Hiking with your dog - Tromsdalstinden

Me and Link in front of Tromsdalstinden (the mountain behind us, 1238 mamsl)

 This weekend Link and I went hiking. We went to a place called Tromsdalen (the actual valley, not the district), on the mainland across the bridge from Tromsø. We went into the valley as far as the trail go before heading up the mountain and then found ourselves a nice spot for the tent.

The view from the tent. The two places we stopped to take pictures while hiking to the top of Tromsdalstinden. (Mamsl = meters above mean sea level)

 When the tent was in place, there were still a few hours left of sunlight (the sun actually sets here now, but the sunset lasts for hours), so we went for a little hike up the mountains on side we were camping (the opposite side from Tromsdalstinden).

Link up on the mountain in the soft light of the sunset

 We walked for about 1 hour before stopping for dinner. The light and the view was fantastic!

The view from where we had dinner.

After the meal, there was of course also time for a selfie...

 On our way back to the tent we passed a waterfall disappearing into a cave. It was really beautiful, but Link was just happy to find snow...

  There were several spots where there were still snow and having watched Link I have hereby redefined the world "happiness". Happiness is now defined as the feeling Link experiences when playing on snow in the mountains.

The view across the valley was stunning as we headed back to the tent, and the whole experience just got even better when a couple of rough-legged buzzards took of from the mountain wall below us and started circling and made their alarm call when we got too close to their nest. I've never seen a bird from above when flying before, an experience I will remember for a long time. Unfortunately it was too dark to get any pictures of the birds, but I took a picture of the cliff they flew from.

The cliff where the buzzards had their nest and Tromsdalstinden in the background.

 When we got back to the tent again, it was midnight and it was really starting to get dark. I made myself a cup of tea on the Trangia stove before going to bed... or sleeping bag. Link fell asleep right away next to me, it was super cozy! It started raining a bit too, and there is nothing cozier than spooning with your dog in a tent, while listening to the rain.

Nighty night!

The next morning it had stopped raining, but it was a bit windy. I made breakfast (or rather heated the food I brought with me) and sat there thinking about whether or not to "try for the summit" of Tromsdalstinden. I called my boyfriend and asked him to check the weather forecast, I wouldn't want to be caught up on the mountain if the weather got worse. But the weather wasn't going to change, so I decided to go.

Nothing tastes as good as food when you're out in nature.

I was up on the top 5 years ago, on my birthday, and I haven't been up since, so I figured it was about time. Last time though I was aching in the legs for several days after and nearly tore a muscle on the way down, so I planned to let it take some more time this time. Also I had Link with me now and I didn't want him to get too warm or tired either, so we made quite a few stops to snack and just rest.

Snacks for me and snacks for Link.

 It's also important to make sure to get enough water, something that isn't very difficult on this mountain. There are small streams everywhere during the first 750 meters, and after that there are spots of snow, so making sure Link got enough water wasn't hard. I filled my bottle with water from the last stream we passed on the way up.

Link drinking from a small stream.

 These stops were perfect opportunities to take pictures, so here are some.

Picture from Salen (see second picture of the post). The tent is just a small dot now.

Link and I on Salen, with the view of the other side, Ramfjorden, behind us.

Link on Salen, with Tromsø in the background.

 As we got closer to the top, the weather got worse, it started raining and it got windier. So I didn't take any more pictures before we got to the top.

Me, Link and some random people, on the top of Tromsdalstinden, Tromsø in the background.

Link on the top of Tromsdalstinden, the mountains around Ramfjorden in the background.

The view from the top, Tromsø way down there.

 On the way down I was too tired (and too focused on not falling or getting pulled by Link) to take a lot of pictures. So it wasn't until I had packed down the tent and begun hiking back out of the valley that I started taking pictures again. My boyfriend walked to meet me and met me half way. It was really wonderful to get some help carrying my things back to the car after the long hike up the mountain!

My boyfriend took this picture of me and Link when we met.