Nordaustland: Langgrunnodden

Panorama of a polar desert and an old trappers' hut

The northwest corner of Nordaustland, far north in Hinlopen Strait, is a very barren polar desert kind of landscape. The scenery is very wide-open, with low hills stretching between Murchisonfjord in the south and Franklinsund in the north. There are some lagoons, including Claravågen, one of Svalbard’s largest lagoons. The carbonate-bearing bedrock is shattered by frost into countless small, sharp rocks, often arranged in fascinating patterns by freezing-thawing-cycles over centuries and millenia.

There is a ruin of a trappers’ hut in this barren landscape. The hut was built in 1908 by a group of wintering hunters led by Anders Larsen. The area was rarely used by winterers. During the few winterings in the area, the main huts were either in Murchisonfjord or in Brennevinsfjord and on Lågøya.