You’d think in a land where polar bears outnumber local inhabitants, which is home to a quarter of the world’s polar bear population, and where you cant walk outside town without a gun for protection, you’d have a reasonable chance of spotting one. But despite snow mobiling through deserted snow and ice valleys for four hours, we didn’t spot any sign. Lots of rain deer though along the ridges and hilltops. And once more, truly spectacular pristine landscape, icey wildnerness as far as the eye could see. It was a joy to behold and experience. And yet, you can’t ignore it - many of the glaciers are retreating at record paces year on year, the snow melts faster each year, and so on….all around us the signs of global warming scream out at you. The Wilderness of Spitsbergen