Lyngen Alps

25 September 2026 – 4 October 2026

Autumn is always a good window to get out in Northern Scandinavia. If done via AirBnB, it is also an excellent opportunity to meet up with my mum somewhere interesting. Lyngen has long held significant appeal due to its distinct alpine character, with peaks sharper and higher than anything else in the region. William Slingsby, the ‘father of Norwegian mountaineering’ (from Yorkshire…), went so far as to refer to the peninsula as ‘Scandinavia’s answer to Mont Blanc’.

The peaks have dominated the skyline on many a drive back into Tromsø and I visited briefly in 2018 on the way to Swedish Lapland. I have wanted to return ever since. Having found a seemingly perfect AirBnB in Lyngseidet, this autumnal window seemed the perfect opportunity.

I ended up not taking annual leave for this trip. Whether that would be a mistake or not, would need to be seen.

I was particularly apathetic and frequently quite zombie-like in the days immediately preceding the trip. I was unsure of the source, but hoped a change of scenery would help.

Saturday, 26 September

The first full day was forecasted to be quite wet so I never had any expectations for the day. What I was not expecting was to need to wait for Avinor to deliver my luggage. It was ‘lost’ when Avinor decided that luggage must be collected and re-checked when transferring in Bergen (Schengen arrival).

Ultimately, there was no real damage done and the problem was rectified as painlessly as possible. Though let’s also not be too generous with our praise. The reason my bag was left behind was entirely the fault of Avinor and the Norwegian State. The entire situation was particularly frustrating because I had checked baggage for the ‘convenience’ rather than out of necessity.

Lyngseidet from the bottom of the Sherpa Stairs

Reunited with my things by midafternoon, and with the weather being moody, but mostly dry, I headed out for an aimless walk. The ‘Sherpa Steps’ (1200 steps built as part of Norway’s ongoing Sherpa Employment Plan) made for a good starting point. The stairs began about 500m from the AirBnB and would take me to a large plateau above town. With rain continually seemingly imminent, I did not expect to make it any further than the top of the steps, but substantial rain just continued to never quite materialise.

Rottenvikvatnet and Kjosen Fjord

After aimlessly wandering north for a period, I decided I should push toward Rundtinden just before heavy low cloud rolled in. it began to clear as I reached a classic Lyngen view overlooking Kjosen Fjord. I had heavy cloud inversion, with strong winds forcing cloud to rapidly upward as it smashed into the mountain in front of me. A dramatic effect, but very cold on the hands.

From here, Rundtinden appeared a non-trivial scramble but was actually quite a straightforward route. Things got more interesting on the final 400m to Lille Kjostinden.

Back at the top of the Sherpa Stairs

Particularly on the scramble, I was feeling a little sluggish. Nothing to be too alarmed about, but definitely enough to note. I wrote it off to the previous day of stressful travel coupled with being my first day of hiking and hoped that it would not repeat.

Overall, a far better day than I expected. Even before my luggage went missing. But I would hope for better moving forward in the trip – I do expect a bit more out of my hiking days.

Sunday, 27 September

The initial idea was to complete a horseshoe ridge above town, from Rørnestinden to Golsavarre. This was always an ambitious dayplan. Not only would the route involve potentially quite intensive scrambles on the middle tops, it would also just be a pretty substantial undertaking at 20km and 2000m vertical.

Unfortunately, I felt horrendous.

Initially, I followed a proper path along the waterworks (Lyngseidet’s drinkwater source), up to the skihut where the path disappeared into a gentle grassy bowl. For the main push to the top there aren’t really markings, but the route is self-explanatory – just keep going up. Terrain was the loose rock of moderate size that is pervasive on Lyngen’s tops. Not the most fun to hike, but at least it wasn’t the rotten scree I have experienced elsewhere.

With alarmingly low energy levels and a bitterly cold wind on Rørnestinden, I was not optimistic about my chances of completing my plan. At the base of the saddle between Rørnestinden and Rørnesfjellet, I decided to descend rather than continue the horseshoe.

Caption

A frustrating day. Being a Sunday, I was completely free of work obligations or even guilt; the weather was moody, but very respectable for late-autumn; but I just felt absolutely horrendous.

Monday, 28 September

By the time I was able to get out, it was mid-afternoon and my options were limited.

I headed back up the Sherpa Steps before heading north along the plateau toward Rottenvikvatnet. I didn’t really have an objective, but the optimal outcome would be to reach Fastdalshytta where I would get a nice view looking up two valleys. At about 20km round trip, this was always going to be a massive reach though given the very late start. Ultimately, I made it about 1km short before my hard turnaround time. Returning in the dark wouldn’t have been the end of the world, but given that there was no real objective to the afternoon, there also wasn’t all that much to be gained by continuing on.

I returned via the waterworks and Rottenvik.

Rottenvikvatnet

Rottenvik

Wednesday, 30 September

With a positive afternoon forecast, I was keen to get out for Lyngen’s most iconic hike: Blåisvatnet. There was only one bus that would get me there, but fortunately it aligned both with my work scheduling and the best weather.

