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In the Footsteps of FranklinIn the Footsteps of Franklin
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In the Footsteps of Franklin

juli - august 2022
After eight years of being away from the polar regions, we will be scratching our "Ice Itch" with a Quark Expeditions voyage that will take us into the Canadian High Arctic. Les mer

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  • Two to TravelIn the Footsteps of Franklin

    Tundra Hike: Inussuit Tasersuat

    3. august 2022, Grønland ⋅ ☁️ 48 °F

    We’re still far enough south — a little below the Arctic Circle — that we had a bit of darkness last night … and a bit of sunrise color this morning. That will change soon enough.

    Our plan of activities for today called for a tundra hike to a lake in the Greenland wilderness. In the briefing last night, the hike was described as fairly easy. When we got ashore, Christian, our Expedition Leader, had a revised description for us … rocky terrain with some steep sections … and patches of boggy, wet soil. “Team members will be positioned along the way to give you a hand up,” he said.

    This was a perimeter hike. Meaning that “bear guards” were positioned at high points. Within that perimeter, we could climb the path at our own pace ... being careful to stay on the rough trail as much as possible in order to protect the tundra. Alrighty then. Onward we went, taking it slow and easy … primarily to take photos and enjoy the remote tundra setting, but also to catch our breath periodically.

    Once we reached the lake, we clambered down the rocky terrain to the lake’s edge to take our photos. Then back up again for Labrador tea (made from a local plant) and bannock … prepared by one of the locals from Maniitsoq, the community we planned to visit in the afternoon.

    A great first outing of our expedition.    Les mer

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  • Two to TravelIn the Footsteps of Franklin

    Our Plans Change!

    3. august 2022, Davis Strait ⋅ ☁️ 45 °F

    An expedition in remote areas of the world has one essential component … flexibility. That came in to play this afternoon.

    Our community visit to Maniitsoq this afternoon has been canceled. So has tomorrow’s call on Nuuk, the capital of Greenland. There is a front moving in that is going to make it quite unpleasant to stick around this part of Greenland.

    Make the crossing to Baffin now, you say? No can do. In fact, we’ll likely have to scrap southern Baffin altogether. The problem with that part of the itinerary is ice. Yes, the ship can operate in 3/10ths to 4/10ths ice. But there is too much of it in the area that we are supposed to explore in a few days’ time. The ice chart Christian, our Expedition Leader, shared with us at the briefing this afternoon shows 7/10ths to 9/10ths coverage.

    Another reason we have to stick around Greenland and wait for the front to blow out is fuel. There are only two places around here where we can top off Ultramarine’s tanks — Nuuk and Sisimiut. While we are OK fuel-wise, the top-off is needed to finish out Quark’s Arctic Canada season.

    So, what’s the plan? We’re going to head north along the Greenland coast to Eqip Sermia up in the Disko Bay Area. We hiked at Eqip Sermia in 2013, so we’re familiar with where we are going. From the image we’ve been shown, however, a different route is planned this time.

    Yup … flexibility is definitely the name of the game.    Les mer

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  • Two to TravelIn the Footsteps of Franklin
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    Disko Bay: Ice Baby Ice

    4. august 2022, Davis Strait ⋅ 🌧 45 °F

    Our morning at sea promised sightings of ice. After all, to get to Eqip Sermia, our planned destination for today, we had to sail through Disko Bugt (in Greenlandic … Qeqertarsuup tunua) … where big bergs and small chunks of ice can clog the waters. This southern inlet of Baffin Bay, located north of the Arctic Circle, is the largest open bay in western Greenland.

    Today, the waters were not nearly as clogged with Mother Nature’s ice sculptures as they had been on our trip in 2013. There were growlers, bergy bits, and icebergs in all shapes and sizes … with plenty of water to negotiate a route amongst them.

    Mui and I spent the majority of the morning bundled up, wandering the outside decks. Going up … going down. Going forward … going aft.

