On April 9, we took a 120K snowmobile tour out to the have lunch on the ship frozen in the Fjord. After a brief familiarization on how to drive the snowmobile , and getting fitted with helmets, goggles, gloves and outerwear, we headed out for an adventure on the ice and snow. Since they did not have a hard plastic helmet to fit my big head (no jokes about me being big headed), I received and fur lined leather helmet just like the airplane pilots of WWII wore.
The seven hour snowmobile ride jostled and bounced us around, I was bounced off, late in the afternoon as we were returning. It was an exhilarating trip racing along at speeds up to 70 KPH in the cold air, viewing the beautiful landscape, the ice cover mountains, the frozen fjord, and the glaciers. The light from the overcast day gave all an eerie grayish tone. Fortunately the leaders smoked, and needed a nicotine fix, so got a short break each hour.
The leader and two assistants (one rode in the middle of the pack of 15 snowmobiles and the other in the rear) towed sleds the contained first aid and other emergency gear and rifles which would be used to protect us from Polar Bears should they cross our path. At one stop, they broke out the rifles and carried them as we took a short walk into a small box canyon.
After riding for a couple of hours, we arrived at the schooner in the frozen fjord big appetite from in wrestling the snowmobiles over the rough ice and snow. for a . We devoured the hearty lunch in beautiful dinning area of the ship.
