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Published: June 29th 2017
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Geo: 78.21, 15.61
It could be the best hike I have ever done. For its location, its difficulty, the variety of terrain, the views, the quality guide and group, or the fun of walking on a glacier. For poor Natalie it almost didn't happen. She woke this morning feeling particularly sickly. At breakfast before our pickup time of 9am, she was contemplating cancelling. By the days end, we would both be delighted she decided to go ahead with our hiking adventure.
It started from our guesthouse, heading further up the hill into the mountains and wilderness, over a glacier towards a summit known as the trolls peak. Our group included eight others including our guide, Steffan from the Canary Islands. Two girls our age from China, one living in Norway with her husband. Two elderly Norwegian ladies in their 70s and 80s and another couple our age, Nathalie from Holland and Gwen from France.
The first challenge was crossing a river. No bridge or way around. Jump, and use old planks from the ruined mines as bridges. Once across, we began our long gradual ascent over grass, fields, stone, ice, mud, snow, dust and soil. Our guide carried a rifle, to ward off unexpected
attack from wildlife. The weather was ideal, cool and overcast. Nat and I were certainly grateful for bringing our hiking boots. After a time, our climb brought us alongside the large dead glacier. Dead, in that it is melting and no longer moving. Rather than normal snow, the glacier is condensed ice, harder and slippery. To cross safely, we attached spikes to our boots to give us extra traction.
The crossing was easy enough the icy crunching and crackling beneath our feet. Safely across, the summit appeared just a stones throw away. If we thought the hard part was over, we were wrong. The first half of the final climb was covered in deep snow. The last climb to the summit was soil and black stone, at a good 50 to 60 degree angle. Finally, we hauled ourselves to the summit. Here stood a book, in a sealed book, awaiting signed entry of all those to reach this spot. My name is the 300th entry. From the summit there were spectacular panoramic views of the wilderness of Svalbard and glacier below. Longyearbyen could be seen in the distance. At the top we enjoyed lunch, chocolate, hot drinks and sandwiches before winds,
mist and light rain set in.
The walk down was easier, but not a breeze, the steep snow incline being the most difficult to negotiate. Many, including the guide ended up on their backside and Natalie was no exception. It wasn't long before we were back over the glacier, down the mountainside, over the river and back to our guesthouse. Overall, the trek took a good 7 to 8 hours.
We decided to go out for dinner tonight, at a local restaurant. As expected, the food was expensive but somewhat justified by the very high quality. Kingklip fish for Nat and steak for me with scalloped potatoes. In bed by 11ish, for tomorrows grand expedition to Pyramidden.
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Tot: 0.106s; Tpl: 0.037s; cc: 6; qc: 24; dbt: 0.0578s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
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Looks fantastic! Make sure you get some medicine for Nat and look after her!