    Such majesty our eyes beheld!    Les mer

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  • Two to TravelIn the Footsteps of Franklin

    Our Fourth Bear

    4. august 2022, Davis Strait ⋅ 🌧 46 °F

    Is it just me or is there a polar bear behind the iceberg playing peek-a-boo with us?

    You see it too, don’t you? No? Take a look at the left edge of the photo where the bear’s cone-shaped snout is peeking out.

    ☺️🙃🤪    Les mer

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  • Two to TravelIn the Footsteps of Franklin

    Tundra Hike: Eqip Sermia

    4. august 2022, Grønland ⋅ ☁️ 45 °F

    Eqip Sermia — or Eqi Glacier in English — is a tidewater glacier. Meaning that it terminates in the ocean.

    This particular glacier is nicknamed the calving glacier for its active discharge of ice from its terminus, which is just over 3 miles wide. We caught glimpses of the action, alerted to the calving by the rifle-shot cracks and the thunderous, cannon-like booms. More often than not, however, the ice falling into the water from the terminus was hidden from our eyes by the moraine ridge.

    When we visited Eqip Sermia in 2013, we arrived late in the afternoon and lay at anchor overnight. This gave us an opportunity for a zodiac cruise along the terminus of the glacier on the first afternoon and a hike up to the glacier the next morning. It was a beautiful blue-sky day on that occasion. Today, all we had was thick overcast.

    (The story of our 2013 hike — in words and images — is at this link: http://2totravel.blogspot.com/2014/01/hiking-to….)

    We’d been briefed that we could not hike up to the glacier today due to how much it has receded over the past 10 years. In fact, it was no longer possible to even hike up to the moraine ridge overlooking the glacier as we had back in 2013. The plan, therefore, was to land on a beach on the far side of the flood plain. Those who wanted to could then embark on a 4-mile in-out hike to get to the other side of the flood plain. Others could go on a meandering hike at their own pace.

    Distance-wise, the hike would have been doable. But Mui and I decided to “play” around on the side of the flood plain where a lake had formed between the landing beach and a rushing creek of glacial meltwater. Take our time and enjoy the tundra was the plan. And that’s what we did, making our way as far as the rushing creek that those who wanted to hike further had to cross via boulders and make shift bridges the expedition team had “built” with pieces of flat wood to bridge the gaps.

    We took our time and “smelled the tundra,” so to speak, checking out the colorful flowers, the birds, and the nooks and crannies that afforded some interesting photo ops.

    On the way back, we joined Laurie and Emily, two of the expedition team members … and friends from our 2013 Greenland Expedition. It was a great opportunity to catch up. We were so engrossed in doing so that we all missed the turn in the path down to the beach. Ooops. No matter … it just meant that we got that many more steps of exercise into our day.    Les mer

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  • Two to TravelIn the Footsteps of Franklin

    Ice Cruising @ Eqip Sermia

    4. august 2022, Grønland ⋅ ☁️ 48 °F

    Following our hike on the tundra, we returned to the landing beach. Putting our camera gear in our dry bags, we donned our pfds (personal flotation devices) and hopped on the next zodiac going back to the ship. But first a short detour.

    Christian, our expedition leader, had arranged for the zodiac drivers to take the long way back to the ship … via Eqi Glacier. Since this is a very active glacier, we couldn’t get too close to the terminus due to the danger of a tidal wave should there be a major calving. Nonetheless, we enjoyed the views of this giant river of ice from the water level.

    We also enjoyed the presence of some feathered friends — black-legged kittiwakes — rafting on the ice that had calved off the glacier throughout the afternoon.    Les mer

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  • Two to TravelIn the Footsteps of Franklin

    Eqip Sermia: Caught Some Calvings

    4. august 2022, Grønland ⋅ ☁️ 48 °F

    With Ultramarine at a standstill in front of Eqip Sermia, there was no doubt in my mind that we would be enjoying views of this river of ice from our veranda once we were back on board. Mui even picked up some cookies and hot chocolate from the self-serve coffee bar in the Panorama Lounge on deck 7 forward. Can you say “snack with a view?”

