A Good Walk Spoiled

Okay, once again my titles exaggerate the situation.  Anyhow, I will get to that part eventually.  And, it had a happy ending anyhow!

It was our last full day in the Arctic, with the next day being an uneventful disembarkation in Longyearben, and flight back to Oslo.  We landed in the Northwest of Spitsbergen, within a fjord named Krossfjorden.  On one end of the beach, there is the 14th of July Glacier, and at the other end, there are cliffs that include many Brunnich's Guillemot, and, wait for it. . .Puffins!  Yes, I said PUFFINS.  Puffins are the penguins of the Arctic (not literally, but symbolically -- at least for Carol and I).

Carol and Torie had been close to puffins in May in the Inner Scottish Hebrides.  While they were close to Staffa, they didn't go.  Then, we had hoped to see them in Iceland, but we did not go in that direction for various reasons.  We had given up on the hopes of seeing puffins, not realizing that they are populous in the cliffs of Krossfjorden.

Anyhow, we landed wet in the middle of the beach.  Stefano took us towards the cliffs.  Along the way, we saw a large herd of reindeer grazing above us on the lower side of the cliff.  At one point I saw movement, but it was only a large bird.  We were not destined to luck into seeing an Arctic Fox on this trip, although a bit later on, we did spot recent footprints in perfect shape in the sand.

There were also sorts of colorful lichen, some flowers, and birds all around.  When we got to the end of the rocky beach, some people spotted a puffin in the cliff side.  Carol saw it, while I did not.  I strained and strained, and never did see it.  At points I thought I saw orange flashes, which might have been the puffin moving quickly, but that might have been wishful thinking on my part.

I was pretty unhappy with my puffin fail.  Now, while I knew I would have one more chance when we took the zodiacs over to the cliffs, I figured I might not seem them there either.

We looped back on higher ground toward the glacier, a good mile or more away.  

Hiking in the Arctic is not like hiking in most places.  There are no trails, and with the rocks and or snow, there is nothing smooth about it.  So, even when you are going on what appears to be a flat surface, it's not an easy path.  That's not a complaint, just an observation.

At one point, we came up a rise with a view of a pond that had a million kittiwakes zooming around it.  ("Million" might be an exaggeration, but you get the idea).

The closer we got to the glacier the closer to shore we went, finally reaching the beach.  There were little growlers and bergy bits dotting the shoreline.  We were reminded of Diamond Beach in Iceland, although this was not quite as jaw-dropping.  Still, the scene was far more raw nature.

We went over and touched the glacier at some points, and then Lucho brought two zodiacs over -- we would not have had time to hike back to the middle of the beach and stay on the timeline.