Greenland – hiking

[part of a series of posts beginning here]

One might imagine becoming stir crazy during ten days aboard ship.   Fortunately, the expedition team offered many opportunities to go ashore!  Nearly every day they would offer short, medium, and long walks.  Some were billed as a ‘photo walk,’ accompanied by the ship’s photo experts; others were focused on interpretation of the ecology or history; still others were pointedly called a ‘strenuous hike’ for which exercise was the goal and there would be no time to stop for photos or natural-history lessons.  We were fortunate with good weather – sometimes fantastic weather – so I had the opportunity to hike at Dronning Marie Dal (in Skjoldungensund), at the outlet of the Sermeq glacier (at the head of Tasermiut fjord), around the Hvalsey historic site, around the village of Qassiarsuk, and in the tundra above Neria fjord.   The scenery was dramatic, and varied tremendously from place to place. Read on for more!

Every time we went onshore in a wilderness location, each of the guides was outfitted with a rifle and other mechanisms to ward off polar bears.  Although we were told we were unlikely to encounter any polar bears – and indeed we saw none – they are known to occasionally visit this region.  Every outing was preceded by a scouting party, and no landing was possible if a bear was present. After landing, a guard was posted on a beachfront promontory to keep a watch for any bears that may come along.  We never saw a bear, and had no incidents.

On our final hike, across the permafrost tundra above Neria fjord, we came across many animal signs – discarded caribou antlers, the carcass of an arctic fox, and tracks and scat from both.  Eventually, high above a mountainside lake, we encountered caribou (also known as reindeer).  First, an individual buck; then a mother and calf; then, on a ridgeline above us, a line of five caribou.  Spectacular!  Check out the hiking gallery for lots more photos, and especially my video of the caribou.

Locations: (zoom in for precise location, out for context)

• Dronning Marie Dal (in Skjoldungensund)
• Outlet of the Sermeq glacier (at the head of Tasermiut fjord)
• Hvalsey historic site
• village of Qassiarsuk
• tundra above Neria fjord