Pasvik Nature Reserve - the end of the road

Headed for the "end of the road" - the Pasvik Nature Reserve that is adjacent to the waterway that connects several lakes, with the Russia-Norway border running down the middle of it.

There were lots of cabins and snowmobile tracks on the way there, then the first views of lakes and Russia appeared.  The lakes are used for hydro with the power shared between Norway and Russia.  At Skogfoss the power plant appears to straddle the border.

Further south there were less cabins, eventually the road was blocked by snow with a Norwegian police vehicle parked there.  I continued to the Nyrud Police Station and watch abundant bird species out on the water.  There were swans, ducks, geese and grey cranes. A border marker was visible on the other side.  The police returned from the border patrol mission on snowmobiles and were very friendly.

They said its a very remote police station and they check the border frequently.  They though the Russians on the other side looked a bit poor  and they had loud music playing at one a power station on the border "like North Korea".  Relations with the Russians are very good.  They meet weekly for chats and the locals have a special pass that allows them to cross the border freely.  There is a "Russian zone" that extends some distance for visits insider Norway.

The Russians don't like the reindeer migrating to there section of the park and eating the vegetation and they shoot (and eat) them.

Their border patrol duties are uneventful, I mentioned the controversy over Australian "Border Force" treatment of refugees, they knew about that.

They see lots of moose and even wolves here.

The Police told me about some moose and bear tracks on the road, I found them and was astounded to see bear tracks (large claws) following the moose and also wolf tracks.  I hope the moose are OK!

It was a long drive down and back but a superb trip.

Footnote: The Sami people used to inhabit this region and freely cross what is now the border.  There is no obvious presence of them now although they do have an agreement to cross borders (Finland, Russia, Norway) for their annual migration following reindeer.

Location

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Steinskardtinden ski tour with great snow and views - ski day 9 (Topptur)

There was some low cloud around Tromso so we decided to ski Keipen on Senya, about 2h 30 minutest drive.  However, on our way we saw skiers climbing Steinskardtinden, a "topptur ski peak" on Kvaløya, so we decided to ski it  A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.

The snow was nice and firm at the bottom, there had been a freeze.  Towards the top there was fresh snow, the best of our trip.  On the summit we chatted to Rudolf, a Swiss guide from Zermatt and his client, it was there first day on skis in Norway.

From the summit we could see down to Tromso and across to the summits of Skitntinden, Middagstinden and Storsteinnestindend.  We could also see down to Ersfjordbotn where we stayed in 2016.

The descent was great.  Soft snow and sweet turns.  Down lower the snow was heavy and funky.  We finished with a straight run back to the car park.

This was a great way to end our skiing this trip in Norway, we were lucky to score a brief weather window.

We then drove to Sommaroy Island which is a popular tourist destination in summer due to its white sandy beaches and good scenery.  The clouds dropped and then it started raining so we were very happy to score the ski summit.

Tomorrow Roger flies to Iceland (via Oslo) and I board the Hurtigruten (large coastal ferry) for Kirkenes. 

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Narvikfjellet skiing in low cloud - ski day 8

We had ordinary weather for our ski day in Narvik.  We set off to do the tour around to 
Tredjetoppen (1272m) but the snow was incredibly wet and deep, so we skinned up the piste in the ski resort towards Narvikfjellet.  The resort isn't running during the day at this time but it opens from 5pm to 9pm for locals to do some night skiing after work.

We spoke briefly to two locals who had just skied down - they said the visibility higher up was close to zero and had to navigate solely by GPS.

Roger and I skied up at a good pace on the firm snow.  After climbing fairly steeply there slope eases and we followed a pole line to the base of the top lift.  The visibility was poor so we skied down from there - a long fast run.

During the afternoon we drove the Swedish border close by and visited Riksgränsen, passing windmills in the snow along the way.  There is a ski resort there that is reputed to have Sweden's best skiing.  There was lots of accommodation, a busy supermarket, a campground and several snowmobiles about.  I said hello to a very woolly Kelpie out for a walk.

Our lodgings at the Breidablikk Guesthouse were excellent good value. The view across Narvik is great. 

And the seafood lunch (or early dinner) at Fiskehallen As is great too.  Its very popular with the locals.  I had cod tongue and artic char.  The tongue is unusual while the char is very tasty.

Artic Char (local to the region)

Cod tongue (Torsk tungen)

Drive to Riksgransen