Today we sailed up another of Norway’s spectacular fjords, Tysfjorden. We anchored at the end of the fjord and made a landing along the river which flows from the mountains on the Swedish-Norwegian border and which creates several very large waterfalls before ending in the fjord. On the beach at the end of the fjord is a Saami summer hunting and fishing camp. The site is called Hellemoboten which probably refers to the meadow near the water of the fjord. Only a few of the residents were on the site, as it is early in the year, but those who were there were working on bringing the several buildings into shape for the summer. We had some very friendly interactions with these Saami, one of whom was born there when the site was occupied year round.
Hellemoboten offers opportunities for a variety of hikes and walks. This is the narrowest part of Norway and it is possible to walk to Sweden from here, but we did not quite have the six hours needed for that walk. We also had opportunities for kayaking in the calm waters of the fjord and for Zodiac cruises. We were charmed to see a young white-tailed sea eagle soaring over the fjord as well as several shore birds and a pair of Eurasian teals. We could also see the effects on the gneissic rocks of the fjord’s walls of the relaxation of the pressure produced by the several kilometers of ice which would have covered the area 18,000 years ago. This much ice pushes against the walls of the fjord and compresses the rocks, but when the pressure is released the rocks relax and fracture in concentric thin layers, a process called exfoliation. Many excellent examples were visible as we cruised along.
In the afternoon we called at another site named Leiknes where we were able to visit some very old petroglyphs, drawn by the ancestors of the Saami perhaps 9,000 years ago. They depict mostly animals and may have had some use in hunting ceremonies. After leaving Leiknes we sailed on to Tromsø.
