Iceland, Greenland and the Arctic
Note: This is edited blog merges all 4 chapters
Chapter 1 (8/23/2018)
This summer we decided to explore the North Atlantic Arctic. Our adventure started in Iceland where we took a charter flight to Kangerlussuaq, Greenland and boarded our expedition ship, the Silversea Silver Cloud.
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| Charter Flight to Kangerslussuaq |
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| Silver Cloud |
On board the Silver Cloud, we visited small villages along the west coast of Greenland as we sailed north to the Arctic Circle and beyond.
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| Map Showing Arctic Circle |
The Arctic Circle is the most northerly of the five major circles of latitude as shown on maps of Earth. It marks the northernmost point at which the noon sun is just visible on the December solstice and the southernmost point at which the midnight sun is just visible on the June solstice. The region north of this circle is known as the Arctic, and the zone just to the south is called the Northern Temperate Zone. (Wikipedia)
SISSIMIUT
The first town on our itinerary was Sissimiut, Greenland, a picturesque town located on the central west coast. Immediately, we were struck by the very unique scene in front of us.
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| Itinerary |
Houses were brightly painted in reds, blues, yellows and greens, the primary and secondary colors of a small Crayola box. They were perched on rocky cliffs, as the land was all rock and mountains. There are no trees here, just grasses, moss and wild flowers.
Greenland is part of Denmark; the population is a combination of Danes and Inuit people. The Danes first settled the area in the 1720’s, whereas the Inuit are descendants of arrivals from about 1,000 years ago. A walking tour of the area revealed a larger than expected town with shops, an airport, hospital, and both single-family and multiple housing units. There are also sizeable schools, since there are about 5,500 people living here. All goods are brought in by sea (or air), since the roads end with the town. Beyond the town, there are mountains and wilderness.
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| Greenland |
The last stop on our walking tour on the outskirts of town was a visit with Greenland sled dogs. There were many of them, and they were spread out on a rocky hillside. As we approached the area, we were struck by their large size. They had beautiful coats and started howling as we neared. It was bothersome that they were all chained, but we reminded ourselves that our views on the subject are not always applicable in all situations. Our understanding is that this is the norm for sled dogs.
After visiting Sissimiut, we reboarded the ship and started plying our way north toward the Arctic Circle. By morning, small icebergs started appearing in the water. As we continued north, the bergs got a bit bigger. We haven’t seen too much wildlife yet, mostly seabirds and a pod of pilot whales, but we’ll keep looking.
UUMMANNAQ
About 300 miles north of the Arctic circle, we found ourselves in Uummannaq, a small town that is a hub for halibut fishing. Again, there are brightly colored houses perched on the rocky cliffs. We heard that the color of your house depends on the year it needs painting. Each year, only one color of paint is delivered, and if it happens to be the time you need to paint your house, then that’s the color you will have. This town is quite active, with many of its inhabitants outside on this warm, sunny summer day. The harbor is busy with fishing boats and other watercraft skirting icebergs as they go about their business. As we walked through town, we occasionally heard a loud cracking sound, followed by the calving of one of the icebergs.
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| Town of Ummannaq |
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| Our Ship, Silver Cloud |
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| Large Iceberg in the Harbor |
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| Northern Fulmars |
As we gaze at the surrounding mountains, one thing is very clear. There are numerous glaciers, but they have retreated so much that only a small area near the top of the mountain is still covered in snow and ice. Clearly visible is also the moraine that has been left as the glaciers receded. The town is named for the heart-shaped mountain that is its backdrop.
After a day at sea, our next chapter begins at Pond Inlet, Nunavut in Baffin Bay.
(Due to the weak internet signal we have in the arctic, quality and timing may be limited.)
