2023-34: Tromsø, Norway (Part 4)

This travel update is part four of our two-week stay in Tromsø, Norway. It covers August 6. “Any text in quotes and Italics has been copied and pasted from some informational website like Wikipedia.”

August 6, 2023 – Sunday: A Hike in the Hills

We read that there is a popular family-style hike here, called Sherpa Steps (Sherpatrappa in Norwegian).

”Sherpatrappa is a stone staircase in Tromsdalen . The stairs are located in one of Tromsø’s most popular hiking areas and lead from a path 0.7 km southeast of the Arctic Cathedral that leads up to Fjellheisen (420 m). Sherpatrappa in Tromsø follows the route to Akslastien, which runs in a zigzag up the corner of the mountain where Tromsdalen meets Tromsøysundet . The trail starts in Fløyvegen (85 m) and ends on the plateau below Fjellheisen. The stairs themselves start on the Lilleaksla hill and end in the steep slope by a radio mast on the mountain plateau at Fjellheisen.

The stairs were built by the Nepalese mountain road workers from Khunde Village 3840m in Nepal, a remote area near Mount Everest. In 2016, 315 steps were built and in 2017, 607 steps. In 2018, the staircase had a total of 922 steps, upon completion in 2019 there were 1,203 steps.

The stone is brought from Skibotn and flown up by helicopter, but local limestone is also used. The aim of building Sherpatrappa was to reduce erosion and wear on the path and to take better care of nature and vegetation. The construction was financed by the municipality (NOK 4 million) and gaming funds via the county council (NOK 1.4 million).”

It sounded like a good hiking adventure to us, so that was our plan for the day. On the way, we walked along the wharf by the marinas and piers. I like looking into the water to see what types of fish and other sea creatures might be swimming around. Today, I saw several of these sea stars sitting on the bottom.

We decided to go to the “Full Steam” restaurant for lunch. Patti read about in the Lonely Planet Travel book. Reindeer Stew is on the menu. However, upon arrival, they informed us that it’s only available on the dinner menu. Regardless, we had a nice lunch. I ordered vegetarian stew and Patti ordered a hamburger.

The flavor of my stew was excellent, it had whole peppercorns in it and other stuff I couldn’t identify but which tasted good. Patti liked her burger too.

This map that Google Timeline made shows our path for the day and it’s quite accurate except that it shows us eating at a different restaurant. The loop at the lower right is the actual hike.

After lunch we walked east over the big bridge to the mainland. There were pedestrian walkways on both sides.

We went by the Arctic Cathedral.

We went inside the lobby to see about going in to see the interior, but the price was 70 NOK ($7 USD). Patti refuses to “pay to pray” so we decided not to go inside. Later, we looked at pictures of the interior online. Here’s a picture off the internet.

It looks like it’s fairly plain inside except for the stained-glass altar.

The Sherpatrappa hiking path was close to the cathedral and we found this sign which helped us on our way.

The first part of the of the climb was dirt.

From the first viewpoint we had a nice view of the fjord and bridge that we’d just crossed. And you can see the Arctic Cathedral at the right.

Soon we got to the Sherpa Steps, there are 1,203 of them in all. Many of the steps were higher than a typical step, making the climb up that much more grueling.

It took us about 45 minutes to reach the summit. I must admit, it was a challenging climb up these steps. We stopped a few times for short breaks and to take in the views. Most of the locals passed us by, steadily climbing as if it was easy. And of course, the younger children were running and jumping from step to step, having a grand old time. At the top of the ridge there were very nice views of the area. Here’s our hilltop selfie.

The view below is looking north up the fjord. You can see the cable car upper terminus at the far right. The cable car goes from the bottom of the mountain to the top of the mountain — an alternative to climbing up the Sherpa Steps.

Here’s a view to the south.

The path along the top of the ridge was easy and relatively flat.

At the southern end of the loop trail we began to descend, below are some photos with the fjord behind me.

The return path took us north and was at a lower elevation where there were lovely woods of birch and evergreen.

We finished the hike at the lower terminus of the cable car then walked back across the bridge to Tromsø. At the approach to the bridge, we found a statue of Fridtjof Nansen, another arctic explorer.

“Fridtjof Wedel-Jarlsberg Nansen (10 October 1861 – 13 May 1930) was a Norwegian polymath and Nobel Peace Prize laureate. He gained prominence at various points in his life as an explorer, scientist, diplomat and humanitarian. He led the team that made the first crossing of the Greenland interior in 1888, traversing the island on cross-country skis. He won international fame after reaching a record northern latitude of 86°14′ during his Fram expedition of 1893–1896. Although he retired from exploration after his return to Norway, his techniques of polar travel and his innovations in equipment and clothing influenced a generation of subsequent Arctic and Antarctic expeditions.”

Here’s a picture of him from Wikipedia. He looks like a scary Viking to me.