78' North — The Towering Travelers

We’d been excited for Jason’s work trip to Svalbard since he got the invite. An archipelago deep in the Arctic, Svalbard is home to Longyearbyen, the northernmost settlement in the world, and we knew it would be unlike anywhere else we’d ever been.

If you haven’t heard of Svalbard, I’d recommend finding it on a map for context. It’s closer to the North Pole than it is to mainland Norway. They have four months of midnight sun, two months of polar night, and another monthish where it’s just twilight all the time. We visited in the in-between time where there was both a day and a night, but it never truly got dark.

Traditionally, the human presence on the islands has been mostly Norwegian and Russian, but the Russian settlements mostly shut down in the 1990s. The region is considered an unincorporated area of Norway, so we had to go through passport control on the way there and the way back. The first prominent industry was coal mining, which is now mostly shut down and replaced by tourism and research.

Photo of red buildings with mountains and a glacier in the background. — Longyearbyen from the water (photo/Jason Rafal)

We were in Svalbard because Jason had a satellite conference hosted by KSAT, who owns ground stations all over the world (though the most exciting ones are in the Arctic and Antarctic, where they communicate with satellites in polar orbit.

Our first stop when we got off the plane at the Longyearbyen airport was the SvalSat ground station, where we were greeted by the eerie sight of more than 100 radomes appearing through the fog. The antennae and the radomes that enclose them range in size, but the largest ones are massive, as you can see in the first picture. We went inside one for the conference introduction.

Photo of two tour buses in front of an antenna dome with foggy mountains and ocean in the background. — The scale of the larger radomes (photo/Jason Rafal)

Photo of two radomes with on a flat shale area with foggy ocean in the background. — The radomes had varying patterns (photo/Jason Rafal)

I have been a few places that I could describe as otherworldly, but nothing comes close to the plateau with these radomes. The ground was all brown and gray shale, and especially in the fog, there was nothing you could see except for radomes and the occasional building. Some of the KSAT employees mentioned that the people who live in Longyearbyen have conspiracy theories about what the ground station is actually for, and I can’t fault them for that.

Photo of dozens of radomes with shale in the foreground and fog in the background. — Radomes in the fog (photo/Jason Rafal)

The road to the ground station also goes past the Global Seed Vault, which houses more than a million seed varietals in case of any catastrophic incident that wipes out crops. The seeds are frozen and kept in the Arctic permafrost.

Photo looking down a curved dirt road with a view of the global seed bank with water and mountains behind. — Looking down the hill at the Global Seed Vault (photo/Jason Rafal)

Photo of the global seed vault door next to a brown building with tundra and a dirt road in the foreground. — The door to the Seed Vault (left) and a building that we can’t help you identify (right) (photo/Jason Rafal)

After we checked into the hotel, we left for a boat trip into Isfjorden. It was dark and foggy and beautiful.

We went past Bjorndalen, the area I would hike in the next day. It was cool to see this valley from the water and then later be able to hike around.

Photo of a dozen houses on a brown and gray hillside across a wataerway. — A neighborhood leading into Bjorndalen, the valley between the two mountains (photo/Jason Rafal)

We also went past one of the old Soviet towns that are no longer populated. Grumont was home to more than 1000 people, which is hard to imagine looking at it now. The remaining buildings are very apocalyptic looking, with no windows and disappearing paint colors.

Photo of a hillside across the water with four abandoned, crumbling buildings. — The Soviet settlement of Grumont, which was abandoned in the 1960s (photo/Jason Rafal)

One of the coolest things we got to see were the jagged mountainsides emerging out of the fog. In the summer, this strip of cliffs is the home to tons of birds who make their nests here. We were in Svalbard after they had migrated away, but the cliffs were still green from all of the guano.

Close up photo of gray cliffs with orange and green vegetation growing. — Some of the most colorful landscape we saw in Svalbard (photo/Jason Rafal)

Photo of brown and gray cliffs with dozens of radomes visible on the top of the mesa in the background. — A view of the radomes from the boat (photo/Jason Rafal)

Longyearbyen, the town where we stayed, is home to about 2000 year-round residents and about 1000 dogs. No other animals can be imported, and there’s no agriculture allowed. There are also 300-500 polar bears in the general area, depending on who we asked, and anyone going outside of the main town area has to carry a gun, flare gun, or both. There are about 20 miles of roads total, stretching in three directions from Longyearbyen.

Photo of rows of colorful houses in Longyearbyen with tundra in the foreground and hills in the background. — Colorful houses of Longyearbyen with snowmobiles in a row in front (photo/Jason Rafal)

Photo of a row of brown, green, red, and yellow houses with fog in the background. — Some more of the colorful houses in Longyearbyen (photo/Jason Rafal)

Photo of two people walking huskies, with one of them wearing a gun and a flare.

Along with the customary ban of cigarettes in Longyearbyen public buildings, you also can’t bring dogs or guns. The dogs are tied up outside, and the guns are checked into lockers or left in vehicles.

Photo of a door with three signs indicating that cigarettes, dogs, and guns are not allowed inside. — Three things not allowed inside public buildings in Longyearbyen (photo/Nicole Harrison)

Photo of a dog tied to a pole in front of the Longyearbyen grocery store. — A dog patiently waiting for its owner outside the grocery store (photo/Jason Rafal)

For being quite literally in the middle of nowhere, the creature comforts in Longyearbyen were pretty solid. There was a fairly well-stocked grocery and general store (Jason couldn’t get over the fact that there was self checkout in the Arctic), multiple outdoor clothing stores (the locals abide by the general Norwegian sentiment that there is no bad weather, only bad clothing), and a few restaurants and bars. My favorite store was a husky cafe where we got some gourmet hot chocolate and spent some time with three adorable, friendly huskies.