Iceland, Greenland and the Arctic
Chapter 2 - Arctic Canada (8/27/2018)
Pond Inlet
Pond Inlet is a small Inuit Community at the northern edge of Baffin Bay. Looking at the town from the water, it appears as a small, bleak outpost in the Arctic. On land, it’s the same—bleak. But the views of the mountains, water and glaciers surrounding the area are beautiful. We explored the town and found its inhabitants to be friendly and welcoming. They even put on a show of local customs and culture at their community center. Seal hunting is an important venture here, and it was not unusual to find seal hides drying on racks.
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| Pond Inlet, Nunavut |
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| Inuit in native dress |
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| Seal Pelts |
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| View of surrounding glaciers and mountains |
In the afternoon, we explored the local bays by kayak. It was the first time we kayaked with icebergs. Just getting into all of the gear was an exhausting experience. We dressed in 3 underlayers followed by a dry suit, splash skirt and booties. To say we felt like the ‘Michelin Man’ would be an understatement. But once in the kayak, we had a relaxing and rewarding experience following the rocky coastline and meandering around icebergs.
Fecham Bay and Icy Arm
Today’s walk on the beach was somewhat curtailed because there was a polar bear in the local area that we needed to avoid. We watched (her) from our balcony on the ship, but honestly, there wasn’t much to see, because she mainly slept. In the afternoon, we sailed through a magnificent fjord where we saw more polar bears, including a mom and cub. There were also many orcas. One pod numbered about 9, and they had made a fresh kill of a narwhal. The thing I most want to see on this trip is a narwhal, but not a dead one being torn apart by orcas! The orcas stayed close to the ship all afternoon and appeared to escort us out of the fjord later on. As a side note: we have not seen a night sky since we left home. The land of the midnight sun is living up its name, even though it’s past the time of the summer solstice.
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| Icy Arm fjord |
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| Icy Arm Glacier |
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| Orca |
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| Polar bear mom and cub |
Bylot Island
Bylot island is part of Sirmilik National Park. There is nowhere to land a boat, so our activity was a refreshingly cold zodiac ride adjacent to the towering cliffs to view the geology and bird colonies from the water. There were hundreds, no thousands of guillemots and kittiwakes nesting on the cliffs as well as some glaucous gulls. It was a fantastic morning of bird viewing and unusual scenery.
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| Bird Colony |
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| Glaucous Gull |
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| Glaucous Gull Chick |
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| Guillemots |
Devon Island
We awakened to a glorious blue sky today. Our first exploration was of Dundas Harbour, a Canadian Mounted Police outpost that was used intermittently from the 1920’s to the 1950’s to control foreign whaling and other commercial activity in this region. It was a lonely, barren place situated on the tundra and punctuated by icebergs in the harbor. The few wooden buildings there were in ruins. Artifacts were abundant--from rusted cans, empty liquor bottles, bones of animals that live in the area and other detritus. There was also a cemetery, one of the most northerly in the world. It seems that two of the men assigned here were ‘accidentally’ killed from bullets to the head from their own guns. The irony seems to be that if they were so depressed to kill themselves, by doing so they remained on this island forever.
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Former Royal Canadian Mounted Police Outpost
(Dundas Harbor, Devon Island) |
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| Abandoned Living Quarters |
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| Beached Iceberg |
The captain made an announcement at our briefing on the previous night indicating that the ice report was going to prevent us from further entering Lancaster Sound. It might be possible to get in, but the way the ice was moving might prevent us from getting out. Since none of us wanted to get stranded as the early explorers had, we understood and agreed with his plans to visit other areas that were more navigable. So, on this glorious sunny, mild afternoon we sailed into a fjord which at the end presented us with its prize--stunning views of two tidewater glaciers. As the afternoon progressed, we lingered to view magnificent reflections from the sun shining on the mountains and glaciers.
