Alkhornet

The moun­tain cor­ner Alk­hor­net is towe­ring 617 met­res high on the nor­t­hern side of the ent­rance to Isfjord, mar­king the smal­ler side bay of Trygg­ham­na. Thou­sands of kit­ti­wa­kes and Brünnich’s guil­l­emots are bree­ding on the steep cliffs high up on the moun­tain.

The bree­ding sea­birds are fer­ti­li­zing the tun­dra, which is accor­din­gly rich and green. Reinde­er and arc­tic fox are thri­ving the­re. The clas­si­cal eco­lo­gy of the high arc­tic tun­dra, which is fer­ti­le only if nut­ri­ti­on is pro­vi­ded from the sea, within a few hundred met­res. Almost like the Arc­tic in a nuts­hell.

It is not uncom­mon to see a polar bear roa­ming over the tun­dra or res­t­ing near the bird cliff, wai­ting for some goo­dies to fall down.

In ear­lier times, Alk­hor­net and the adja­cent bay Trygg­ham­na, tog­e­ther with the area to the west (Daud­mannsøy­ra) and east, used to be important hun­ting are­as for Pomors from the Rus­si­an White Sea coast and then for main­ly Nor­we­gi­an trap­pers during the ear­lier 20th cen­tu­ry. The­re are remains of a Pomor hun­ting sta­ti­on around the cor­ner in Trygg­ham­na. And the old hut on the tun­dra near Alk­hor­net is the ruin of a hut that was built in 1921 by Hil­mar Nøis. It was not the first hut in that place, the­re had been 2 sub­se­quent ones from 1905.

Gal­lery 1 – Alkhornet/Trygghamna: Land­scape

Alk­hor­net from dif­fe­rent angles and at dif­fe­rent sea­sons.

Click on thumb­nail to open an enlar­ged ver­si­on of the spe­ci­fic pho­to.

Gal­lery 2 – Alk­hor­net: wild­life

Wild­life and vege­ta­ti­on near Alk­hor­net. Reinde­er. And reinde­er. And some more reinde­er. But not only reinde­er.

Click on thumb­nail to open an enlar­ged ver­si­on of the spe­ci­fic pho­to.

Gal­lery 3 – Alk­hor­net: the hut

The old hut at Alk­hor­net, built in 1921 by Hil­mar Nøis. It was the third Nor­we­gi­an hut in this place, the first one was built in 1905. The­se pic­tures docu­ment stages of decay from 2005 to 2014. The one pic­tu­re that does not quite fit into the series shows the Pomor hun­ting sta­ti­on around the cor­ner, in Trygg­ham­na.

Click on thumb­nail to open an enlar­ged ver­si­on of the spe­ci­fic pho­to.

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