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Upernavik Greenland Travel notes 2009 conclusion Gail Ferris |
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I was
just at the end of Sandersons and heading across to Lange Ø: |
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Below
is a 2009 aerial photo showing what it looks like to be just flying over the
edge of Sandersons and looking down at the passage with all the ice in it. On the
right behind Sandersons is Umiaq mountain a landmark that resembles the
traditional open boat used for travel with people in this area rowing, the
umiaq. Looking
at the water you can see just what I had to think about, the ice. One can never tell where the ice is going
to be, so here I was paddling past the shoreline in the previous photos
coming to this opening not being sure about what the ice situation might be
although I was optimistic that I would not have any problems. Below is a 2009
aerial photo showing what it looks like to be just flying over the edge of
Sandersons and looking down at the passage with all the ice in it. On the
right behind Sandersons is Umiaq mountain a landmark that resembles the
traditional open boat used for travel with people in this area rowing, the
umiaq. Looking
at the water you can see just what I had to think about, the ice. One can never tell where the ice is going
to be, so here I was paddling past the shoreline in the previous photos
coming to this opening not being sure about what the ice situation might be
although I was optimistic that I would not have any problems. |
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#157 |
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The
photo above is of the east side of Lang Ø on the left side across from the
cliffs on Sandersons. Passing
by the northern tip of Sandersons in my kayak across the passage that is
filled with icebergs behind the shallow island, Lang Ø was an easy
paddle. Surely
in all this idyllic calm I would be back to Upernavik in just a few more
miles. I
swerved nearer Lang Ø rather than heading directly for the next point, Søndre
Næs just to look at that coastline because it was such a nice day. Wow
there I was off the first bay on this west coast of I can
tell you that my hair absolutely stood on end and I must have jumped a mile
straight up in the air! Wow what an
explosion. I am
glad I was not in some dainty tippy little kayak; I would have been swimming
immediately. There
happened to be an iceberg maybe a quarter of a mile away which I did not
realize was just sitting stranded on the shallow bottom. I did not realize that this berg was ready
to just let go just at that moment. I had
not the slightest warning. I did not
even hear any sort of click before it happened which often you will hear before
the ice lets go. So
there I was this completely unsuspecting kayak paddler just horrified beyond
belief. All I can say is that my
adrenalin system sure does respond rather robustly at that! I had
not thought about what could happen to an iceberg off the shallow island such
as Lang Ø. |
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Below
is a photo of this same area. What is
happening in this photo below is that the iceberg in the foreground is just
breaking up. Unfortunately I did not
take a photo of that previously mentioned ice berg that was breaking up |
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#158 |
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Just an
ice berg out in the sunshine and who knows? |
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#159 |
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In the
photo below the iceberg is actively rolling over because a large chunk has
broken off underwater and the center of gravity has now changed. Bergs roll over until they settle at their
new center of equilibrium. I
happened to catch this moment in Kullorsuaq 1995. The pastel purple light is what light looks
like late in the year. |
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#160 |
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Here is
an aerial photo of Upernavik. |
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#161 |
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#162 |
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From
Sandersons I was just charging homeward.
The brilliant sun was frying me as I was paddling into town. I
paddled into town late Friday morning. Some
dear old friends, who were walking down the main road, saw me coming in. Here,
after all these years, in so many ways it has been hard to imagine the many
times I have paddled in my red kayak in this area. Some
old fellows recognized me far out there as I was off Gries Øen. These are the one who in the old days the
1960’s still hunted and fished from their kayaks. They
were glad to see me even though I knew that they wondered how someone, as old
as I am, will still come to Upernavik to paddle and visit after all these
years; but I always find something to look at and compare from when I was
here starting in 1992. From my
kayak I visit both the new and old places.
