If felt like the trip was coming to an end. Our planned 12 hour night turned into a 14 hour night. It had drizzled all night, and the usual low hanging clouds greeted anyone who cared to glance out of the tent. Breakfast was slow. We wanted to climb to the top of the 1000m high mountain directly behind the camp for a wonderful 360 degree view over ice sheets, glaciers and fjords. We knew that the view at 1000m would be of damp, thick, white cloud.
We finally left and zig-zagged up an old mining path until, in no time, we hit the height of the clouds. Time for the photos. They would not get any better than this.
Petunia Bukt
The glacier opposite the campsite
The leftovers of the mining past
We skirted along the side of the mountain for a way trying to get different views of some kind, and ended up directly above the czech station. It was a fun scree slope dash down to the warmth of their hut. We invited them to our bonfire that evening: our last on Petunia Bukt.
The bonfire gave us a task: something to prepare for. We spent the evening sawing logs that had been washed up from Siberia, and preparing the bonfire. It got colder and colder, and there was no sign of the czechs. In the end, I went to bed, only to hear them arrive minutes later – 4 of them. I rose again for an hour or so, and we all huddled around the fire. It was freezing cold, and even the becherovka could not warm me up. Before long, I decided it was really 10 pm for me, and I went to bed.
Bear watch several hours later was a COLD affair. My last bear watch on Svalbard.
While in the clouds, I took photos of everyone. The High Places Svalbard 2012 group. We were now a real team, bonded from our experiences over the last week.
Sam was our guide. A lovely outdoor guy, who led us safely and enjoyably through the week. A real Mr fix-anything with some wire and his amazing multifunction pliers.
Sam
Steve, a real Aussie from Melbourne. An endless source of energy. ‘It’s all good!’
Steve
Gordon. The scot with the lovely accent. A lot of hiking stories, and someone to share my mathematical formulations of sun movement, and the sun dial.
Gordon
Ben. Another Aussie, living in London. Very philosophical.
Ben
Lisa. A lawyer from London. Also a runner with lots of marathon training strategies.
Lisa
And moi.
Moi
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