Amusingly, this is one of the very few hikes were the best views are the ones closest to the car park. I began with exceptional views of North Lyngen’s highest peaks, with a light dusting of snow, contrasting with low-lying arctic forest and glacial streams in the foreground. But after just a few minutes I had cleared the forest and was slogging my way up a featureless glacial floodplain.

An icky layer of high cloud that had plagued the early-afternoon cleared by the time I reached the lake, but I was missing the full electric blue seen in so many photos of the lake. I suspect this was due to the perpetual low angle of the autumnal arctic sun.

There were options for potential extension on either side of the lake: a 1000m scree-covered hill to the south, and a narrow scree-filled alpine valley to the east. The hill involved crossing the glacial stream, but more importantly, there was no way I was going to grind out 1000m (particularly on that loose terrain) before my hard turnaround. I headed up the valley hoping for some impressive views – sadly I was to be disappointed.

Blåisvatnet

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The early evening sun was hitting just right as I returned to the carpark. About ten days earlier and likely would have been spectacular. Sadly, all the autumn colour had already gone.

Thursday, 1 October

I had considered taking another crack at the full horseshoe I failed to complete on Sunday. Once again, I was tied up until mid-afternoon and therefore got a much later start than I might have hoped.

There are multiple starting points and I opted to start from the plastic factory due to proximity to the shops. This routing would be completely separate from the one I took on Sunday. I must say that it was unsettling how the path hugged extremely closely the line of fire at the shooting range. Fortunately no one was about.

Unsurprisingly, the ascent was a similar to Rørnestinden but with an extra 200 vertical meters. Golsavarre top is located about a third of the way down an easy ridge comprising the eastern arm of the horseshoe. I continued along the ridge the unnamed top at 1235m. From here, I should have had exceptional views down Rypdalen and Bredalen. The intense, low-angle, autumnal arctic sun had other ideas though.

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With the short days having caught up with me, I turned and descended via a more pleasant route. The road back through town actually offered one of the best views of town, with Kåfjord Alps lit up in the background.

Central Lyngseidet

Saturday, 3 October

The final day offered the best weather forecast. Fastdalstinden, a popular skipeak, may look quite unremarkable, but it could be reached on foot from the AirBnB and had the potential for excellent views.

I began by returning to Rottenvik and heading back up the waterworks to Rottenvikvatnet. The ascent proper begins at the northwestern corner of the reservoir and zig-zags its way up. As with all Lyngen hills, there are no cairns to mark the way. My map did have a generalised skiMo track outlined to fall back on but some basic eyeballing of route options is really all that is required.

Views of the eastern faces of Lyngen’s tallest peaks as well as two other massifs separated by deep valleys made for exactly the kind of alpine views I was expecting from Lyngen.

Views from the summit ridge

This was definitely the highlight of the trip. I would have expected more days of this calibre from a trip to Lyngen, but at least I got one.

Sunday, 4 October

A potentially very nervy return journey ended up going smoothly. But taking the jetway-replacement-bus service at Schiphol, I noticed employees had added what can only be described as a xenophobic propaganda poster in a very prominent location. Not a good look, but very on-brand for Europe in 2026.

It definitely wasn’t a perfect trip. A combination of life-fatigue, not taking annual leave, and being too far off the autumnal peak all took their toll. But it did provide a needed reset in a pleasant location, and sometimes that it all that is required for a trip.

Not sure what I was thinking going with the September-October transition week. Every year is a snowflake, but the third week of September is almost always a good bet. I think I was frustrated by last year’s trip to Lofoten, but that year had a summer that lingered far longer than is normal.

After the mass crowds of Svaneti, it was very nice to be back to appropriate crowding. I think I averaged seeing just two other people in the hills per outing, and they were almost always pursuing a different objective.

I need to get a handle on the fatigue/apathy that is becoming an increasing problem. Not sure what the source is, but it is causing problems.

There were a few missed opportunities, though I never realistically expected to complete everything:

• Steindalsbreen and Imagaisi
• Istind – Widely regarded as the finest view in Lyngen and an interesting ascent. Not far at all from Lyngseidet but not convenient and would have been a real push to fit with the awkward work scheduling.
• Kåfjord Alps
• Tigertinden – Not only is it exceptionally named, but it also has one of the best summit views in the region. Unfortunately, while the start is only 15km from Lyngseidet, it is actually faster to drive all the way from Tromsø.
• Store Jægervasstinden – The highest top in Lyngen and an excellent climb, but a dubious undertaking solo and unroped. At least outside the SkiMo season. With time and an excellent forecast, I may have given it a crack. But I never realistically had more of a plan than wishful thinking.

Lyngen is a bit of a challenging place to visit. Perpetual loose rocky terrain ensures that wildcamping options are quite limited, lengthy approaches on that same awkward terrain, public transit is extremely limited, and limited road options mean that reaching routes is difficult even by car. The true alpine character makes it a favourite of mine, but this trip did prove why it is so much more famous for skimo.