Arctic Greenland - Disko Bay

 Our third stop in Greenland is in Disko Bayon Disko Island, a huge island off the west coast of Greenland.  This landing is very similar to the one at Tasiusaq and the hike is almost a repeat over similar tundra terrain with a bit of clambering over the rocks.  We hiked around the lake and saw some interesting plant life.  The rocks are not hard to climb up but getting down required a bit more manoeuvering to find a safe path.  It was not easy to determine whether you are stepping into a hole because of the thick foliage. I was grateful I had my walking stick with me!

The lake around which we hiked

 There are these fern like plants in the lake - I think they may be Mare's tails.

Mare's tails

This is the type of terrain we were walking on.  You never know when you will step into a hole!   But look how beautiful the flowers were.  You can tell we are in "warmer" climes.

I had the option of climbing that rocky outcrop and continue around the lake or go back the same way over level tundra.  My sense of adventure got the better of me and I climbed up the rocks.  It was getting down that was the challenge.  I was relieved to bump into my travel companion also in the same situation.  Two heads were definitely better than one!

We made it up these rocks

The tundra like a carpet in front of us

Looking back at the other side to see how far we had come

It was a relief to see the landing spot!  As usual, we were the last ones.

Next post:  Ilulissat!

Arctic Greenland - Tasiusaq

 Going south along the Greenland west coast, we passed by more giant icebergs before we come to Tasiusaq, a place representative of the diverse terrain of northwestern Greenland.  The coastline is rocky and slopes up to high peaks.  Where we landed is tundra, with a steep climb up to a lake with vistas of mountains in the distance and on the side.  

It's a beautiful place for a hike at our own pace - perfect for JOMO - the Joy of Missing Out, an acronym coined on this trip where after that first frantic scramble to see the stromatolites in Port Epworth, we were reminded that we don't have to see everything there is to see.  Not clambering up steep slopes on a timed Advanced hike, but enjoying the easy hike and the beautiful flowers, admiring the environment at our own pace and level. At the other end, there is FOMO - the Fear of Missing Out and the accompanying anxiety.  As the days passed, more and more people joined the JOMO group.  

This stop turned out to be the best hike on the entire trip for me - blessed by gorgeous weather, hiking through golden fall tundra, with flowers still in bloom, discovering plants never seen before, taking photos of the landscape, a little bit of clambering without hurting myself and enjoying the awe-inspiring vistas that come up with every turn.  Hope you enjoy the landscape as much as I did.

Giant icebergs we encountered on the way down the Greenland coast

The entrance to Tasiusaq is through a narrow inlet creating a very sheltered bay

Different kinds of rocks on the side

This shows you the inlet with its steep rocky slopes on the side and where we landed

A steep climb up from where we landed

Lycopodium

Purple Mountain Heather

the anticipation of the vistas at the top made the climb much easier, not to mention the flowers on the way

A stream and waterfall on our way up

Gilled mushroom

Diseased blueberry

Love those rocks!

Voilà! The view!  We walked all the way around to the other side of the lake until we hit the other lake in front of the tall mountains.

Lots of flowers on the tundra still and we were lucky to have Carole Mallory there to name all those plants for us!

See how the perspective changed as we approached the mountain

Suzie, our Inuit expedition team member posed for us in costume

The hike back yielded yet more different perspectives

Another iceberg with the rocks as a backdrop on our way out

Back on the ship, there was time for some brave passengers to do their polar dip

Canada's Arctic & Greenland - Port Epworth

I am sharing with you here a memorable journey to the Canadian Arctic via the Northwest Passage, a historical sea lane through the Canadian Arctic archipelago.  We travelled with Adventure Canada and boarded the Ocean Endeavour in Kuqulutuk, Nunuaut, travelling eastward along the passage then north to the high Arctic, crossing the Baffin Sea to Qanak before going down the Greenland coast to our final destination, Kangerlussuaq.  Almost all the boardings and landings (usually wet) were via zodiac so I was glad I have had a similar experience visiting Svalbard which helped. Zodiac cruising could be unpredictable, what started out as a calm ride could end up being so stormy on the return trip that even docking alongside the ship could be hazardous.  

It was for me a trip of a life time, at times physically strenuous and challenging for both the senses and the intellect in the sense that I was bombarded with new experiences and information, sometimes outside my comfort zone yet at the same time exposing me to exciting new environments and contexts that I have never experienced before.  This is not to mention the amazing vistas of the tundra and the Arctic ocean, the Greenland fjords and monstrous icebergs.  Breathtaking and mind boggling - but that's what an adventure is all about!

It took me a while to digest all this after the 17 day long trip and the upcoming blog posts will be my attempt to make sense of what I have seen and heard on the journey.  

Our route on a polar map

This is the original route but we were unable to get to Grise Fjord on Ellesmere Island because of packed ice. 

The top deck of the Ocean Endeavour, where we spent a lot of time with our cameras

As we travelled east, our first stop was Port Epworth or Kuluktuluq, which means Tree River.  (You will notice that most places in Nunavut have two names, the English name which is often named after some important person in England but doesn't tell you anything about the place, and the Inuit name, which usually tells you something about the place.)

Port Epworth from the ship

Close-up of the sedimentary rock formation at Port Epworth.  

Geology was the main reason we stopped here.  This is where we would see stramatolites, layered sedimentary formations created by microorganisms 1.9 billion years ago, the first preserved form of life on this planet.  These microorganisms produced adhesive compounds that cement sand and rocky materials together, forming bacterial mats one on top of the other.  I

t was a 3.5 km return hike over boggy tundra to get to the viewpoint where there was a platform of stramatolites. Because the hike involved some clambering over rocks without a trail and there was a height gain equiavlent to 14 floors, the operation was declared an advanced hike. No surprise then that everyone suddenly became an "advanced hiker" because they all wanted to see the view of the stromatolites up on the platform!

Boggy terrain - it is best to walk in wet boots over this kind of wet bog, but if you also have to climb up the hillside, the boots didn't have as good a grip as your hikers.  But walking in your hikers meant wet feet even if they are waterproof as you could sink right into the bog and the water come over the top!

Brilliant fall colours on the Arctic tundra - what a treat!

Lichens abound on the rocks

Stromatolites

This was the view we all came for!  The expanse of the stromatolites in front of us on the plateau, the bear guard in orange for perspective, the Tree River in the distance.   Geologist Dr. Marc St. Onge was there to explain the history of the stromatolites.  The stromatolites were some of the earliest traces of life - organisms that generated the oxygen we have today.  The place we were standing on used to be the bottom of the sea.

 

Table of daily finds kept on board

Stromatolites come in all sizes and this one gives you a relative size of the ones we were standing on.  You can also see some in cross-section on the hillside.  The humans are there to provide perspective.

Tbe Arctic Willow, much smaller than its relative in temperate zones because of temperature and precipitation factors.

After the climb up to the stromatolites platform, we took our time going back to the ship, enjoying the many Arctic plants on the tundra.  The afternoons on board were filled with lectures - on that particular day it was one on the fascinating Geological History of Arctic Canada and Greenland by Dr. Marc St. Onge.  This was followed by another interesting lecture on "How do Arctic Animals Survive".

Postscript: Margaret Atwood was inspired by her trip to Port Epworth with Adventure Canada to write a short story Stone Mattress in her collection "Nine Wicked Tales".  It's a murder story but it also gives you a sense of shipboard life!

Next stop:  Gjoa Haven