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| Bearded Seal |
Philpots Island
As we arrived at this small island off the coast of Devon Island, the fog played tag with us. One moment we were marveling at a sunny, blue sky with a remarkable view of an ice sheet on the island and accompanying bergs in the water. Then in a snap, visibility was reduced to zero and we were seeing only fifty shades of gray. Nevertheless, we donned our gear—3 layers of everything, to take a zodiac ride around the area. The first thing we saw was an item on my wish list, something I’d never seen in the wild before, a walrus. But not just one, there was a whole group of them resting on the rocks and some swimming in the water. Such a treat!! Now, if I can only get a better view of narwhals, especially males with their large tusks, my wishes will be fulfilled. Our ride continued with sightings of a few birds and many icebergs. And now a word about the icebergs. Each is totally unique in structure, color and texture. As we gaze upon them, it’s easy to think that nature has carved each one into a piece of art. Some look like animals, others look like architectural works and so on. The colors range from white, to transparent, to many shades of beautiful blues and aquas. And the texture can be smooth, striated or look like frosted glass or bubbly glass.
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| Walruses |
In the evening, the Captain gave us an update with the ice map, indicating that we would need to make yet another diversion. So, Ellesmere Island is now off the itinerary, and we will be sailing back to Greenland for the rest of our cruise.
Iceland, Greenland and the Arctic
Chapter 3 - Back to Greenland - Islands and Icebergs (9/2/2018)
Thule
Thule (Qaanaaq) is situated in northwestern Greenland and is one of the most northerly towns in the world. For us, it appeared as another cold, lonely outpost in the Arctic. However, the local Inuit people gave us a warm welcome and an impromptu tour of their area.
We happened to have on board a Danish gentleman who was an official at the U. S. airbase, also called Thule. He gave us an interesting talk regarding the base. It was established in the 1950’s at the height of the cold war and is still used as a communication (and probably intelligence) site. The U. S. leases the land from Denmark and remains there at the pleasure of the Danish government. The base is about 50 miles or so from the Inuit town.
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| Thule (Qaanaaq) |
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| Hunting Tent |
Savissivik
This little settlement is located on Meteorite Island. Meteorites and fragments of meteorites dating to 10,000 years ago have been found here. The local Inuit people used iron from the meteorites to fashion their tools. They were only able to make rather crude instruments, however, since they didn’t have enough materials to provide heat for forging. (There are no trees here for firewood.) They had to cold forge everything. Captain Peary of the British expedition team stole one of the largest meteors (circa 1894-7) weighing 3 tons and sold it to the American Museum of Natural History in New York City for $40,000. Ice conditions prevented us from visiting this location, but it is still an interesting story. I’ve included a photo of a meteorite fragment that Dave took in the little museum in Thule.
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| Meteorite |
Upernavik
Maamorilik and Qilakitsoq
As we continued south along the coast of Greenland, the ship’s crew scrabbled to find places to visit as replacements for the ones that were iced in. These two locations were not particularly exciting, so we opted to have a lazy day on board the ship. Maamorilik was the scene of a mine that was now abandoned. Metals such as zinc, iron, lead and silver were extracted here.
Qilakitsoq was the site of the discovery of eight mummified bodies in 1972. Some of them, dating to 1475, are on display in a museum elsewhere in Greenland. There are also remains of sod houses in an archeological site here, but all that remains are slight hilly spots on a hill. The highlight for me at this location was spotting an arctic fox on the beach. It was so quick there was no opportunity for a photo.
Both of these places were located in beautiful fjords with stunning reflections from the mountains.
Qeqertarsuaq, Disko Island
Yes, I’m having fun writing all of these unfamiliar place names with so many ‘q’s in them! Just don’t ask me to pronounce them. Well, we’re at another small town; this one has the distinction of giant icebergs in the harbor very close to the shoreline and town. One advantage of our explorations in the towns of Greenland is that we’re able to go on our own at our own pace rather than stay with a group. It allows us to take our time with those things that we enjoy seeing and photographing.
Ilulissat
The literal translation of Ilulissat is “icebergs”. We arose early for a boat trip in local fishermen’s boats to visit the immense icebergs in the icefjord. They calve from the Jakobshavn Isbrae glacier, the most productive glacier in the northern hemisphere. Twenty billion tons of icebergs calve off the glacier and pass through the fjord every year. Some are so large (up to 3,300 feet high) that they cannot float out of the fjord and lie stuck in the shallow areas for years until they are eventually broken up by other glaciers. Eventually they end up in the North Atlantic and last there for many years. The “Titanic” was sunk by an iceberg from this glacier! Staff members on the ship are very careful not to say the name “Titanic”.