    The bonus of spending time on the veranda? I caught a snippet of some of the smaller calvings that were shedding ice from the terminus. Granted, such was the ship’s distance to the glacier that the calvings were not visible to the naked eye. But I got lucky because they were happening in the background of a video I was shooting of a zodiac cruising along the face of the ice.

    (See video #2 … look towards the right side where the glacier meets the water.)

    On the matter of Eqip Sermia’s retreat, I annotated a panorama I took from the veranda to show the ridge we climbed to in 2013 … and the area that was filled with ice at the time.    Les mer

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  • Two to TravelIn the Footsteps of Franklin

    Ilulissat: From Sea & Land

    5. august 2022, Grønland ⋅ ⛅ 45 °F

    Hello again, Ilulissat!

    Once known as Jakobshavn in Danish, this third largest town in Greenland (with a population under 4,500) is a favorite of ours. And not just because it’s home to one of the most amazing UNESCO World Heritage Sites in the world. In fact, the name of this city, located north of the Arctic Circle, fittingly means icebergs in Greenlandic.

    I’ll get to the ice and iceberg portion of our day in the next footprint (though I do have a couple iceberg shots in this one as well). For now, let’s check out glimpses of this colorful community from sea and from land.

    (As interlopers — remember, we weren’t supposed to be in this part of Greenland today — we shared Ilulissat with Silver Sea Expeditions’ Silver Wind. It didn’t matter that there was another ship in town because Mui and I did not encounter any of those passengers. I was, in fact, happy to have another expedition vessel provide perspective on the size of the bergs just off the Ilulissat shoreline … it’s not often that I get a chance to do so … photo #2.)    Les mer

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  • Two to TravelIn the Footsteps of Franklin
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    Trekking Along the Icefjord

    5. august 2022, Grønland ⋅ ☁️ 46 °F

    There are four popular trails to hike in Ilulissat … each providing a different perspective of the Ilulissat Icefjord (Ilulissat Kangerlua in Greenlandic).

    The 25-mile long fjord begins at the Greenland Ice Sheet and ends at Disko Bay. Way up at the head of the fjord is Sermeq Kujalleq (aka Jakobshavn Glacier) … a fast moving, active river of ice. It is this glacier — combined with the amazing scenery in the area — that has put the Ilulissat Icefjord on the UNESCO World Heritage Site List.

    There are no views of the glacier from where the town is located … nor from the trails. All the visible ice — for miles and miles and miles — consists of bergs that have calved off the glacier. Some 20 BILLION tons per year according to the Wikipedia article I read. Another mind boggling number from the same source says that some of the icebergs are up to 3,300 feet (1 km) in height! No wonder they are grounded and remain in the fjord until such time as they break up and can free themselves. Due to the way the currents run, it is believed that the iceberg that caused the demise of Titanic came from this fjord.

    When we visited Ilulissat in 2013, we walked through town to the boardwalk that runs down to the Icefjord for views that I still have a hard time comprehending … even after seeing them again today. On that occasion, we returned to town via the blue and red trails … coming across Thule skeletal remains that our historian Laurie pointed out along the way.

    (The story of our 2013 hike — in words and images — is at this link …http://2totravel.blogspot.com/2013/12/ilulissat….)

    This time, we wanted to do something different. So, we opted for the yellow route. Instead of taking the shuttle arranged by Quark to the newly constructed Ice Center at the junction of the trails, we decided to hike the path in reverse by walking through town …. thanks, Fabrice, for showing us the short cut.

    The downside to our plan was that we dawdled so much on the trail that we never had time to go into the Ice Center. On the other hand, had we gone to the center by starting at that end of the trail, we might not have managed to complete the hike. Definitely a dilemma.

    It wasn’t so much the distance that delayed us — about 2.5 miles with the walk to the trailhead near the power plant tacked on. Nor was the rocky terrain that had us crawling over and around boulders and rocks a problem. Even the elevation gain was a non-issue. It was the jaw-dropping scenery that kept stopping our forward progress!

    We’re back on the ship now. But our day is not over yet …    Les mer

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