Disko Bay - Day 8

The sunshine of late yesterday afternoon continued into the following morning, so we were relaxed group of kayakers who launched onto a relatively calm sea.  The large bergs, which dominate this section of Northern Disko Bay, dictated our route, avoiding the risk of being too close to calving bergs.

The scenery was spectacular, to our left were the mountains of the Nuassuaq Peninsula whilst to our right Disko Island was clearly visible at last.  As we headed east the wind dropped and the temperature appeared to rise.  Lunch was a leisurely affair, with dry suit tops removed, whilst eating, for the first time on the trip.

The afternoon carried on in a similarly relaxed manner, delightful paddling past some quite large bergs with a stunning mountain backdrop.  It was one of those days which makes you you realize why you will return to Greenland to paddle again, at some point in the future.

John close to Savik.  The mountains behind are where we walked the previous day.

Nicky crossing in front of Saputit.  The mountain in the distance is a classic pyramidal peak, it was almost shouting out "climb me".

Leaving the large bergs which dominate the coast near Saqqaq behind.  The twin peaks on the right are a distinctive landmark from miles around, indicating the location of Saqqaq.

It started it off calm and then the wind dropped.  Disko Island is the landmass behind.

 Jim slicing the bread for lunch, a really important job.  His precision cutting meant that it was fair for everyone.

 The warmer weather and bright sunshine encourage some after lunch exploring, and we discovered the base of an old hut.

 Crossing the bay close to Qeqertaq, there were a number of reasonably large bergs, which we tried to avoid getting too close to.

 Approaching the headland at Nugaq, the land behind rises to over 700 metres, pretty much straight out of the sea.

 Collecting water from the small stream close to Nugaq.  Part of the daily routine if we weren't sure where we would be camping and needed to make sure that we had enough liquid.

The white on the cliffs is a Kittiwake colony, there were thousands of these delightful gulls.

These slabs rose out of the water for over 2,000 feet.  A superb last mile or so at the end of a great day.

Disko Bay - Day 6

Today was intentionally going to be a short paddling day as we had planned to visit, the largest settlement on the northern shores of Disko Bay, Saqqaq.  With a population of just under 200 the Greenlandic name is a translation from the Danish, "Sunny Side".  This was clearly an inappropriate name on the rather grey and damp day that we explored the village.

The main reason for the village was to top up our food supplies as it was going to be another 12 days before we were able to re-stock.  Getting to the village is always a slight concern because of the number of large bergs, which are attracted to this section of coastline and appear to be breaking up with amazing regularity.  The main worry is getting caught alongside the shore when one of the larger bergs breaks up and sends in significant waves.  No such event today so after just over an hours paddling we landed on some rocks to the east of the village.

The village has given its name to a whole era of Arctic culture, the Saqqaq culture, whose people inhabited this area from around 2,400 BC until 8-400 BC.  The first tools from this people were found during excavations in the area, hence the name.

It was clear whilst we were in the village that the weather was deteriorating and when we started the return paddle it was into a rather persistent and unpleasant drizzle, the start of about 17 hours of precipitation.  As we sat in the tipi though, drinking freshly brewed coffee and eating recently bought cake we didn't feel we could complain too much.  This was the only rain we experienced in 3 weeks in Greenland.                                            

 Kayaks at the campsite about 3 miles east of Saqqaq.  Behind Disko Island is visible, the first time for a couple of days.

Along the shore near Saqqaq there are always a significant number of large bergs, which are in a constant process of break up.  There was quite some concern in the group about the consequences of getting caught out by a wave from a calving berg when close to the shore.

 Saqqaq is quite a pleasant village on the north shore of Disko Bay.  There is a reasonable sized supermarket and a smaller store where we purchased ice creams.  It was summer after all.

 Looking out across Disko Bay

 Getting ready to paddle our fresh supplies back to the camp ground.  The weather was certainly on the turn and it rained for the next 17 hours.  I don't suppose we should complain though as this was the only day it rained whilst we were in Greenland.

Greenland Day 9: Food shopping

We had a slightly later start today after the exertions of yesterday and our main target for the day was to reach the small village of Saqqaq and replenish our food supplies. The weather was calm and settled initially but the cloud formations hinted at a change later in the day. In fact it wasn't long before the wind started to rise and the temperature to drop.

We reached Saqqaq in time for some serious shopping before the store shut for a couple of hours. It is amazing how quickly one develops a craving for cakes, crisps and Fanta! What was probably the most memorable image of our stay in the village was watching a young boy, probably about 8 years of age, climb out of a boat and walk up the quayside carrying the leg of a freshly shot reindeer. Not the normal activity for an 8 year old in the UK.

We were warned about the potential for bad weather, a young Greenlander back in the village of his birth for his father's wedding spoke to us in perfect English about his fathers concerns. we thanked them for their advice but we only had a few miles to go to our planned campsite, with numerous alternatives on the way.

Heading away from Saqqaq we were inside a line of large icebergs, which were steadily breaking up, so required a healthy degree of respect. By the time we did land the temperature had dropped considerably, requiring hats, gloves, down jackets etc just to maintain a reasonable degree of comfort.

This was a campsite that I had used before, 3 and 4 years ago and it was interesting to see that the glaciers appeared to be visibly shrinking. Its one thing to read about the impact of global warming but a completely different thing to actually be able to see it.

We had paddled just over 17 nautical miles today but for the first time we were in waters which had kayaked in before. It was like becoming re-acquainted with an old friend.

It was a beautiful start to the day, calm and reasonably warm although the clouds hinted at something more unsettled arriving.

We reached Saqqaq just in time to restock our food before the store closed for a couple of hours.  Saqqaq has a population of just under 200 and is unusual in this area in that the population isn't actually declining, which it is doing in so many small villages.

Just before we launched at Saqqaq a young Greenlander came over to say that his father felt that the weather was going to get worse and that we should be careful.  Luckily we only had a few miles to paddle to reach a campsite which we had used before as it was obvious that things were changing.

Whenever I have paddled in this area there has always been a significant number of quite large bergs reasonably close to the coast.

Not all bergs are sparkling white.  It was as cold as it looks in this picture.

 This picture was taken in July 2008 on a previous visit to the area, whilst the one below was taken this summer from roughly the same spot.  I have enlarged both and it is surprising to see how much more rock is exposed at the lower left hand edge of the glacier compared to 4 years ago.

Down jackets and woollen hats were the order of the day.  Certainly our coldest evening but at least it kept the insects under control.

Nicky heading into the tent, due to the cold.

It was a rather noisy camp with the bergs breaking up throughout the night.