Deeper into the Arctic

First thing, breakfast and then a late morning Uber back to the bus station ready for six more hours along the winding road that takes us deeper into the Arctic Circle and Tromsø. It's beautiful. The bus starts and stops us through towns with names like Buktamöen, Krakseng, Andslimoen, Bardufoss, Krakseng, Andslimoen, Bardufoss. Once out of the city, all we see are immense snow-covered mountains, broad valleys, and high mountain lakes. The azure sky is almost painfully clear, not a cloud to be found, except an occasional wisp clinging to the peaks that sometimes rise immediately above us. One, especially sharp and crooked, reminds me of Mt. Crumpet in the Dr. Seuss book, The Grinch Who Stole Christmas. It seems to beckon, ready for trouble.

Buses sometimes have their advantages, and the one we were riding right now had to provide one of the most stunning views in the world. No jet could ever deliver spectacles like the ones Cyn and I were taking in. Even after Patagonia, Peru, the Rocky Mountains, Alps and Pyrenees, I had never seen mountain landscapes as majestic as these. There was something about the steepness and expansiveness of them against the still beauty of the fjords that made them unique.

These mountains are the vertical variety, impossible to climb, and there is no evidence anyone here has tried. No trailhead or hotels or villages for tourists. Just wildness, forbidding and unforgiving. All I could do was blink in awe. I felt like a little boy stunned by the sudden appearance of Santa Claus.

Like the day before, the bus is busy with students, a few fit but elderly travelers, the occasional worker; maybe one or two tourists, not counting us. I can't do much more than gaze at the vistas, and that was fine. In time the sun rode low on the Arctic horizon and we rolled towards Tromsø. At twilight we arrived, and as we debarked and began towing our bags to our hotel, it began to snow. Perfect.

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