Svalbard Bound

Well, it's almost time to fly to Oslo. From there a short wait and then the flight to Longyearbyen. I'll arrive in the early hours but as the midnight sun is still shining the time of day is perhaps irrelevant. A couple of days in town to pick up my extra gear and then off, a slow meander around some of the huge glacial valleys before turning west to Barentsburg. A night in the Russian settlement there and then another couple of days back to Longyearbyen.

Nothing overly ambitious but I think just being out in Svalbard on my own is adventure enough. It looks hauntingly beautiful (see here), Chris of 'Ice Bear' advised me just to take my time, I can always come back. Good advice. I'm carrying extra kit, principally the Mauser Kas '98 and the 'fence'. That's another 6kg to my pack coupled with the flare gun.

I'm very excited but there's a lot to get to grips with. Setting camp is going to take some time in the evening due to the need to get the fence right around my tent. My living quarters will be outside of that zone, it being bear country I'll eat and store my food in the shelter of a flat tarp. A nice new one arrived the other day from the US, appropriately from 'Bearpawwd'.

Hopefully I'll have a memorable trip without too much excitement. I've got the notion of a route and I'm looking forward to visiting Russian Barentsburg ( it looks interesting as this film suggests). After that it's back down to Oslo and then a train to Jamtland. I am of course looking forward to returning to Norrland and a gentle hike with my wife and kids.

Happy Days!

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