Thursday, 19 September (Part I)
Aboard M/V Sea Spirit — Scoresbysund
Stats posted @ 0830
Position: 71°35’ North / 26°26’ West
Distance traveled: 1,436.2 NM since Reykjavík
temperature: 48F / 9C
Quote from the Daily Program:
“A large volume of adventures may be grasped within this little span of life,
by him who interests his heart in everything.”
— Laurence Sterne —
We were up at 6:00a as the ship approached the site for the day’s first activity. The skies were overcast, but there was enough brightness to show us that we were in a fjord where the tundra’s reds and golds would add cheer to our landing.
Having made our way a little further north overnight within the Scoresbysund fjord complex, we were now back in a small corner of Grønland Nordøst [Northeast Greenland] National Park for one last hike. More specifically, we were at Frederiksdal, a valley with a glacial braided stream … located just off Nordvestfjord.
91 NM (105 miles/169 km) overnight takes us deeper into Scoresbysund.
We went ashore at 8:30a for a tundra walk in the company of Jimmy and Dr Chris. Initially, we followed rather flat terrain along the shoreline. Slowly, that changed and we started gaining some elevation. Steep in places, the hike wasn’t particularly difficult, but we did have to watch out for the hummocks that were hidden amongst the plants, ready to trip us up if we weren’t careful.
Dutch had mentioned the possibility of seeing musk ox here. No live ones, I’m afraid; but we did see plenty of remains — and even skins, and hair, and qiviut.
That’s not cotton grass or anything like that. It’s the remnants of musk ox hide.
No musk ox, but how about a couple of Arctic hare.
Higher and higher we went. Slowly; quietly. Eventually, we came to a stop and Jimmy suggested some ‘zen time’ to enjoy the quiet landscape … to drink in the essence of Greenland. Perfect.
We returned to the Sea Spirit just before noon. A scenic lunch on our way out of Nordvestfjord seemed like the thing to do even with the clouds descending to veil the scenery. Knowing our time in Greenland was quickly coming to a close, we stayed on deck to enjoy the big bergs.
Farewell Frederiksdal.
The day’s program included a zodiac cruise before the ship exited into the wide mouth of Scoresbysund. And there was one offered. But by then, it was raining. It was cold and miserable. So, we did something that is unusual for us — we skipped the cruise. Instead, hot toddies in hand, we sat on our veranda where the overhang gave us a degree of protection and just quietly explored the scenery with our eyes — even being rewarded with a calving off a nearby giant berg.
Splash went a chunk of ice from the tip of this berg;
you can see the ice from the first calving on the far right near the two boats.
By the time the zodiacs were retrieved and the Sea Spirit was underway, there were definite signs of clearing. It was slow; but it was happening. And it gave us hope that the expected ice cruise as the ship continued east would be a fitting finale for our time in Scoresbysund.
I have a ship’s cruise in big ice to get ready for!
