Cape Norwegia, Jackson Island, Franz Josef Land
Imagine the excitement as an icebreaker loaded with dedicated Arctophiles approached the Franz Josef Land archipelago! Early morning fog frustrated our first attempts to view the islands; then, as the fog thinned, land loomed before us. We passed between the two westernmost islands: George Land to the east and Alexandra Land to the west. Our first landing site was at Cape Norwegia on Jackson Island, a site steeped in history and Arctic lore. Here the Dean of Arctic explorers, the Norwegian Fridtjof Nansen, and his traveling companion Hjalmar Johansen, spent the winter of 1895-96. 132 days earlier they had left their ship, Fram, locked in the Arctic ice, and set out towards the pole. They achieved a farthest north of 86° 14’ N before turning southward. Reaching land, exhausted, they set up their winter camp at Cape Norwegia on August 24 – 109 years and one calendar day before our arrival. The remains of their overwintering hut can still be seen – a stony depression and a driftwood log over which they draped walrus skins as a roof. Some of the walrus and polar bear bones now buried in the moss may well be the remains of the two Norwegians’ winter diet. The little auks (dovekies) that swirled and chattered overhead are no doubt descendents of the birds that greeted their arrival. Nansen and Johansen left Cape Norwegia on the next May 19 and, in an incredible coincidence, on June 17 they encountered the English explorer Frederick Jackson, after whom the island is named. It is one of the epic tales of Arctic Exploration.
After paying reverence to the historic site we strolled over the high Arctic tundra, happy to stretch our legs after two days at sea and enthralled by the tundra plants. Particularly where fertilized by seabirds nesting on the cliffs above us, the tundra was rich in green and red mosses and a surprising diversity of flowering plants: buttercups and saxifrages and arctic poppies still sporting their delicate yellow flowers in the face of one of our planet’s most extreme environments.
Progressing ever northward, we encountered the ice and our ship was able to “show its stuff.” During dinner a group a walrus was spotted on an ice flow. Fortunately, the ship came to a stop and we were able to enjoy a fine meal and a marvelous photo opportunity. And such is expedition travel.
Imagine the excitement as an icebreaker loaded with dedicated Arctophiles approached the Franz Josef Land archipelago! Early morning fog frustrated our first attempts to view the islands; then, as the fog thinned, land loomed before us. We passed between the two westernmost islands: George Land to the east and Alexandra Land to the west. Our first landing site was at Cape Norwegia on Jackson Island, a site steeped in history and Arctic lore. Here the Dean of Arctic explorers, the Norwegian Fridtjof Nansen, and his traveling companion Hjalmar Johansen, spent the winter of 1895-96. 132 days earlier they had left their ship, Fram, locked in the Arctic ice, and set out towards the pole. They achieved a farthest north of 86° 14’ N before turning southward. Reaching land, exhausted, they set up their winter camp at Cape Norwegia on August 24 – 109 years and one calendar day before our arrival. The remains of their overwintering hut can still be seen – a stony depression and a driftwood log over which they draped walrus skins as a roof. Some of the walrus and polar bear bones now buried in the moss may well be the remains of the two Norwegians’ winter diet. The little auks (dovekies) that swirled and chattered overhead are no doubt descendents of the birds that greeted their arrival. Nansen and Johansen left Cape Norwegia on the next May 19 and, in an incredible coincidence, on June 17 they encountered the English explorer Frederick Jackson, after whom the island is named. It is one of the epic tales of Arctic Exploration.
After paying reverence to the historic site we strolled over the high Arctic tundra, happy to stretch our legs after two days at sea and enthralled by the tundra plants. Particularly where fertilized by seabirds nesting on the cliffs above us, the tundra was rich in green and red mosses and a surprising diversity of flowering plants: buttercups and saxifrages and arctic poppies still sporting their delicate yellow flowers in the face of one of our planet’s most extreme environments.
Progressing ever northward, we encountered the ice and our ship was able to “show its stuff.” During dinner a group a walrus was spotted on an ice flow. Fortunately, the ship came to a stop and we were able to enjoy a fine meal and a marvelous photo opportunity. And such is expedition travel.
