Post by tallgrass on Jun 21, 2016 19:23:32 GMT -8
So it's not really a hiking trip (but I did manage to pound out about 18 miles over the course of the week), but thought I'd share anyways. This spring I was fortunate enough to be selected to be placed on an all expense paid voyage aboard Linblad Expedition's ship National Geographic Explorer. I was on a leg of the journey where we circumnavigated the Svalbard archipelago.
This was a trip of firsts for me. First time to Europe. First time above the Arctic circle. First time sleeping on a ship in the open ocean (don't think my canoe counts). First whales I saw. The list goes on & on.
We embarked from Lonyearbyen (furthest north permanently inhabited town on Earth) and within an hour we spotted a blue whale who was feeding near the surface. We got within a few dozen yards of her. Just a magnificent creature, hard to fathom it's size. That was a pretty cool start. We proceeded to head down the the southwestern coast & around the southern tip of the archipelago. We then ran into various amounts of sea ice along the eastern side of the island of Edgeoya. It was this location where we started running into polar bears. Over three days we spotted 17 different bears, including several mothers with cubs. Along with the bears, we'd see random blood stains on ice as it flowed past. All of the bears appeared fat & healthy which is a good sign
We continued traveling north between the islands of Spitsbergen & Nordaustlandet. It was along the northern coast we were pushed above 80 degrees north. Which has no particular significance other than the psychological achievement of being that far north. Along the way each day we would head to shore to explore around. Always led by an armed guide. The geology of this place is spectacular. I don't think we ever saw the same bedrock twice. Each location is as different & unique as you can imagine.
This was a very different way for me to travel. I still can't get over the fact we were in one of the more remote locations on the globe and were being served 4-star meals with an impressive beer & wine selection. It is really an impressive operation, hats off to them. Not a way I would normally choose to travel, but I certainly see the appeal of it (if you can afford it). That and the never setting sun really messes with your head. Very easy to be out looking for wildlife only to realize it was 1am- and still bright! It was an amazing experience, one I doubt I'll ever repeat. Got a chance to take lots of photos and meet a lot of interesting people. Plus we saw narwhals!
Here a few selected pics from the week.
The blue whale we saw the first night
The textures of the ice, rocks, & sky just made for some terrific b&w opportunities.
The starkness of everywhere was quite the change from the green of home (not to mention the near freezing temps)
We were, um, fortunate enough, to find a partially decomposed polar bear carcass along the shore
Of course we saw polar bears
This was a trip of firsts for me. First time to Europe. First time above the Arctic circle. First time sleeping on a ship in the open ocean (don't think my canoe counts). First whales I saw. The list goes on & on.
We embarked from Lonyearbyen (furthest north permanently inhabited town on Earth) and within an hour we spotted a blue whale who was feeding near the surface. We got within a few dozen yards of her. Just a magnificent creature, hard to fathom it's size. That was a pretty cool start. We proceeded to head down the the southwestern coast & around the southern tip of the archipelago. We then ran into various amounts of sea ice along the eastern side of the island of Edgeoya. It was this location where we started running into polar bears. Over three days we spotted 17 different bears, including several mothers with cubs. Along with the bears, we'd see random blood stains on ice as it flowed past. All of the bears appeared fat & healthy which is a good sign
We continued traveling north between the islands of Spitsbergen & Nordaustlandet. It was along the northern coast we were pushed above 80 degrees north. Which has no particular significance other than the psychological achievement of being that far north. Along the way each day we would head to shore to explore around. Always led by an armed guide. The geology of this place is spectacular. I don't think we ever saw the same bedrock twice. Each location is as different & unique as you can imagine.
This was a very different way for me to travel. I still can't get over the fact we were in one of the more remote locations on the globe and were being served 4-star meals with an impressive beer & wine selection. It is really an impressive operation, hats off to them. Not a way I would normally choose to travel, but I certainly see the appeal of it (if you can afford it). That and the never setting sun really messes with your head. Very easy to be out looking for wildlife only to realize it was 1am- and still bright! It was an amazing experience, one I doubt I'll ever repeat. Got a chance to take lots of photos and meet a lot of interesting people. Plus we saw narwhals!
Here a few selected pics from the week.
The blue whale we saw the first night
The textures of the ice, rocks, & sky just made for some terrific b&w opportunities.
The starkness of everywhere was quite the change from the green of home (not to mention the near freezing temps)
We were, um, fortunate enough, to find a partially decomposed polar bear carcass along the shore
Of course we saw polar bears