Photo of a white husky in front of orange chairs. — One of the huskies we hung out with at the cafe (photo/Jason Rafal)

Photo of a Circle K gas station next to a Toyota dealership. — The most northern fuel station in the world (and I have to assume the most northern Toyota dealership) (photo/Jason Rafal)

Photo of a disc golf target with a playfield, mansion, and glacier in the background. — Yes, disc golf has made it to the Arctic (photo/Jason Rafal)

This is where the photos will be of significantly lower quality, because I took them with my phone or with Jason’s camera that I barely know how to use.

While Jason was in a conference room on the second day, I took a hike in Bjorndalen with an armed guide and a very nice couple from Switzerland. It was a great trip - we walked around in the Arctic tundra and saw reindeer and whales (I was torn about not seeing a polar bear but ultimately would have been very freaked out to see one on foot). I was originally supposed to go on a longer guided hike, but two trips had to be consolidated so the itinerary changed. While I would have loved to hike on the glacier, I’m ultimately glad I was on this trip because of the whales (more on that soon).

Photo of several houses on the tundra with the ocean and a mountain in the background. — The end of the road at Bjorndalen (photo/Nicole Harrison)

Our guide, a Swedish student who changed her major to study in Svalbard and then decided to stay after her program was complete, walked us into the valley and showed us the landscape, pointed out reindeer, and slowly spun in a circle every couple of minutes scanning for polar bears.

Photo of a small stream with green moss and small white flowers with two houses, one black and one red, in the background.

When I go somewhere new, it’s the presence of things that usually stand out - new architecture or city sounds or dramatic landscapes. In Svalbard, the most striking thing wasn’t the presence of anything, but the absence. It’s an absence of smells, because the tundra smells like nothing, and neither does the sea. It’s the absence of sounds, except for the occasional barnacle goose honk and the summer song of the migratory snow bunting. We had multiple people tell us with reverence of the first time they heard the snow bunting in the spring and the feeling of awe that overcame them.

There’s also the absence of trees, and bushes, and color other than brown, gray, white, and the occasional green moss. I’ve never been to a place that’s so close to sensory deprivation, and I can’t imagine what it’s like in the winter.

All that being said, there’s a striking beauty to the landscape, and the simplicity and repetition of the mountains and ocean are awe-inspiring.

Photo looking up the Bjorndalen valley with a stream running through the shale. — Looking up the valley (photo/Nicole Harrison)

Photo of a streambed with a reindeer skeleton surrounded by hair with a mountain in the background. — A reindeer skeleton and some leftover hair blending in with the shale (photo/Nicole Harrison)

We did see a few live reindeer, but as I was having trouble making Jason’s camera work, I had to make do with my phone.

Photo of a reindeer grazing with a mountainside in the background. — Yes, this is the best picture of a reindeer I got - I also wish Jason had been there (photo/Nicole Harrison)

There is old mining equipment scattered around the area, and we saw some on our hike. All the mines but one have been closed, but much of the equipment is considered protected for historical purposes, so it just hangs out and poses for tourist photos.

Photo of a rusted mining cart sitting slightly off of tracks with a mountain in the background. — Some of the old mining equipment (photo/Nicole Harrison)

Photo of hundreds of shore birds flying in a group with the ocean in the background. — Circling shorebirds (photo/Nicole Harrison)

After we hiked around for a while, we went back to a yurt near the airport (right next to a campground where a man was attacked and killed by a polar bear a couple of years ago) and had a hot lunch while I tried to figure out what I was doing wrong with Jason’s camera. A few minutes after I figured it out, we saw the first whales.

Belugas don’t usually breach or do anything else so dramatic, so they just look like a lot of whitecaps in the water at first. This was a lot of whitecaps, though, so we quickly walked to the edge of the water and realized that there were about 50 whales feeding right in front of us. Our guide was even freaking out, which is when you know you’re having a rare experience. I spent the next 45 minutes taking pictures and videos, shaking from cold because I had forgotten my gloves at the lunch site, and trying to absorb the moment.

Photo of the backs of dozens of beluga whales swimming with brown hillsides and houses in the background. — Dozens of beluga whales feeding in the water (photo/Nicole Harrison)

Photo of a beluga whale's back in the water with two birds overhead. — The scarred back of a beluga (photo/Nicole Harrison)

Photo of five beluga whale backs, one of them gray, in the water with a brown mountain in the background. — Swimming belugas - the gray one is a baby (photo/Nicole Harrison)

Photo of the backs of several beluga whales in the water. — Whales passing very close to us (photo/Nicole Harrison)

After the whales started moving away from the shore, we headed back to the site to sit in the yurt and warm up. We also drank a lot of toddy, which is not what I would think of as an American but was also delicious - it’s like a (non-alcoholic) berry syrup mixed with hot water.

Photo of the town of Longyearbyen in the evening with lights on in the buildings, with a glacier visible in the background. — The view of Longyearbyen at dusk (photo/Jason Rafal)

We were only in Svalbard for about 48 hours, but it was definitely one of the most memorable parts of the trip. I can’t recommend it for everyone, but if you want to go somewhere otherworldly and maybe, if you’re lucky, see some whales and maybe a polar bear, it’s a good choice.