I dag kom ei ny årstid til Mushamna! Svalbard har fem årstider. I dag feirer vi at den mørke vinteren er avløst av den lyse. I over fem timer har sola skint over hytte, hund og glade damer. Plutselig kjenner vi oss igjen fra tidligere besøk – dette er nemlig fangststasjonen i Woodfjorden slik vinterfarende folk kjenner den. Men det kan fort ta litt tid før storinnrykket kommer. Bølgene skvulper nedenfor kjøttstativet mens bre og fjellpass er dekt med kaskader av pudder. Dette førte til et noe utradisjonelt mannskapsbytte natt til lørdag. Klokka ett om natta sto Tove, Carl Petter og Sverre Bjørn på brinken sør av Laguna. På grunn av snøvær og whiteout utnyttet de mørket på sin ferd fra Ny-Ålesund. Endre og jeg kom fra motsatt hold og snirklet oss langs landkallen med scooter. Litt etter klatret vi opp brinken med første ladning utstyr. Toves zargeser deiset ned den bratte brinken, mens Endre utstyr ble taljet opp til topps. Kaffe og kake satte punktum for arbeidsøkta. Klokka sju samme morgen var det allerede nokså lyst, og mannskapsbyttet var snart et faktum. Mens Tove og jeg jumpet utfor kanten og skled ned til WideTraken, surret en flokk fra fuglefjellet rundt våre hoder. Snart surret det også i scooterne som skulle tilbake til Ny-Ålesund. Klokka åtte om morgenen ble Tove hilst velkommen av ivrige hunder samt vin og reinsdyrskav i ei lun fangsthytte. Nå er det damene som rår i Mushamna!
Toves første fangstdamedag ble naturlig nok nokså kort. Etter noen timer på puta ble de nærmeste fellene sjekket sammen med trekkvillige dyr. Samme kveld feiret både Longyearbyen, Ny-Ålesund og Mushamna solfest. Men sistnevnte kan ikke skryte av høye hæler i taket. Sola har allerede skint ei uke her oppe – og de to feirende var nokså trøtte. De fant det bedre å feire påfølgende dag! Søndag 8. Mars var undertegnede tidlig oppe for å åte pinner og gjøre alt klart til dagens dyst. Jeg hadde planlagt stor revefangst sørover i Woodfjorden i innspurten av fangstperioden. Så langt har planene strandet i dårlig is. Nå hadde vi en gylden mulighet. Toves Lynx sto parkert på sørsida av Laguna. Hvis Widetraken gikk første etappe av stafetten, kunne vi klatre brinken på ny for så å ta Lynxen sørover mot reveeldoradoet ved Verdalen. God plan! Men Moder Natur ville det annerledes. Midt på Laguna var det plutselig bom stopp. Et tykt lag overvann skjulte seg under løssnøen! Dette hadde vi ikke ventet. Scooter, slede og damer sto i 30 cm issørpe! Alle som har vært i en slik situasjon vet hvordan sørpa suger seg fast i alt. Scooter og slede blir dobbelt så tung – og sokkene er våte på et blunk. I minus 17 fryktet vi en lang tur hjem og en scooter som snart ville fryse fast i sørpa. Ikke bra. Heldigvis har damene vært ute en vinterdag før. Etter litt måking fikk vi sleden av scooteren. Og med forente krefter fikk vi faktisk dratt, skubbet og kjørt den gamle greia ut av sørpa. Lettet kunne vi tømme sleden for utstyr og vasse oss bort til fastere grunn. En rå kvinnekamp mot det våte og svært så kalde element startet. Kjerringene var hest, og snart var også sleden på fast grunn. Våte til knes slapp vi jubelen løs. Girl power ruler i Mushamna! Revene i Verdalen lenge leve. Vi dro heller hjem og tømte vannet ut av scooterskoene. Litt etter ble årets første toddy med en god slump Strohrum inntatt i solveggen. Det ble vår beste kvinnedag noen sinne!New companion – girl power!