This was the last stop on our itinerary and a great ending. Late at night, we received information that there was an aurora borealis. We tried a few times to scope out the skies for it. There was a half moon, some stars, but, unfortunately, we didn’t see the aurora. From here, we rest during a day at sea and then begin our adventure in Iceland. Chapter 4 will be written from Iceland where we will have another chance at the Northern lights.
Iceland, Greenland and the Arctic
Chapter 4 - Iceland (9/15/2018)
After a long day of being shuttled off the ship and flying to Reykjavik, we began a new adventure on a self-drive Circle Tour of Iceland. The first thing I want to say is that whoever named Greenland and Iceland got it all wrong. Greenland should have been named Iceland after its tremendous ice sheet and glaciers, and Iceland should have been Greenland, because it is quite green. There are extensive fields of moss covered lava, endless grasses, shrubs and even trees, which I didn’t expect. The trees have been introduced; Iceland used to have numerous trees and forests, but they all perished in the last ice age.
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| Moss Covered Lava |
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| Country Scene |
On the surface, Iceland appears to be a serene, bucolic place. But go below the surface, and the earth is in turmoil: boiling, steaming, and sometimes erupting through its many volcanoes (130 total / 30 active) and fissures. Thingvellir National Park features a deep gash in the earth caused by the separation of 2 tectonic plates: the North American Plate and the Eurasian Plate. Each plate is moving in a different direction, so as time passes, the cleft increases in size. We also viewed the geothermal areas near there at appropriately named “Geysir”, for the geysers and bubbling mud pots there. All of Iceland’s electricity comes from geothermal energy, hence electric bills run about $20. U.S. per month. Tap water is very clean and safe to drink, but in some places, hot water smells of sulfur from the hot springs.
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| Thingvellir National Park - Separation of Tectonic Plates |
We were traveling in a counter clockwise direction on the island on Hwy. 1, the only major highway in Iceland. On the left of the car were mountains, waterfalls, glaciers, and red-roofed farms, churches and hamlets. On the right side was the coastline, sometimes near and at other times, farther away. Both sides of the road featured thousands of fluffy, shaggy sheep grazing on grasses and mosses (they outnumber people about 2 to 1). The unique Icelandic horses were also abundant. Secondary roads only went as far as the base of the mountains except for a couple of primitive roads going into or through the mountains. In Reynisdranger, we gazed up at basalt columns towering over the black sand beach. Above the geometrically shaped columns were birds flying around their colony on the jagged cliffs. Huge sea caves were also part of the geology. We felt very dismayed, however, that this natural treasure was being abused by tourists. They were breaking off pieces of the cave ceiling and climbing all over the columns.
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| Typical Farm |
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| Icelandic Horses |
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| Sheep on the Road |
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| Basalt Columns on Black Sand Beach |
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| Sea Stacks |
We stopped counting the number of beautiful waterfalls we viewed. There are so many! The name for waterfall in Icelandic is “foss”. Gullfoss is the best known and most photographed waterfall in Iceland. Seljalandsfoss features a walkway behind the cascade of water for those who don’t mind getting wet. Skogafoss is breathtaking in its scope and has a perpetual rainbow at its base. Dettifoss is the most powerful waterfall on the European continent. None of them disappointed, as each was spectacular in a different way.
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| Gullfoss |
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| Seljalandsfoss |
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| Skógafoss |
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| Dettifoss |
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| Goðafoss |
As we traveled, every half hour or so, the scenery totally changed, and there were natural attractions worth a detour every few minutes. The day we spent in the glacier region in the southeast was a good one. Since we had seen so many glaciers and icebergs on the cruise, I thought it might be a ho hum day. But, it wasn’t. We paused at least 3 times, not just to view the glaciers, but the glacier lagoons, which we’d never seen before. They are formed from glacial meltwater and sprinkled with icebergs that have calved off the glaciers. One of the lagoons connected to the ocean, and seals swam into it, playing, swimming and diving.
