Svalbard, 31 May to 3 June

Our journey began in the city of Longyearbyen on the island of Spitsbergen in the Svalbard archipelago. Svalbard is situated in the Artic Ocean about midway between the North Pole and mainland Norway. The flight from Oslo to Longyearbyen lasted about 4 hours and brought us 1,266 miles north to 78 degrees latitude. We began our journey from the top.

Some nice aerial shots of the Svalbard terrain from the plane

Still plenty of snow and ice flows, even in June!

No economy lodging was available in this small town of 2,000 people, so we decided to utilize the nice summer tent we brought with us. The summer tent's well ventilated design allowed for plenty of the crisp artic air to keep us cool around the clock. Average evening temperatures at this time: 30-34 degrees F.

Found some whale bones lying around

We called our tent the 'Base Camp'

The town of Longyearbyen below. The industrial looking complex is part of the coal mining operations that have been a vital element of the local economy since the beginning of the 20th Century.

They have 'isbjørner'--polar bears that is--but sadly/luckily (?) we didn't bump into any during our stay.

We took a number of hikes around the area surrounding the town.

The town as seen from our tent.

Stopping by the local Rotary Club meeting place

Snowmobiles were the choice mode of transportation on this island.

It may be difficult to see with this photo, but most snowmobiles have a gun case attached. The polar bears mentioned earlier can literally be found all over the island, so protection is needed when travelling outside of the town.

Lucas and I along one of our hikes.

We hiked up this one behind me in the photo. This mount is known as 'sukkertoppen' or 'the sugar top'

On our way back down into town following the nicely carved path of a riverbed through the snow and ice.