Today a new season began in Mushamna. The dark winter is over. Now we have sun and snow! While Longyearbyen and Ny-Ålesund saw the first rays of sun today, Mushamna had already five hours of sunshine. Nice!! This is how most winter travelers at Spitsbergen have seen Mushamna. But I don’t think we will have too many visitors yet. There is still a lack of ice and too much powder everywhere. For this reason we had an interesting crew exchange this weekend. Sverre Bjørn, Carl Petter and Tove started out from Ny-Ålesund Friday night. Due whiteout, they wanted to take advantage of the darkness. One hour after midnight they stood at the top of the cliff south of the Laguna. Me and Endre came by scooter from Mushamna and climbed up to the others. While Endres equipment had to be pulled up by ropes, Toves stuff was easily dropped from the top. Some hours after the guys were ready to head back to Ny-Ålesund. Me and Tove had a thrilling slide down the cliff, and soon after my new companion arrived at Mushamna. With dinner at eight o’clock in the morning, the following working day was short. The dogs were happy to pull us out so we could check some traps. But we did not have the energy for a big Solfest celebration in the evening. Instead we wanted to celebrate the 8th of March! I woke up early and made preparations for our mission. For a long time I wanted to set up traps further south. Now it was possible! We wanted to take my scooter to the Laguna, climb the cliff and then use Toves scooter to the fox paradise in the south. But Mother Nature was protecting her four legged fur friends. In the middle of the Laguna we were completely stuck. With a surprise we realized that the fresh snow covered a huge area with 30 cm water! Now we were stuck in slush up to our knees. Everybody that has been in the same situation knows how heavy a scooter stuck in slush is... Did we really have to walk back to Mushamna and leave the scooter? It was minus 17 degrees. Soon the Wide Trek would be stuck in solid ice! No good. We had to put up a fight! After some digging we got the sledge off. Combined driving, pulling and pushing got the scooter loose. Wading in ice water, we emptied the sledge, turned it around and managed to pull it back on safe ground. Everything was soaked and there was no doubt: The happening saved the life of some Woodfjord foxes. No more trapping today. The ladies headed home to dry clothes and a big cup of toddy with rum in the sun. What a perfect way to celebrate a women day!
Today a new season began in Mushamna. The dark winter is over. Now we have sun and snow! While Longyearbyen and Ny-Ålesund saw the first rays of sun today, Mushamna had already five hours of sunshine. Nice!! This is how most winter travelers at Spitsbergen have seen Mushamna. But I don’t think we will have too many visitors yet. There is still a lack of ice and too much powder everywhere. For this reason we had an interesting crew exchange this weekend. Sverre Bjørn, Carl Petter and Tove started out from Ny-Ålesund Friday night. Due whiteout, they wanted to take advantage of the darkness. One hour after midnight they stood at the top of the cliff south of the Laguna. Me and Endre came by scooter from Mushamna and climbed up to the others. While Endres equipment had to be pulled up by ropes, Toves stuff was easily dropped from the top. Some hours after the guys were ready to head back to Ny-Ålesund. Me and Tove had a thrilling slide down the cliff, and soon after my new companion arrived at Mushamna. With dinner at eight o’clock in the morning, the following working day was short. The dogs were happy to pull us out so we could check some traps. But we did not have the energy for a big Solfest celebration in the evening. Instead we wanted to celebrate the 8th of March! I woke up early and made preparations for our mission. For a long time I wanted to set up traps further south. Now it was possible! We wanted to take my scooter to the Laguna, climb the cliff and then use Toves scooter to the fox paradise in the south. But Mother Nature was protecting her four legged fur friends. In the middle of the Laguna we were completely stuck. With a surprise we realized that the fresh snow covered a huge area with 30 cm water! Now we were stuck in slush up to our knees. Everybody that has been in the same situation knows how heavy a scooter stuck in slush is... Did we really have to walk back to Mushamna and leave the scooter? It was minus 17 degrees. Soon the Wide Trek would be stuck in solid ice! No good. We had to put up a fight! After some digging we got the sledge off. Combined driving, pulling and pushing got the scooter loose. Wading in ice water, we emptied the sledge, turned it around and managed to pull it back on safe ground. Everything was soaked and there was no doubt: The happening saved the life of some Woodfjord foxes. No more trapping today. The ladies headed home to dry clothes and a big cup of toddy with rum in the sun. What a perfect way to celebrate a women day!
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