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| Skaftafellsjökul Glacier |
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| Jökulsárlón Glacier Lagoon |
It’s been said that no one comes to Iceland for the weather. So true, but we’ve really been lucky. Only once did we get soaked with rain and wind. The rest of the time, we’ve had almost every kind of weather during the course of each day. Maybe some sprinkles, ominous clouds at times, fog rolling in unpredictably, periods of sunshine and occasionally high winds. But the high winds are almost welcome, because some places are teeming with little flies; the wind keeps them away. Temperatures ranged from 40’s to 60’s, quite balmy after the Arctic!
In the north, there are numerous volcanoes, fumeroles, hot springs and a huge black cinder cone. It’s like a lunar or Martian landscape—so barren. In the middle of this area is Lake Myvatn, a shallow volcanic lake with abundant waterfowl. We’ve tried to photograph some of the birds, but it’s a real challenge. The roads here have no shoulders and very few pull-offs. Add to that, it’s illegal to stop on the road. So, when there were masses of whooper swans, geese and ducks, we didn’t actually have much of an opportunity for photographing them the way we’d like. Oh well, there were enough other natural attractions with which to aim our camera lenses.
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| Whooper Swan |
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| Lenticular Cloud above Volcano |
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| Hverfjall - Cinder Cone |
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| Bubbling Mud Pot |
One day didn’t go according to plan. We started out with a low-pressure tire. Could it be those rough gravel roads? We filled it with air and went to our first waterfall. Noticing that it was still leaking air, we drove by a tire and auto repair shop only to find it was closed. (It was noon on Saturday.) We then proceeded to a gas station/grocery store to change to the spare tire, which luckily was a regular tire and not a donut. As Dave was changing the tire, a young woman approached us and said she had a flat, too, and had called the tire and auto repair store number, reached the owner, and he was meeting her at the shop at 1:00PM. So, we decided to go back to have the defective tire repaired. When we arrived at the tire shop, there were at least 3 other people there with the same issue. The first 2 were told they needed a new tire; a repair wasn’t possible due to the damage. We thought we had an easy repair, but the repairman found 2 holes in the tire, which necessitated a new tire also. At $300. for each job, we calculated that this man made $1200. in 45 minutes!
As we motored toward our 2nd destination for the day, we noticed a large motorhome broken down on the road. We saw it an hour before on our way to the shop. We stopped and asked the stranded motorists if they had help coming. They had called several emergency numbers, including the police, but an hour later, they were still stopped on the road. We gave them the phone number of the repair shop we used for the tire, and by the time we came back from our next viewing point, the repairman that helped us was on the spot helping them. We noticed they got the motorhome as far as the shop, but we don’t know the eventual outcome.
At another stop on the north side, we visited a herring museum. This fish was an important industry for Iceland’s economy until about 1978 when the herring population collapsed from overfishing. The herring are now recovering thanks to regulations on numbers of fish that can be taken while still maintaining a sustainable population of them. The north coast drive was interesting for another reason. We had to motor through several mountain tunnels. We had never been through a one-way tunnel with two-way traffic before. Cars coming toward us had the right of way, so we had to be sure to use the pull over areas before the oncoming car got too close.
I’ve rambled on long enough, I think. We thoroughly enjoyed our tour of Iceland with its clean air, clean water, tidy farms and towns. It’s a beautiful country of natural wonders. I was curious about which area of the world was geologically the youngest--Hawaii or Iceland. According to the docent at a volcano museum, Iceland is the correct answer. Some may argue Hawaii, since there is recent and possibly still ongoing volcanic activity there. But overall, Iceland is still an accurate answer. The whole island is akin to a national park.
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| Seyðisfjörður |
Until the next adventure calls, bye for now.
Renée and Dave
