trees thinned out and we were treated to yet another clutch of expansive views. Using Maps.Me for navigation, we descended to a road bridge, crossed it and found our way through a residential district to the foot of another hill… our chosen peak.
As we climbed through the woodland, following a footpath marked by regularly-spaced blue marks on trees and the occasional footpath sign, the light was already starting to fade. By the time we reached the summit, the sun had already dipped below the horizon, so with no time to waste, we signed the visitors book (stored in a metal box attached to the summit notice) and took our photographs of the views; more hills in two directions, the bay in another (with the Magellan’s twin funnel just peeping over the line of the ridge we’d traversed), and the town of Alta, with its distinctive ‘Northern Lights Cathedral’ tower prominently visible even from this distance.
Using a combination of our wonderful app and the blue markers, we wound our way slowly back down the hill, to the road that would eventually lead us straight back to the ship; a round trip of roughly 7 miles.
We’d missed lunch, of course, but made up for it by topping up on sandwiches at ‘Afternoon Tea’.
The probability of seeing the Northern Lights at Alta had been high right from the very start of the trip. We are well into the Arctic Circle at this point, and the lights should have been at their peak between 7pm and midnight. Unfortunately, those beautiful clear skies that had made our hike so enjoyable had been replaced by heavy cloud cover by early evening. Ever optimistic, people hung around all evening, drinking tea and coffee in the bistro, and periodically braving the cold biting wind of the top deck in hopes of seeing a glimpse of the Aurora, all to no avail. I feel sorry for those folks who paid £100-plus (per person) for a three hour excursion to a location guaranteed to increase the probability of the lights… sadly, they didn’t see them either.
