Tuesday, October 9, 2018
Northerly winds with snow showers, -2ºC
We moved the ship only a slight distance yesterday afternoon to Hamiltonbukta. We had a stationary anchored excursion - a shorter one - that only about 10 of us went on. It was on a rocky face of a ridge that sloped down to the water and faced a smooth, wavy glacier at the other side of the bay. There was so much snow - Sarah said that she’s never seen so much at this time of the year. We hiked up the hill to hear the layout of the guards. Kristin to the right, Åshild up the ridge, Sarah to the left, and Emma at the shore. I walked in snow up to my knees (at least) once we left the beach to meet Kristin on the right side of the ridge, and veered up the incline towards Åshild. For a while, I walked in Kim’s footsteps, who was making a path through deeper snow a little ways in front of me. The wind blew snow and ice pellets into our faces, but it still felt nice out there. The air was probably a few degrees warmer than it had been in Ytre Norskøya.
Kim plopped down into the snow, making a custom arm chair for herself. She faced out to the hazy fjord. I walked around her and did the same. I fell backwards and rested, looking up to the sky facing the direction of the glacier. I was so comfortable and happy just to sit there in the snow. I sat for a while, then stood to make my way over to Sarah on the left of the steep, rocky shore. Occasionally falling into holes between boulders, I sank up to my thighs in the deep drifted snow. I walked through the protruding rocks - falling into snow sometimes up to my waist or higher. I was laughing uncontrollably, like a child playing in the snow for the first time. I continued on and walked almost to Sarah, back along the water, back to Emma, then again to Kristin, back up to Åshild, and started down the hill again. Laughing and sinking, one leg sank up to my thigh with the other out straight. In order to get up, I had to roll over onto my stomach and push myself out of the soft, deep cushion of snow.
Down at the water, Tamara had found whale bones while I was making my second round, and Kim and Andrea were looking at them. I went over to get a better look. I took some photos, then went up the hill following Andrea’s footsteps in the snow, once again past our knees. I made my way back diagonally to Kristin again, but decided that I was too tired to make another full round. I headed back down to Emma at the shore. Kim and Rachel were there waiting for the zodiac to bring us back to The Antigua when a bearded seal came over to investigate us. It hung around for a while until the zodiac came to shuttle us back. Such curious creatures.
This was one of my favorite outings on this trip. I had no concern for being productive or accomplishing anything whatsoever. Much of the trip so far, I’ve felt nervous about retaining everything that we’ve seen, recording it, and knowing that I would eventually need to regurgitate it into some prolific, compelling body of artistic work. But, at Hamiltonbukta I simply felt joy walking through the deep snow on that rock face, pushing myself until my body was fully tired.. It’s been a long time since I’ve felt so silly and not had a care in the world. This is a good lesson that I hope to remember long after this trip ends. This day didn’t need the Arctic (though, it was certainly enchanting), I could feel this way anywhere at any time. Of course the snow, the surroundings, and the company helped, but it was letting go of my own expectations that allowed me to feel such incredible joy.
After we left the excursion spot, we came back to the ship for dinner of quinoa, tomato, and onion salad and reindeer stew. Five artists gave presentations about their work after dinner. And, following that, there was a little dance party in the lounge, but I headed down to bed. I was sound asleep by 10:30pm or so, completely exhausted from the day.
Another night of weird/bad dreams, and up again around 6:30am this morning.
Now, we’re going to head into an adjacent fjord to take an excursion on a small island and more zodiac tours. Fuglefjorden - “Fjord of the birds.” It feels very cold now.
This activity is made possible, in part, by funds provided by the Metropolitan Regional Arts Council (MRAC) through a grant from The McKnight Foundation.