Tuesday, August 27, 2013

Icy East Greenland - Part 6

Entering Angmagssalik Fjord, we began to close the loop. The next couple of days had a bit of sad feeling as we were in the home strait. However, there was still plenty to keep our minds focused.

We had entered icy waters again and we effortlessly slipped into our now well-rehearsed close paddling formation. The ice was so dense in places that it made progress difficult. We could see where we wanted to go above and beyond the cluttered jumble of bergs. Between us and each successive headland would be a complex maze of ice moving slowly with the tide.

We visited the abandoned island settlement of Qernertivertivit. This place is used in the winter time as a dog-sled base. During the summer,  a couple of the better kept houses are used for holiday accommodation.

Our final camp before returning to Kong Oscar Havn was on a spectacular headland with some historic ruins.

The still evening air meant that we could frequently hear whales breathing but the densely packed ice meant that we rarely saw them. The presence of the ice meant that we returned to a rotating 'bear watch' system.

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