Post: Greenland: Kangerlussuaq fjord to Reindeer glacier

This morning we woke up entering the magnificent Kangerlussuaq fjord. It’s a particularly long (120 miles) and straight fjord with high mountains, and glaciers that end in broad terminal moraines at sea level.

It was windy and cold but tolerable for a little photography. I was alone on the two higher decks but finally found some company three decks from the top.

We cruised up the fjord to Kangerlussuaq, the city that hosts Greenland’s international airport. The airport is in this remote location because the airfield is an old US military base. After Denmark fell to Germany in WW II, the US military protected Greenland. The airstrip was administered by Denmark beginning in 1950. With the Cold War, though, the US returned on 1951 and the airfield was renamed Sondrestum Airbase. At that time the population of the town was a few thousand. After the US military completely left, in 1992, the town’s population dropped to a few hundred.

There is some tourism here, and the main employer is the airport since all international flights have to come through this airstrip. There are roads outside of the town— rare in Greenland— and this is the town that Sissimut will be connected to one day. There is also a long hiking trail called the Arctic Circle trail that begins here and takes about ten days to complete.

In the afternoon we shuttled to shore for an excursion to see “Reindeer” glacier. The glacier is located at the end of the ice field, so we actually made this land trip to a permanent ice sheet. Reindeer glacier is not listed as an official glacier in Greenland, but the bigger glacier next to it, Russell glacier, is.

Hopefully the ice will stay permanent. The glacier itself has retreated over the past fourteen years. It simply melts too much in the short summer months to recoup its mass in the long winter, which is also warmer than it should be.

The ride from port to the glacier took 90 minutes plus stops, on a huge arctic tractor trailer. We were like cargo. The ride was so bumpy that my Apple Watch registered the trip as steps. We had an excellent guide.

One of the stops was the site of a US Air Force plane crash from the late 60’s. No deaths, when these US pilots ran out of fuel because loss of power at the airport prevented landing in a storm, they had to parachute out and let their plane crash. As the legend goes, the pilot was brought back to the wreckage 50 years later, and was able to pull his wallet out of the cockpit.

We caught site of a reindeer and stopped to see him.

At the glacier, we had time for some photos and a short hike. The windy conditions made time outside rather exciting.

Being close to glaciers is also rather exciting. They strike me as animated things, since in the summer months water is likely to flow from them. The light changes on the surface quickly. They are so big that being even a mile away feels close. I can’t see one without thinking about the catastrophe of its melting.

There were plants, including for the first time, trees of some size. These were not native but planted in the 1970s by a Danish forester. The trees have not done well. Only a fraction are surviving. Mark’s enthusiasm was contagious and just about the whole bus unloaded to photograph and touch the conifers.

We’ve eaten our last dinner on board and are packed. Our luggage has been taken away and we finish the trip with just a few carry on items to have on the charter flight to Reykjavik tomorrow.