Wander 2 | Into Polar Night

By the final wildlife hikes of the season, daylight had already begun retreating below the horizon. After packing gear and collecting the group, we left town in darkness. The darkness softened slightly as a pale blue glow appeared above the southern horizon, just enough to reveal distant shapes against the snow. The landscape amplified what little light remained.

After several quiet hours, wildlife slowly began revealing itself. Reindeer moved slowly across the snow-covered slopes while an Arctic fox appeared briefly in the distance, one of the sightings the group had hoped for the most.

An Arctic fox crossing the valley during the final wildlife hikes before the polar night.

By the end of the trip, the sky had returned to darkness, and it was impossible to tell whether it was 15:00 or 21:00.

Only a few days later, the remaining daylight disappeared completely. The next tour of the day headed into the darkness in search of the aurora. After preparing gear and loading the group into the vehicle, we headed away from town toward darker skies. Shooting stars crossed the sky while satellites drifted slowly overhead. Even one of the brighter planets stood visible above the mountains. Above us, the aurora moved quietly across the sky.

Some of my guests during the Northern Lights trip.

With polar night settling over Svalbard, the season had quietly shifted from fading daylight hikes to long nights beneath the aurora.