Paddling into this magical world of contrasts is hard to describe. The gossamer, pastel shades of orange and pink sky combine with the inky, black, glassy water that set the backdrop for the trance. Vicious summits cap off craggy mountains, nearly all of which are blanketed with deep blue and pure white glaciers. Moments of calm are broken with dramatic acts of violence, whether it’s the calving of two-hundred foot ice blocks at the terminus of a glacier or the crashing echo of rock fall from the high peaks.
The fjords themselves could be described to Colorado readers as follows: imagine the high country around I-70 was filled with water and the mountains were chiseled down from their rounded shapes to something more sinister and jagged. The bulk of our journey followed the more stable and ice-free waterways. Campsites were often on beaches that, if photographed from the proper angle, would resemble the Riviera more than the low Arctic.
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While our group paddled in solitude for the bulk of the adventure, we did stop at two very small outpost towns. With populations under 300 people, these gritty settings are home mostly to hunters who still subsist primarily on seal and fish. Greenland has home rule but is officially governed by Denmark, who provides a subsidy of around $10,000 US dollars per person so that natives can live in homes with electricity and purchase provisions at the small town stores. Both towns, Kuummiut and Tintequillaq will likely be abandoned in 30 years or so, as many of the young native Greenlanders move to the more urban areas in Western Greenland or the European mainland.
The Greenlanders (a name for native people who haved mixed European blood as opposed to their ancestors, who would be considered Thule or Dorset people) are shy but friendly. They speak the unique native Greenlandic language and some Danish. If you could learn their language, they have a reputation for great humor and wit. In fact, humor is one of their survival mechanisms and one that seems almost absurd by western standards. Olaf relays a story of a Greenlander friend that, upon breaking through sea ice with his dog sledding team (a VERY serious predicament), remarked, “Look Olaf, I am the only Greenland submarine!” with a smile on his face. I can only imagine the elaborate string of profanity that would erupt from my mouth in the same situation.
