REMOTE. PURE. BEAUTIFUL. Greenland (English), Grønland (Danish) or Kalaallit Nunaat (Greenlandic) is a territory of Denmark and part of the continent of North America. It has a population of a little over 56,000 most of which are Greenlandic Inuit. The economy is dependent on fish exports and support from the Danish Government. Eighty percent of the country is covered by an ice sheet ranging from 6,600 to 9,800 feet thick.
I feel fortunate to have visited this remote wilderness. It served as a reminder that we are a mere spec in this big world and that it is our responsibility to take care of it.
The first leg of my journey took me from Minneapolis, Minnesota to Reykjavik, Iceland. In Reykjavik, we charter a private plane to Nerlerit Inaat Airport in the remote artic wilderness of East Greenland. It has a dirt airstrip, a friendly staff and a polar bear that likes to hang around, presumably for the trash dump. After we landed and collected our luggage, we then walked about 1.5 miles to the water, boarded zodiacs to the small ship called Polarfront. It was built in 1976 as a weather ship stationed in the North Atlantic to make meteorlogical observations for weather forcasting. This ship gave me the biggest adventure of my life…but more on that later.
East Greenland is very different from West Greenland in terms of number of inhabitants/tourists and terrain. It has steep and rugged mountains, deep Fjords, glaciers and spectacular northern lights. Before the trip, I didn’t realize how truly remote this area really is. The scenery was beautiful and varied. The vibe was tranquil.
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The houses of Ittoqqortoormiit, the most northerly settlement in East Greenland, are dwarfed by this very large iceberg floating by as it makes the journey west.
Our time in East Greenland was spent exploring Scoresby Sound, one of the largest and longest fjord systems in the world. The main body is 68 miles long and branches into a system of Fjords, the longest of which extends over 200 miles inland from the coast. ICEBERGS are plentiful. Each one is unique in size, shape and color. There were some really cool shapes out there! In addition, the red mountains provide the perfect backdrop for the icebergs!
Icebergs come from calving glaciers. GLACIERS are bodies of dense ice that are constantly moving under their own weight. It’s like a slow river of ice. There are two types of glaciers. Alpine glaciers form on the slopes of a mountain. A large body of ice that extends across a mountain, mountain range or volcano, which is under 19,000 square miles, is called an ice cap or ice field. Glacial bodies larger than 19,000 square miles are called ice sheets or continental glaciers. Scoresby Sound has many glaciers that provide the Fjords with a steady supply of icebergs.
Greenland is known as one of the best places in the world to see the NORTHERN LIGHTS (aka aurora borealis) due to it being a remote location with low levels of light pollution due to an extremely sparce population. This is the first time I’ve seen the northern lights in person. It did not disappoint!
As I mentioned earlier in this post, the group had a real adventure with an element of danger sprinkled in. On Saturday, September 16, our ship had mechanical issues and was dead in the water, for a week, anchored in an area called Iceberg City. The crew worked extremely hard to fix the propeller pitch issue which made it impossible for the ship to go forward. After a day the chief engineer concluded that a part and a shipyard was needed to resolve the problem. On the plus side, we were stranded in the most beautiful area on our itinerary. On the downside we were anchored in a place full of icebergs of all sizes. As a result, the captain asked the crew and passengers to pack (and have handy) an emergency backpack with passports and medications (no camera gear allowed). We were issued an expedition suit (for cold weather) and an immersion suit (for artic waters). The ship has a little propeller on the front run by a generator that was used to swing the boat side to side to avoid an iceberg. By day, the crew altered the course of little icebergs with zodiacs. But there still was a chance a very large iceberg would be on a collision course with us, and we would have to abandon ship. The boat was built in 1976 with a very thick hull. The thought was that if we needed to abandon the Polarfront, and an iceberg collided with it, it would still be seaworthy so that we could ultimately get back on the ship. This was a relief because the polar bear danger was also real which is why we always had a rifle with us when we left the ship to go ashore. That said - did we see any polar bears? The answer is no - just polar bear scat. Pictured below is the disabled Polarfront.
For a number of days, the ship’s owner tried to secure a tug for the ship without success. As a last resort, Iceland’s one and only coast guard boat was called upon to rescue us due to health complications from insufficient prescription medication supplies. A lesson to all of us to pack way more meds than you think you’ll ever possibly need! On Friday, September 22, Iceland’s coast guard arrived and went to work linking up the two ships with ropes. A plan had formulated between the coast guard and Polarfront’s crew while they were enroute. When the coast guard arrived both crews executed the plan quickly, with precision, and we were on our way. The coast guard dropped us off at Nerlerit Inaat Airport on Saturday, September 23 and towed the Polarfront and its crew to Reykjavik. I was worried for the crew as rough seas were forecast and was relieved when I heard they made it safely to Reykjavik.
Left to right: 1. THOR - Iceland’s Coast Guard boat; 2. coastguard getting ready to shoot a rope onto our bow; 3. the big rope in place; 4. coast guard and Polarfront ropes attached and ready to commence tow operations.
I would like to give a shout out and a thank you to the Icelandic coast guard for rescuing us and to the crew of the Polarfront (pictured left) for taking such good care of us during the trip and making it seem like we weren’t stranded but instead were recipients of a bonus extension.