Hiking in Renbugten

Friday, 14 September (Part III)
Aboard M/V Sea Spirit — Renbugten, Isfjord
Position posted @ 1515: 73°21’ North / 24°29’ West

Following a fantastic cruise through Isfjord (post here), we arrived at Renbugten for today’s second hike in Northeast Greenland National Park.  Dutch had told us that the site was located on a wide, open bay on the north side of Isfjord.  That we had a calm-weather day ensured that this landing would be a go as planned.

The flat area just over Mui’s shoulder is the landing beach for this afternoon.

Renbugten [Danish for Reindeer Bay] was named for a herd of 12 reindeer seen by an expedition that visited the area in 1899.  This was the largest herd seen during this expedition — and the last living reindeer to be seen in East Greenland.

A short hop brings us to our landing at Renbugten.

Captain Peter, using his exceptional navigational skills, brought us close to the landing site, necessitating just a short zodiac ride to get us ashore.

Any closer and we could walk ashore!

A nice flat beach for our landing; but we’ll be hiking inland from here.

A lone sentinel of ice guards the beach.

OK … we’re ashore;  let’s get this hike going.

With the herd of reindeer having died out in the period between 1899-1900, our wildlife sightings were limited to herds of musk ox and plenty of Arctic hare.  With Jimmy leading us, we attempted to sneak up on the musk ox, but they were far and moving fast.  Oh well — you win some; you lose some.  The Arctic hare, on the other hand, cooperated for their photo ops.

This herd of musk ox managed to stay far ahead of us.

Arctic hare having a snack on the tundra.

We were with the medium-fast walkers.  While the terrain initially looked pretty flat, it didn’t take us long to realize that we’d be gaining some elevation along the way by following the ridgeline on the left side of the valley.  Nothing too difficult — but we did appreciate the rest breaks between the spurts of hiking we did to put some distance between us and the landing beach.

Behind us ...

... Ahead of us.

We're one of the yellow parkas up ahead in this group.

This group heads off in a different direction.

While we didn’t get close to the musk ox, we did find what was left of one when we reached our high point for the hike.  Jimmy found a broken leg bone that matched up perfectly to the skeletal remains, thus leading us to the conclusion that the animal had died a natural death after it was incapacitated and couldn’t keep up with the herd.

Although there wasn’t much to see on this hike, the pace was good, and the expansive scenery was enjoyable.  We didn’t realize we’d been hiking for two hours until Jimmy called a halt to our forward movement and told us it was time to turn back.  With fewer stops to take photos, we made it back to the landing beach in an hour.

Need to get back down to the Sea Spirit, but first we have to…

…  make it all the way down to the distant yellow parkas that are
already on their way to the beach.

Upon returning to the ship, we had a bit of time to ourselves before the daily recap/briefing, which had been pushed back an hour to 7:00p to allow us three hours for the landing.  It was, therefore, a short meeting.

First, Dutch outlined tomorrow’s plans for proceeding to the Antarctic Sound — which sounded odd, considering our northerly latitude.  Then, Laurie gave a quick talk about fox trapping in Greenland using a gizmo called a folding trap.  Sadly, the number of pelts exported increased from some 2,000 in the 1800s to over 7,000 pelts in 1939.  By 1960, fox hunting was over, but the population never recovered.  This might explain why we’ve been seeing so many Arctic hare in the national park — they far outnumber their main predator.

One of the many Arctic hare we encountered at Renbugten, this one
gives us the perfect “The End” shot for our day.

The Sea Spirit Cinema screened Chasing Ice tonight.  Having seen this fabulous documentary several times already, I opted to return to the cabin after dinner for a quiet evening of reading … and blogging, of course.

Looking forward to exploring another fjord tomorrow.

Isfjord Transit to Next Landing

Friday, 14 September (Part II)
Aboard M/V Sea Spirit — Isfjord
Position posted @ 1515: 73°21’ North / 24°29’ West

In the previous blog entry about our landing and hike at Blomsterbugten (post here), I mentioned that today was our second day in Northeast Greenland National Park.

I thought I would show you just how much land is protected by Kalaallit Nunaanni Nuna Eqqissisimatitaq, as the national park is known in Greenlandic.  It is the world’s largest and northernmost park of its kind.  To put the size in perspective, per Wikipedia, it “is bigger than all but thirty countries in the world.”

Continuing with information from Wikipedia, the park was

“… established in 1974 and expanded to its present size in 1988, it protects 972,001 km² (375,000 sq mi) of the interior and northeastern coast of Greenland. … It was the first national park to be created in the Kingdom of Denmark and remains Greenland's only national park.

Needless to say, we feel very privileged to be visiting this remote area.  Our footprints on this land may not last long, but the memories certainly will.

(Click the map above for more information if you wish.)

Now, on with more of our day in the national park.  To get from Ymer Øya to the planned site for our afternoon landing, the ship sailed through Isjord (icefjord) during lunch.  Of course, we ate our mid-day sustenance on deck 5 aft to enjoy the views along the way.  That the skies had cleared and there was plenty of blue above us, and plenty of sunshine to keep us warm, added to our pleasure in the day.

A short transit through Isfjord takes us from our morning landing site,
to our planned afternoon activity.

The scenery, with mountains featuring interesting geologic formations, was plenty interesting.  But then … we started seeing icebergs on the horizon — to be expected since Sea Spirit was sailing through an icefjord.

I mentioned in an earlier post that on this leg of our Greenland adventure, the ship is at full capacity — 112 people on board.  The downside is that deck 4 forward gets very crowded during ship’s cruises through scenic areas.  We had no desire to be jostled by the large contingent of passengers who were standing shoulder to shoulder, three-four deep in some places, jockeying to take selfies with their smart devices.  So, we alternated between our veranda; as well as deck 4 aft and bridge deck forward, both of which were significantly less crowded.  We saw the same scenery, albeit a little later than most.

An ice amphitheater … far and near.

Same ice … different perspectives.

What started out as a ship’s cruise amongst icebergs and bergy bits, changed when Sea Spirit entered brash ice.  With the hull crackling through barely formed ice, this type of cruising is the kind I enjoy the most — be it on a ship, or in a zodiac.  Not just for the scenic value, but for the overall experience — which includes the texture, sound, and even the smell of ice.

Top to bottom.

What is Mui videotaping? …

… Why these little gems, of course.

Can’t resist a reflection …

… or the way the sun lights up the surface of the brash ice.

Beautiful blue!

With our landing beach coming into sight, we left the veranda to prepare for the next activity of the day.  We were sorry that the ice cruising had come to an end, but we were expecting an interesting hike on new-to-us-land, so we really weren’t too heart broken.

See that flat area strait ahead on land … that’s where we’re headed for the afternoon.

See you on land in a little while!