Tysfjord, Norway
In the early morning we entered Tysfjord, a deep fjord system in northwest Norway. It is deep both in water depth “below the keel”—over 400 meters in places—and in distance from the outer coast, since it almost reaches Sweden, and divides Norway into two. It was a graphic lesson in glacial geomorphology, or it was a very scenic ride… you could have it either way. Here the glaciers of the Ice Ages carved through hard granite, leaving behind their characteristic signature: deep U-shaped valleys with steep sides scoured and polished by the ice, rounded domes, sharp ridges and horns, bowl-shaped cirques where glaciers were born, and hanging valleys that are now the source of waterfalls and cascades descending from the ice sheets above us. Along the way colorful Norwegian farms could be seen along the coast of the fjord, with fields carved out of the pine and birch forest. We reached the head of the fjord at Hellemobotn and went ashore for walks—the leg-stretching, breath-stealing, energy-sapping long hike to a ridge far above the fjord; the medium walk to a cascade over smooth granite into the stream below; and the leisurely stroll around the meadow. Hikers stopped to take advantage of Norwegian raspberries and blueberries just reaching the peak of ripeness.
Our afternoon stop was a surprise even to the tour organizers: a visit to the Saami Cultural Center (we just learned of its existence) at the village of Drag. The Saami are the people once called Laplanders (they much prefer the name in their own language). Saamiland, the land occupied by the Saami, takes in parts of Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Russia. A delightful young Saami woman, obviously very proud of her culture, showed us through their small museum and told us something of Saami life in earlier days and in the modern world. We capped our visit with waffles and cloudberries, and coffee served with dried reindeer meat (soaking in the coffee—surprisingly good!)
Over dinner and into the evening we continued our exploration of the Tysfjord system with a visit to Stetind, rising 1396 meters (4,580 feet) straight up from the fjord. It was voted Norway’s most beautiful mountain, although most would find it hard to choose among the many peaks that surround us.
