yann in the arctic

Thursday, 12 February 2009

bjørndalen

For some reason, as biologists, we had three days off this week. I'm not complaining. And so a few of us decided to hike over/spend the night in the student cabin in Bjørndalen.

I went there in the summer, and it took me less than an hour by bike. This time round it took us 3 hours! I can't say that it was that bad, but we were hiking along a road which was a bit dull at times... and it got dark quite quickly. We took a few pulks (sledges) which made it a lot easier.

The cabin is quite charming, but not very well insulated and I did keep my down jacket on pretty much the whole time. Even though we didn't stay long, the views were spectacular. It's like a whole new Svalbard has been revealed since it has been in darkness for so long, and the snow has finally covered the mountains.