Edgeøya: Åneset

Åneset is a flat point near the northeastern corner of Edgeøya, in the eastern part of Freemansund. The high-arctic character really comes through in this barren landscape! One main factor is the cold east Spitsbergen current which keeps the climate in this area colder than on the west coast, where a northern branch of the Gulf Stream keeps the climate milder and more maritime and the waters largely ice-free year round.

The scenery here is characterised by a wide-stretching and largely flat coastal plain. On a smaller scale, raised beaches and ice wedges make for some lovely geometric patterns in the barren tundra over large areas. How good would it be to see that from the air! Well, not impossible these days 🙂

There are remains of a hut standing as a ruin in this forgotten corner of the Arctic. It is not much but a ruin, but it is the oldest hut built by “modern” (post Pomor) trappers on Edgeøya. It was a group of hunters who came with the small sealing ship Elina Kristine and built the hut in 1904. One part of the group kind of stranded on Tusenøyane, on the south side of Edgeøya, for a good part of the winter.

Another view of the hut at Åneset. I shot these panoramas in July 2018; the hut is about to fall apart quickly now and soon there won’t be anything left but scattered remains.

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