Scorebysund, East Greenland
We spent most of the morning exploring Danmark O, a small island just off the southern coast of Milne Island in the southern reaches of Scoresbysund, which as we all now know is the largest fjord system in the world. Our landing site was near Hekla Haven, a very protected little natural harbor named for a ship that featured prominently in Antarctic exploration during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. A Danish expedition aboard Hekla purposely overwintered here in 1891-1892 and conducted various scientific studies during their time here.
However, the most famous expedition to operate here was that of Jean-Baptist Charcot, the renowned polar explorer who came to this same harbor with his ship Pourquoi Pas? in 1930. He left behind the cairns scattered about on the high ridges that were visible during our hikes ashore. Charcot is legendary for his two highly successful expeditions in Antarctica…the first one aboard Francais (1903-1905) and the second aboard Pourquoi Pas? (1908-1910). Sadly, six years after working here at Hekla Haven, Pourquoi Pas? sank off the coast of Iceland during a storm with a loss of 43 men, including Charcot.
Several hiking options were offered near Hekla Haven, but everyone who came ashore was rewarded with magnificent concentrations of dwarf fireweed, the national flower of Greenland, as well as low, scrubby bonsai-like willows and many other species of flowering plants. All this gave us plenty of opportunities to use our macro lenses on the tiny plants. Some of us even partook in eating some of the almost-ripe blueberries. The rolling hills and smooth, granitic outcrops made for very interesting hiking, affording us magnificent views along the way.
The early afternoon was spent cruising through the scenic Fonfjord Channel, dodging huge icebergs and viewing beautiful, rugged geologically-oriented scenery. By mid-afternoon, we reached an area known as Ankirvig, where Captain Skog brought the ship in close (and I do mean close!) to the shore to give us an easy Zodiac landing. Several muskoxen were viewed high up the slope backing the landing, and the “long hikers” managed to get relatively close to them. Well, a lot closer than the rest of us managed. We did, however, find muskoxen bones from several individuals close to the landing site and a little ways up the slope.
The edge of the Greenland ice cap was visible on the mountain tops high above us, and we all tried to estimate the thickness of the ice…our guesses varied from 60 to 150 feet (18 to 45 meters). Perhaps it is even thicker than that (see photo). Meltwater streams and rivers were gushing out of the hills in several places near our hiking region, which had the effect of turning the water into something that looked like watered-down milk…a consequence of the fine, crushed rock we call glacier flour that is produced by the movement of glaciers over bedrock and washed out by the melting ice, and becomes suspended in the surrounding waters.
After dinner, nearly everyone went out on a Zodiac cruise to explore a constricted area near Rode O. This island is part of the same formation known as Old Red Sandstone that we have seen in Shetland and Norway on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean. The cruise was quite exciting, because there were many large ice bergs that had become grounded and trapped in the vicinity, nearly choking the waterway. It made for a very photogenic excursion, especially since the ice bergs were mostly sitting on the bottom, thereby reducing the chance that they would suddenly break up and roll over…thus endangering the Zodiacs (and their passengers!). This allowed us to get relatively close to the spectacular ice sculptures.
