David Haynes of Atlanta and his partner, Mark Lambert, visited a college friend of Lambert's in Oslo, Norway, in May:

"We knew a highlight of the trip would be to see the fabled midnight sun. In order to do this, a side trip somewhere above the Arctic Circle had to be part of the itinerary. So we opened up the atlas and started looking for potential destinations.

Family photo (ENLARGE)
Motoring over glaciers and along the edge of a fjord via snowmobile was a highlight of a trip to Svalbard for David Haynes and Mark Lambert.
(ENLARGE)
Haynes and Lambert brave a snowstorm on a glacier during a day of dogsledding.
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"Knowing that this would be the farthest north either of us had ever been, we quickly became intrigued by the idea of going as far north as we possibly could. Rather than a visit to the barren and overly commercialized Nordkapp ... our focus turned to the Svalbard archipelago.

"Svalbard is about a three-hour plane trip north of Oslo and is only about 700 miles from the North Pole, approximately at the same latitude as the northernmost reaches of Greenland. There are daily commercial flights to Longyearbyen, the 'capital' of about 2,000 people, and several comfortable hotels from which to choose. We stayed in the Radisson SAS Polar Hotel, which bills itself as the northernmost hotel in the world.

"Svalbard is a semi-autonomous region administered under international treaty by Norway. The island chain has huge coal deposits and is still heavily dependent economically on mining. However, tourism is growing rapidly because of the area's spectacular Arctic scenery and its relatively mild climate because of the Gulf Stream. Of course, that far north, 'mild' means that it occasionally gets up to the 40s during the summer.

"We had three action-packed days on Svalbard. We were able to take full advantage of all it had to offer because of the 24 hours of sunlight.

"On our first day, we took a 40-kilometer snowmobile ride across glaciers and along the edge of an ice-choked fjord to visit the anachronistic mining community of Barentsburg, populated entirely by Russians. Although the town is dreary and caked with black soot, the faded Soviet-era artwork and statue of Lenin in the main square made for an interesting visit.

"The following day, we took a dogsledding trip during a snowstorm to an ice cave about 15 kilometers up a glaciated valley. Not only did we actually drive the sledges ourselves, but we also had to harness the dogs and assemble them into teams. This may sound easy, but they are incredibly strong and excitable when they're about to be taken for a run. Assembling our team exhausted both of us before we ever hit the trail.

"The last day was relatively short since our flight returned to Oslo in midafternoon. We took a short van ride out to an active coal mine just outside Longyearbyen, suited up in protective gear and received some important safety instructions. Since the mine shafts are cut horizontally into the mountainsides on Svalbard, we drove directly into the mine about 6 kilometers before getting out of the vehicle. Most of the tunnels are only about 4 feet in height and the constant creaking and cracking of the walls and ceilings made me more than a little nervous.

"Back on the mainland, we enjoyed many of the regular sites of Norway, including its quaint villages, spectacular fjords and ancient stave churches. But it's our memories and photos of Svalbard that will always be the highlight of our trip."