I think about what went on the weather the waves the currents the
winds what was it like and what am I seeing that I missed seeing last time. There
were and always will be those unbelievable moments that I come back to Upernavik
over and over again just to see if it was really true what I saw. What
should I do about the situations that I may come across such as one of those
wild wind storms. Now the
factors for iceberg circulation in this fjord area relative to currents that
carry the icebergs through passages I need to figure out. Now
with more capability with GPS mapping technology I have the opportunity to
better handle the fog and knowing where I am. |
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It was
so nice to come into the My
difficult moment was that I had been in my kayak for so many hours that I was
very dizzy once I stepped out onto land. I felt
like a drunk and not falling over when I stood up and walked which were just
the effects of having been constant motion on the water for eleven hours. I can
say the gentle sway of my kayak and all the comfort of the seat in the
cockpit makes paddling for hours I had no idea how dizzy I would be when I
landed and stood up I immediately when I put my foot out on the rock very
nearly fell over. And there I was in
full view of the town, Upernavik, that would have
made a great impression “it’s that American lady again just look at her she
can’t even walk! I wonder what she has
been up to. That American!” |
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I had
to resolve this problem of my stringers not fitting into the C fittings on
the ribs. Luckily I was able to borrow
a I
reassembled my kayak and took it out for at test paddle and I found that my
kayak paddled much faster because it was back to the original hull design. During
my paddle I once again went around east past Upernavik to look at a bay which
I knew from past years had a large population of shellfish. I wanted to revisit this bay at low tide in
bright sun. What I
found were not many shellfish mussels or clams that I could dig out but I did
have the wonderful moment of finding some sea scallops with red shells and
red tentacles. I had found a shell on
the bottom in 1995 and seen a couple live scallops near Innarsuit but here at
long last I found these scallops in abundance just a few miles from
Upernavik. I was just thrilled after
all these years. Below
is a photo I took over the side of them on the bottom. The
white shells are Arctic clamshells. I
can guarantee you that those clams are absolutely delicious and they fill the
entire shell more so than regular soft shell clams off |
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#163 |
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Oh this
photo shows numerous lovely sea urchins on the bottom! Too bad that they are
too deep for me to fish up. In the
center is a brown white scallop shell. |
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#164 |
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I
really had this rare unexpected moment in this bay just because I happened to
get on the water at about I also
caught sight of some lazy Arctic cod that thought I was something interesting
to hang around with. What is
really interesting about this little bay is that it is surrounded with rich
earth and loads of wild flowers suggesting that it is a quiet area with
little wind. Unfortunately
there is no flat area to camp here but a short way after this bay there are
low rounded bright yellow granite domes with flat areas among them. Recently
someone from town has constructed a summer home on the east side of Lang Ø
which means that dogs are no longer allowed to just roam free during the
summer on this island. In the
‘90’s I was just about to get out of my kayak to take a break on Lang island
when I spotted half a dozen dogs coming to greet me. I took off, then and there, being glad I
had spotted them before it was too late; sled dogs are not domestic pets. |
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#165 |
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I had a
wonderful time visiting and paddling. John
took me and Gina his wife out in his motorboat to hunt and fish. I had the opportunity to take some
photographs that I could not take on previous visits. In particular of the icefjord out near
Tasiussaq I took photos while John looked for seals. This is
a view from the stern of <John’s motorboat and in this background you can
see Upernavik itself and behind the town the mountain Sandersons Hope. |
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#166 |
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We
motored north toward Tasiussaq and as we got close to the icefjord we saw
this between two islands. |
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#167 |
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Then we
traveled further looking for the errant seal which might be among the
ice. Seals this time of year, August,
lurk among the ice. |
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#168 |
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We
emerged onto the horizon here and we saw our margins over there. |
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#169 |
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Closer
to the ice conditions looked like this which was some nasty going, weaving
without hitting those shards of ice.
We wove our way through slowly not wanting to damage our fiberglass
hull. In my
kayak I would have been very cold and afraid, I was glad I was not trying to
wend my way through risking entrapment in my kayak. |
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#170 |
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We saw
no seals and headed for our favorite spot where we could get some mussels. That
was this year’s visit to Upernavik. Gail
Ferris |
