lauren farmer

Polar Expedition Photographer

[coldwilderness]

Ever wondered what it looks like to be run over like an icebreaker?? Having fun with the most powerful icebreaker in the world!

[coldwilderness]

I spent two months leading trips in Svalbard and Greenland this summer, with lots of highlights, including:

- Landing on Rossøya, a tiny inaccessible skerry that is the northernmost island in the Svalbard archipelago, with a group of Buddhist monks from China!

- A VERY active and curious ermine in its winter coat in Greenland

- A circumzenithal arc(!)

East Greenland must be the most beautiful place I have ever visited. We saw stunning iceberg reflections at Gerard de Geer Gletscer, Thule remains, the iceberg graveyard at Røde Island, arctic hares, polar bears, muskox and 2000m metres high mountains rearing directly out of the sea. I don’t think anyone on the team can wait to go back.

[lauren]

Everything he said. <3

[coldwilderness]

A lovely few days hiking in Skye between contracts!

[coldwilderness]

North Pole 2017

This north pole season we set out earlier than in the past, seeing very little melt. Vast pans of even first year ice slowed the ship considerably, making timings at the north pole difficult. However, we had beautiful wildlife and scenery as usual, and I had the pleasure of being part of a German documentary on climate change, featuring our sea ice data collection project.

It was a short season, featuring only two cruises, and it felt strange to set up the ship on the first cruise and break it down on the very next one!

Thanks to Lauren Farmer for photos!

[lauren]

I’d like to start being better about posting again but until then...

Alex’s recount of our summer at the North Pole! 

[lauren]

In October I said goodbye to my Brooklyn abode and Alex and I set up our new base camp in the San Juan Islands, Washington. So far our days are filled with forest walks, coastal drives, wood fires and making new friends. This morning, after 3 days of gusty snowfall, we made our way to the west coast and it was pure wintry magic.

[lauren]

This past year I've been making one of those "a second every day" videos. Feels great to have finally finished it! 9 months spent at sea, 2 in Brooklyn and the remaining somewhere in between. So here's my 2016 in 3 minutes 30 seconds. Top year! ❤️

[lauren]

These 3 humpback whales were snoozing near our ship in the Gerlache Strait a few weeks ago in Antarctica. An incredible encounter!

[coldwilderness]

An *epic* second trip of the season, this time an Antarctic Classic and for me the opportunity to work as a camping and kayaking guide. 

We had a beautiful sunset/sunrise camping on Orne Island in amazingly calm conditions, landed with Adelie penguins on 10m+ thick sea ice in the Weddell Sea, bashed through ice on our way to Port Lockroy (and even more ice leaving through the Neumeyer Channel), and kayaked through brash on a bluebird day in Cierva Cove. Incredible!

[lauren]

Alex is much better at documenting our polar adventures... enjoy!

[lauren]

Last week up in the pack ice north of Svalbard, watching this young polar bear bury a fresh seal kill and playfully get up on hind legs as if exclaiming, “It wasn’t me!”

Great season up here in the icy north. 3 months coming to a close and I’m headed home to New York tomorrow for a 2 month break. 

[lauren]

My Arctic expedition team is all together in Iceland now and we had the most amazing day today with Arctic Trucks, driving 5 bad-ass modified Toyotas up to the crater of the Eyjafjallajökull eruption, over boulders, between lava fields and through deep, deep snow. We finished off the day with a hike to a "hot river" where we took a much-appreciated dip amongst the steam. Such an awesome way to start our season, I had an absolute blast. We're boarding Sea Spirit tomorrow, welcoming our first guests on Friday and then we're headed north to Greenland!

[lauren]

We had a wonderful 2 days in Jasper National Park in Alberta, especially on the Maligne Canyon Trail and the Columbia Icefield. 

But the highlight was seeing FOUR black bears in the wild (plus bighorn sheep and elk). Quite a thrill!

[lauren]

Alex driving like a champ (not this fast, obviously!) through thick fog in Sequoia National Park. 

[lauren]

We had our THIRD black bear sighting today in Jasper National Park! Here’s a short video I shot, you can hear that he (or she?) was right on the side of the road. Amazing!

[lauren]

My parents and I are on an epic 2 week road trip through the Pacific Northwest from San Francisco through Oregon and Washington to Vancouver Island, then over to Jasper, Banff and back to Vancouver. 

British Columbia has blown me away. Just the most gorgeous scenery with gushing rivers, cozy harbours, mirror-like lakes and winding forest roads. Not to mention, a brewery at every turn! 

It's been a wonderful few days here and I am VERY much looking forward to getting to Jasper tomorrow and seeing what Alberta has to offer. Go Canada!

[lauren]

And yet another stop on Alex and my California national park tour was Sequoia! Let me tell you, they got some big trees there. In a span of 2 days, we experienced all sorts of wacky weather. It was great to be in the park in the off-season as the trails were mostly our own. Put Sequoia on your list if you haven't already visited! Looking forward to getting to Kings Canyon next time around.

[lauren]

I think it's safe to say that Joshua Tree National Park was the highlight of our California road trip. Surprising scenery, breathtaking evening light, beautiful hikes and 2 perfect, quiet nights at Ryan Campground. We loved the Hidden Valley Trail and Cholla Cactus Garden, exploring the boulders around Arch Rock and enjoyed submitting Ryan Mountain, even if the rain and fog. 

Really looking forward to going back one day.

[lauren]

A few photos from our whirlwind day in Big Sur hiking the Ewoldsen, Pfeiffer Falls and Valley View trails, checking out the photogenic McWay Falls and camping in Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park. Loved it here, looking forward to going back to spend more time. Also, the coastal drive on Highway 1 between Big Sur and Monterey is a showstopper!