Steindalsbreen Glacier

Today’s glacier walk surpassed my expectations. The walk was beautiful, through varied scenery and the glacier was probably the best we’ve seen! It wasn’t a difficult walk… About 7 kilometres each way and just over 500 metres of steady ascent. We left Molly Moho and set off up the valley, following a pretty path beside the rushing river.

All of a sudden, John shouted ‘Urrgh… stop… there are 3 worms on your leg!’ Of course, that freaked me out. I’d noticed silky threads hanging down, but thought they were cobwebs, and it turned out they had caterpillars dangling on the end. Going first, I’d obviously walked through them and they’d attached themselves to me. Creepy! Despite my panic, they’re not harmful, although research showed they were Winter Moth caterpillars that feed on the leaves of the birch trees which can destroy them. Nevertheless, I spent the next couple of kilometres trying to spot and avoid them. Thankfully, they disappeared as we got higher up the trail.

We got to the Steindalshytta about a third of the way up to the glacier. The huts are in a lovely glade surrounded by the trees and small streams, with the sound of a waterfall thundering down cliffs in the distance.

We now followed the turquoise river, climbing over rocks in places, until we left the forest. The valley changed from a V-shaped river valley to a wide U-shaped glacial valley, and the views were fantastic. We even had our first glimpse of the glacier.

Having crossed meadows with sheep grazing… including many who refused to move from the path… we reached the glacial moraines. The path became steeper as we negotiated the rocks and scree. From the top, we could see the glacier. It looked like an icy waterfall plunging into a milky turquoise blue lake. As if that wasn’t amazing enough, there were icebergs in the lake. I hadn’t expected them! Wonderful!

We walked along the top of the moraine and John signed the visitors’ logbook, while I walked down to the shore of the lake over black silty sand and through rocks. There was nobody else around and it was lovely to have the place to ourselves.

We spent a while admiring the view, and in awe of the magnificent glacier in front of us. The contrast between the black mountains and shore and the turquoise lake and icebergs was breathtaking. As was the vastness of the scene before us. Now and again we heard a crash… presumably rocks falling as ice melted.

The air from the glacier was cold so we pulled extra layers on while I took photos with my camera. I forgot my gloves though so, once my hands were frozen, we decided to head back. If it wasn’t for that, I would happily have stayed longer.

On the way back, there were even more sheep sitting on the path. Several times, we had to detour round them! It started to rain so, once we got back to the huts, we sheltered in one to eat our sandwiches. I also took advantage of the dry toilet in a cute little hut with a heart on the door.

Thankfully, there weren’t as many caterpillars dangling from the trees on the way back. Although we’d got to the glacier and halfway back before meeting anyone, occasionally people now appeared, coming towards us. Presumably, they’d mopped up any remaining caterpillars!

Back at Molly, we tidied up and set off to Tromsø, where we’re staying for a couple of nights. We had to retrace our drive along the dodgy road that’s being renovated but after that, the journey was straightforward. Sadly, it’s chucking it down with rain again. I hope it stops by tomorrow, so we can see the city at its best.