Back to Kangerlussuaq

Right as planned on Thursday, a Herc appeared in the skies above Summit Station, landed (in probably the worst weather we had the whole time I was there, which was still pretty decent weather), and most of our construction crew gave everyone else hugs goodbye and got on that plane.

When the cargo doors opened again a couple of hours later, it was a very different scene outside.

It felt disorienting but great to be back in Kangerlussuaq, the birds chirping, the breeze balmy, the landscape still epic, and the mosquitoes fierce.

We were a rag-tag crew, most heading to the grocery store for beer and cigarettes (not me, Grandma!) and not even making it back to our lodging before stopping to indulge. And like Wisconsinites who switch to shorts at the first sign of spring, the temps in the 50's and 60's felt so warm to us after Summit that you'd think we'd landed in Florida.

But we were still in Greenland, and there were the musk ox hides curing in the sun to prove it.

There were also some sweet Ice friends in town, like me working up north while Antarctica is hunkered down into winter. I was inconsistent with the pictures, but it was so wonderful to catch up with familiar faces.

I took a single sip of "Greenlandic coffee" (a concoction of booze with just a touch of coffee, topped by whipped cream) and that was enough for me.

And though most of my time in Kanger was spent lazing about, I did get to take a walk down to the river to watch it rushing under the bridge in a much more frantic fashion than it had been in early May.

After two nights acclimating to relative civilization with my Summit friends, most of them were checking in their luggage for the flight back to Copenhagen and then home to the States when I said some bittersweet goodbyes and instead climbed aboard a domestic flight bound for Ilulissat...

And took off into the foggy skies above the southeastern coast of Greenland.

The view was totally obscured for the whole flight, but what I got to see when I landed was pretty spectacular. So, get ready to explore some more of this mammoth island of the north....

Field trips from Kangerlussuaq

We have been told we are very lucky that we got to have a whole weekend in Kanger before our flight up to Summit. And I do feel lucky; it was so fun to explore around town! And then outside of town.

One evening after we finished our training session, I took the two-mile walk out to Lake Ferguson. I love this "Caution: Muskox" sign I saw along the way.

And somehow everything, even decomposing junk, is pretty in this sweeping, grand landscape.

The temperature next to the lake felt 10-20 degrees cooler than on the road leading to it, with the chill off of all that ice drifting over me. But it was a beautiful sight.

On Sunday, we took advantage of the rare opportunity to have a day off in Kanger and two of the full-time staff here were kind enough to take us on a huge adventure on Greenland's longest road (15+ miles! of graveled joy...which is to say there aren't any long-distance roads in Greenland; it's just a massive ice sheet with coastal towns along its edges that generally require boat or plane transport) to visit Russell Glacier and a spot further up at the edge of the ice sheet labeled "660." It was especially exciting for me because I got to drive the third vehicle, so now I can say I've actually driven Greenland's longest road. And what a road it was. We saw a bunch of caribou...Can you spot them?

And we passed by a lake with shores littered with "sea tomatoes"--apparently a type of bacterium.

It was weird and surprising to see just a few fir trees growing along the road at one point. I can't even imagine how long these guys must have been growing to be this big (maybe 6 feet tall or so?) above the Arctic Circle.

There is also the detritus of a long-ago plane crash along the road, looking very forlorn.

And then we started approaching the edge of the ice sheet, and: WOW.

We walked about a mile through terrific, exhausting wind to get to the edge of Russell Glacier, which was mind-blowing and TOTALLY worth the slog. So glad there are people in this picture so you can see the incredible scale of this ice.

We also got to watch it calving and the bergs floating down the outflow. Totally stunning.

We also drove to the very end of the road, to the 660 site, but I don't have any pictures of that as impressive as these, so let's just end on a high note. By the way, this area is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and you can read about why that is, here. (Spoiler: it has to do not with the natural beauty of the place, but with its cultural significance to the native Inuits.)

With all this amazing exploring under our belts, it already feels like I've had an epic Greenland adventure, and my job hasn't even really begun. Next step: the journey to Summit Station!

Kangerlussuaq, Greenland!

I had no idea when I wrote that last Indonesia post that my next venture outside the US would be to Greenland. I'm so grateful to be here!

So the backstory is: I got a job with a company called Polar Field Services, which operates the US Arctic Program, which is a sister program to the US Antarctic Program and is (as you might imagine) lush with Antarctic folks who bounce back and forth between Poles each summer. So I'd heard about Greenland as a work option my first summer at Pole (almost five years ago now--that's crazy) and have since then hoped to get up here. I still can't quite believe that it worked out on my first try; I feel so lucky and happy to have this experience. Especially because I got hired (obviously based on my polar experience and not on my work history) as a Trades Helper. So basically, I'll be spending the better part of two months at a scientific research base called Summit that is about as high as you can get up on the Greenlandic ice sheet (we'll be at about 10,500 feet), shoveling snow and helping with construction projects.

But first we have to get to Summit, which is of course a process. I flew from Milwaukee to Chicago for my overnight flight to Denmark (because Greenland is a department of Denmark, and so Air Greenland flies regularly there), really excited that I'd be arriving mid-afternoon and able to spend my arrival evening exploring Copenhagen, a city I've never seen before. Unfortunately, due to strikes happening at Scandinavian Air, I found out in Chicago that my flight to Copenhagen was cancelled. I ended up on a flight to Heathrow and then on to Copenhagen by late the next night, but my checked bag did not end up on those flights with me and as of this writing has still not caught up with me. That's been sad and stressful. And it was a bummer to miss out on an afternoon of checking out what I hear is a fantastic European capitol.

BUT, other than those unfortunate events, things have been great. The morning after my arrival in Copenhagen, I flew on to Kangerlussuaq, Greenland, a town that exists mostly because an American Air Force Base here built it up from the even tinier town it used to be, and now it's handy as the largest airfield in Greenland and the most common place on the island to fly into.

I arrived with the eleven other people who will comprise the springtime construction crew at Summit, and we've had the entire weekend here in Kanger to start getting to know each other, do some orientation and trainings, and explore! I'll spare you the sleep-inducing info on expense reports and general safety awareness training and instead skip to the exploring part. Starting, in this post, with the town of Kanger.

The setting is GORGEOUS, in a fjord that has a river running through it.

One of the claims to fame is Greenland's token road sign to everywhere. It's crazy that we're closer to the North Pole than to Copenhagen, after our 4+-hour flight from there.

A charming Greenlandic...post office box? Not sure if it's decorational or operational.

And some typical Greenlandic table runners?

I have NO idea what this sign says, but I think it's hysterical.

And I want to nominate this daycare for "best scenic backdrop."

There are a whopping four bars in this tiny town, and one of them apparently occasionally has live music on a stage with a duct-taped drum set and a polar bear hide watching over it. So of course this is the bar we frequented the most during our time here.

My absolute favorite picture I've taken so far is this one of a couple who were walking down the street toward me, hand in hand, as if out on a date..and both carrying their rifles. So as soon as they passed I whipped around and took a picture. There is the possibility of polar bears wandering into this area, but it's not incredibly likely. More likely they were...going to hunt caribou or muskox? I really don't know, but this is so sweet and striking to me.

Also, if you're a golf-lover, never fear: Kanger has a golf course. It looks like an apocalyptic nightmare, set in the floodplain of the river valley, but if you're desperate...

Seriously, though, it's gorgeous here. And wait till you see the next pictures I post, from the excursions I got to take outside of town....