Archive for the 'Arctic' Category

Apr 1st
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On the first leg of the trip back to the USA we flew over Greenland. The entire way was clear – very rare for late March.

Mountains accessible only by dogsled or on snowshoes.

Atlantic ice shelf. Soon to give birth to icebergs.

Icebergs calving.

Icelandair Flight 631.

Some open water.

Southwest Cape – onwards to Labrador !

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Today was a relatively light day with only 200 km on the road. First above the beautiful Arctic City of Akeryuri to Hliarfjall Ski . Though there is only 600m ( 1900 ft ) of vertical it looks delightful – fresh powder, no line ( there were only about 8 people on the whole mountain) . All for about $ 30 a day – far less than US ski prices – now over $ 100 a Day !

We then headed west to Hvanneyri, on the way to Westfjords. Once again we encountered wind and snow, though not the blizzard conditions of yesterday.

Typical house of Akeryuri.

An early Prime Minister of Modern Iceland immortalized in Akeryuri’s Lutheran Cathedral.

Oceanic Ice ! Not quite the Arctic Ocean, but the Greenland Sea, which leads from the Atlantic to the Arctic Ocean.

Evening snowfall in Hvanneyri.

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Crossing North Iceland from Egilsstaðir to Akureyri was slow going as a blizzard struck in the mountains. The landscape was literally torn apart by volcanoes and earthquakes over many millennia. We also crossed from Europe to North America, as this is where the Eurasian and North American plates meet on the MId Atlantic Ridge.

Courtesy BBC.

Cold beyond imagination.

Icy.

Country Church.

Whiteout.

City Church. Akureyri 65.68 North.

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After 48 hours in the Vatnajökull region , ArcticTropic traversed Route 1 into Northeast Iceland – now less than 100 miles from the Arctic Circle. Though days are getting longer by over 7 minutes each day – the weather is very wintry.

Black Tower Beach

Sturdy Viking Horses. Direct descendants from the Year 900.

High atop the cliffs.

Sea Harvest.

Snow 12 Months A Year.

Reindeer – It’s What’s For Dinner !

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Today ArcticTropic climbed Vatnajökull Glacier – the largest in Europe. Winds gusted as high as 65 mph ( 110 kph) but we held steady thanks to icepicks and crampons supplied by our guide.

Ice Cave.

Looking up into Springtime Arctic skies.

Corn surface – good for climbing.

In 1900 , when the current warming period began . the mountain behind us was covered in the glacier, it was not even visible The very elderly of the community remember that time. . While it snows more on the mountain tops, the weight pushes the ice faster down the moraines where it melts into the ocean. When the Vikings came in 900 to 1000 AD , it was a warm period and there was almost no ice. 1600 – 1900 was a mini Ice Age with rapid ice accumulation. Yesterday’s report on growing glaciers in the area was incorrect.

At day’s end -caviar – $ 3 per jar.

Sunset in Höfn,where we are spending the night.

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ArcticTropic drove East along Iceland Route 1 for about 200 km today. While only about 125 miles, it was long day because of the incredible amount of nature to experience.

Glaciers flow directly into the Atlantic Ocean.

Black Lava Sand Beach At Vik.

River of Ice. Recent winters have gotten colder and the glaciers are expanding.

Icy Iceland Beach.

On The Moon ?

During the 2 hour sunset.

Mar 19th
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Early this morning ( March 19 ) ArcticTropic departs Miami for Boston, spending the day there. At 2135 we depart Logan for Keflavik – arriving just in time for the Total Eclipse on the Equinox !

Dec 30th
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ArcticTropic is now planning 2015 journeys. Three trips are shown here. The first , in February is to Southeastern Australia. The longest flight will be from San Francisco to Sydney – about 15 hours. In March – off to the Polar Regions of Iceland. September – Puerto Varas in Chilean Patagonia for the ATTA Summit. Several other ventures are in planning stage.

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Final edit of Go-Pro footage of ArcticTropic’s exploratory voyage across Russia in early Summer 2014. Five days in Moscow , then to Irkutsk,Lake Baikal and Ulan Ude , before crossing into Mongolia.

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On Sunday morning , May 8th. I flew from Miami to Newark to board Continental Flight 99 – a 16 hour, 8450 mile flight to Hong Kong. The flight took off at 3:25 PM . Five minutes later we were over Lower Manhattan.

Less than two hours and and a thousand miles later we were over Northern Quebec – still frozen in May.

After cloudy Baffin Land ( Nunavut ) we cross Greenland.

Northern Greenland – only a few hundred miles from the North Pole.

A Frozen fjord. Note last year’s icebergs trapped below. The local time is close to Midnight.

We cross the Arctic Ocean and fly over the North Pole. Sunday becomes Monday. Above shot is Northern Siberia on Monday afternoon.

Over the Gobi Desert in Mongolia.

Final approach to Chek Lap Kok.

Beautiful Tropical Monday evening landing.

After check- in to the hotel, off to explore the busting streets of Kowloon.

Kowloon Dance Hall.

Delicious Spicy Crab Dinner ! ArcticTropic is back on the ground in Asia !