My First Hike

Another day, another reindeer. This picture was taken just as we were about to set off on a hike to the top of Sarkofagen Mountain.

First walking over the loose rocks that make up the tundra, and then over a series of small glacier streams. They were banked by more loose rocks, so it was very difficult to jump from one side to the other. 

                                     

The mountains here are sedimentary rocks, meaning they are entirely made up of variously sized gravel. They slip around when you try to climb up, making climbing it like climbing a mountain-sized sand dune (which it kind of is). It was quite a workout getting up. But the glacier got closer with each step. 

Even here there is green plant life, clinging to the side of a mountain.   

                                     

We made it to the tongue of the glacier and walked around on the ice. I realized very quickly why the saying "Cotton kills" developed in Arctic climates. After working up a sweat, my cotton shirt was soaked, and as soon as I stepped out onto the glacier, the temperature dropped. My shirt became very uncomfortable. But that didn't stop me from enjoying my first time on an Arctic glacier.

Thankfully the sun came up and warmed us a bit up. When we got to the top of Sarkofagen, we found a lot of moss, grass and flowers. The ground was spongey, and with the sun shining it was quite nice. 

Below us, the small town of Longyearbyen seemed even smaller.

On the other side of the fjord, there was another mountaintop, and on that mountain were strange white balls. Another mystery.

We walked to the knife-edge of the mountaintop and then finally turned around for a well-deserved dinner. In total, the hike was nearly four hours long, which was a lot for an impromptu hike.