The 2004 Tour season is closed. 7
people went on this year’s tour and it was a resounding success.
Visit our Trip Report
section for a summary of this year’s tour.
We are now
accepting reservations for next year’s 2005 Geo-Adventure tour.
Tentatively we plan on going in the first weeks of August.
Reserve early!
Details about the
2005 Tour will be posted here as the plan develops.
Tour
Plan Overview
We’re going to try something new this year
- CAMPING!!! We will have some rooms in Narsaq to be used in
the event of weather emergencies, showering, and for general party
poopers. But for the most part we will spend our time in
the field sleeping on top of the rocks we have come so far to
find....(in your own tents
and your own sleeping bags). Tour length will be either 7 or 10 days
- your option.
We will locate our base camp far out in the
valley between Kvanefjeld and the Taseq Slopes. Nothing
sophisticated, just a couple of larger tents for community gatherings
and each tour member’s individual sleeping tent. Base camp will
be located about 15km from any civilization. (See picture at the
right - Kvanefjeld on the left and the Taseq Slopes on the right).
(More details on camping). If things go as I hope they
will, we will find ourselves sleeping during the day and prospecting
at night.
Details on
costs. Make sure you check out our Travel Tips
page and the “Links”
page for more general information about Greenland. For a first-hand
account of a trip to Greenland visit Herb Yeates excellent Trip Report about
the 2003 Geo-Adventure.
The red dots
in the pictures show the approximate location of Base Camp from
varying view points (all the red dots indicate the same camping
spot, just from a different perspective).
Located
close to a glacial fed stream, there is ample fresh water
for drinking and bathing (brrrrr)
The
tents will be pitched in the middle of a grassy plain, complete
with sheep. The only thing that prevents me from calling
this setting ideal are the mosquitoes.
Looking south over
the camp (red dot) you can see the Taseq Slopes - a short
hike to the base of the slopes from the camp.
Looking
northwest over the campsite you can see the abandoned mine
road leading towards the top of Kvanefjeld and the tugtupite
mines.
Tour
members will be shuttled from base camp to the boats to
travel to the Tunulliarfik and Kangerlussaq Fjords (left).
Temporary camps will be setup at Kangerlussaq for those
who wish to spend a night collecting in that very fruitful
area.
From base camp we
will hike to the top of Kvanefjeld and both sides of the
Taseq Slopes. Again, those who wish may carry their sleeping
bags and hiking tents to the top to spend a wondrous time
collecting minerals few ever get the chance to see. Imagine
your tent pitched in the middle of this picture. Turn on
your UV light and the ground glows red (this is the famous
Kvanefjeld tugtupite mine area). Fresh rocks is constantly
being exposed by the local miners - who knows what can be
found at night. Much of the tugtupite is white in daylight
and ignored by the miners. But under UV, they are glowing
specimens.
Why
Camp?
After three trips to Greenland I
feel comfortable enough to make some decisions about the weather,
the difficulties, and the dangers. Night collecting is the ONLY
way to go. Nighttime hours are precious in these Northern
latitudes. It gets dark enough to collect sometime around
11pm and starts getting light again around 2am - 4 hours of good
hunting time. The rest of the time is spent under tarps, BBQ grill
covers, and various other inventions to shut out the bright Greenland
sun.
But daytime hours are not a waste. They are
used to identify potential mining areas during the dark hours, or to carefully examine those areas we
stumble over at night which reveal wonders unseen (or even hinted
at) in the daytime. Rock trimming is best done in the daytime,
as well as general mountain climbing and exploring. For
those interested in the rarer non-fluorescent specimens, obviously
daytime hours can be a bonanza. AND - we will be camping
right on top of the very rocks we seek!
If you want
to find Fluorescent Minerals found no where else in the world.....
But won’t it be Rough?
It depends.... How often will you be traveling
to Greenland? Why did you come? If you’re only going to be
here once, and you came for the rocks it simply makes sense
to endure a little outdoors life. There will be some rules to be
followed for your safety but we promise the time of your life.
But, there are pros and cons:
You’ll be living
in a tent, sleeping in a sleeping bag. You might see the
Aurora Borealis (the Northern Lights) and if you’re like me, it’ll
be wonderful and cozy.
Eating camp
food (canned beans, hot-dogs, peanut butter and jelly, etc) may
not be the culinary experience of your lifetime - but that’s not
the goal, now is it?
You may go
a few days between showers (unless you don’t mind showering in
a glacial stream with solar heated water).
The weather
is mild, days cool and nights cold (but you’re snug in your sleeping
bag).
There are no
wild animals, no polar bears, just a few sheep. But the mosquitoes
are the size of small birds - but thankfully I have never been
bitten by one (someone told me they just don’t know how to bite
a human). But I have bitten a lot of them! (Yuck - why do they
insist on flying into my mouth?)
The weather
CAN change in an instant and turn really nasty. I’ve seen
this happen once and even that was not so severe that it should
have shut down the expedition (and it lasted one day). Rain
in Greenland usually means drizzle).
Camping at
“the mines” means a whole lot less hiking up the side of mountains
and steep slopes,
Greenland offers
some of the most peaceful moments I’ve had in my life - sitting
atop a mountain with nary a soul in sight.
If the weather
does turn bad, we will be able to find accommodations in town
one way or another. But that’ll really be bad news, whether we’re
camping or not. It means no rock collecting.
For those that do not wish to partake of this
nature experience (you will regret it, I promise) hotel rooms are
available for a price (usually $50.00 to $100.00 per night) and
advanced reservations can be made. If you decide to camp check out
our camping page for a list of recommended equipment - the cost
of the gear will approximate the cost of one of the cheaper hotels,
so it’s breakeven. And you can leave your gear behind for
the next trip! (leave room for rocks).
If you will NOT be camping,
notify us immediately so we can make hotel reservations for you!