Monday 18th May

Waking up to fantastic weather in Tasermiut gets us all thinking about what an amazing place this will be to spend the summer. The task for the day is to walk up into paradise valley to look for potential sites for the glaciology fieldwork and the mountaineering.

The peaks loom high over this valley making a dramatic backdrop for our days walk. We spend some time setting up an experiment which will be left in place until the summer to provide background data for our science – Tim has a gadget that takes a temperature reading every hour. We are also keeping an eye on the sediment in the streams as the location of base camp will depend mainly on finding a good source of drinking water.

After a steep pull up from the shore and some clambering over moraine we get in to the U shaped valley and walk towards the ice. It’s cool but we are ok with thermals, a fleece and our waterproofs on which keeps the wind off. Three hours later and we arrive at a good rock for lunch, looking around at rock faces and glaciers we talk about plans for waste disposal, how long it will take for faeces to decompose and other appropriate lunchtime chat! Returning to base we are pleased to be wearing sun cream.

Sunday 17th May

Another early start as we need to get kit sorted and buy supplies for the two nights we will spend in the fjord. We board the boat at 10am, start the journey into the fjord and are immediately surrounded by spectacular scenery. Reaching the head of the fjord it is obvious that the main glacier has receded significantly since 1997 expedition to this area (see 1997 and 2009 photos below). Standing by the shore surrounded by these mountains we can’t help but be reminded of our humility and how tiny we are in such a grand landscape.

Once the boat drops us off we waste no time it getting out to explore the area on the east side of the fjord. Tim wants to look at the lake formed at the bottom of Sermitsiaq glacier and we are surprised to find it is actually a salt water lake connected by just a short channel to the main fjord. Several pro-glacial streams flow across the smoothed rock carrying high suspended sediment loads which enter the lake forming brown sediment plumes which show up against the blue water. We clamber up the smooth rocks to the glacier snout to examine the seracs and crevasses at close quarters, then continue up to the south side of the valley and scramble onto the lateral moraine to descend back to our camp at the fjord. Tim is overflowing with ideas for science projects his group could do in this area but the cravasses and difficult access means this is not a good site for the mountaineering phase of the expedition so tomorrow we will go and look at the next valley which is the planned route to the ice.

Saturday 16th May
A very early start to get the helicopter to Qaqortoq, leaving at 0630. The planned stop in Qaqortoq was for three hours which we planned to use for breakfast and then trying to locate a landing craft that we could possibly use to get the contents of the container to base camp. Breakfast was no problem and we found three potential landing crafts – however, finding the owners and how available they are is another matter! We managed to get a telephone number and are advised to call in a few days time. Returning to the helicopter pad we find we are delayed as there is a rescue in operation. Someone has gone out in a light aircraft and run out of fuel so had to put the plane down in the sea. All possible rescue resources are diverted and we are told to wait. Several hours later no news on the rescue but we are on the way to Nanortalik. Met by Niels and staying in Old Anders House – a tiny house which resembles a garden shed – home for the night! We are tired as we arrive in this small fishing village perched on the edge of this small island. Tomorrow morning we are leaving for the fjord so the excitement mounts – it’s been a long journey so far and we are ready to get into the expedition area.

Friday 15th May
Wake very early in the bright morning sunshine and start tackling our list of jobs of the day. Although Narsarsuaq is only a small town with a population of about 200, there seem to be a lot of people we want to meet. One of the great advantages of having an international airport in such a tiny town is that the group will be able to walk from the airport down to the docks to meet the boats which will provide onward transport to base camp in Tasermiut Fjord. Meeting with these boat owners to finalise plans has been one of the main tasks of the day, as well as searching out some accommodation for the day or so we will probably be spending here at the end of the expedition. As we have seen this week the ice conditions here often affect boat travel and so our departure from base camp in August will have to allow plenty of time to make sure we make the flight. The town should provide an interesting end to the expedition. Narsarsuaq acted as an American military base towards the end of the Second World War (when it was known as Bluie West One) and so we have also been spotting signs of the town’s history and its wildlife (white tailed sea eagles, peregrine falcons and arctic hares).

Thursday 14th May
We spent the morning searching for schools, sports halls and community centres near to the airport in Reykjavik for the advance, main and rear party to use en route. We want to locate somewhere as close to the airstrip as possible so we can simplify the logistics and all be in one place. We were met by very helpful people in schools, located a youth centre that will work and arranged a meeting for next week when we pass through Iceland again. We are hopeful that we will find somewhere within walking distance of the airstrip so after the overnight in Iceland we can walk to the airstrip.
In the afternoon we caught the flight to Narsarsuaq. The airport is very small and we were entertained at the thought of 60 of us in there swamping the café and waiting lounge! The 2.5 hour flight went quickly and we got occasional glimpses of coastline and icecap despite the rather squashed 7 rows of seats. Coming into land was spectacular and the ice in the fjord was not encouraging. It’s a beautiful clear sunny day – but cold! Sure enough we were met by Jacky who owns a boat and was meant to take us to Qaqortoq. ‘No way we can make it through the ice’ so we have to stay in Narsarsuaq for 2 nights instead and then get the helicopter on Saturday. We are all disappointed as we wanted to get going and start on finding a boat for the container contents to get into the fjord. However – such are expeditions – whatever the plan is it will change! So, we stay in the youth hostel and Jacky takes us to see his boat and try to make the way through the ice to Brattahlid – the village across the fjord where Eric the red lived. As there have been regular boats going over there the ice is broken up and we just make it. It confirms that there is no way we could make it to Qaqortoq though.
Over some food in the café at the hotel we revise our plans and make lists for Fridays jobs. We retire to the youth hostel for the night but it’s strange to be walking in bright sunshine at 10pm. Mid may and its bright almost all day long.

Recce

Wednesday 13th May
An early start to get to Heathrow in good time and we made it there despite the M25 traffic. All easy with the journey and coach from Keflavik to Reykjavik which took about an hour. Tim, Nancy and Pete spent the entire time writing lists and talking about things we need to do. Tim mainly focused on science, where we need to get to in the fjord, what would be interesting to find out in preparation for the expedition and who we need to make contact with. Nancy and Pete spent the whole time talking about transport and logistics, what’s in the container (which is now ‘en route’) and who will travel where and when in the main party.

Container Blog – Tues 12th May
Today felt like a big step forward in bringing the Greenland expedition to life as we waved off the shipping container full of all our group kit from the BSES stores in Hampshire. Many of the leader team spent a couple of days before the briefing weekend breaking the back of the enormous task of packing for the expedition; counting out all the mountaineering kit, shopping for food and checking tents had all the right bits in them. Since then it been a busy few weeks of sourcing any extra kit we will need, servicing stoves and finalising a deal with the army to borrow two of their inflatable boats for the summer. With all this in place the day finally arrived when we would see if all these mountains of kit and food would actually fit in the container! Thankfully it did and at 2.30pm we wedged the doors shut and waved our bright blue 20 foot container off on its 6 week journey to Nanortalik. Looking forward to meeting it again at the other end!