Arctic Traverse: Romer Fjord

On September 17th, 2022, the Endurance visited Romer Fjord, according to the daily handout. Perhaps they meant the fjord adjacent to the land-locked Romer Lake -- Google Maps couldn't find "Romer Fjord." In any case, we were just south of Scoresby Sund.

 

Our morning landing offered a "warm bath" -- a geothermal pool that was a short hike from the beach. (Click on the image to enlarge.)

The source itself was modest,

but a pool had been created below it.

Joan and I decided against entering the pool and joined a hike advertised as flat. But due to a polar bear sighting, the group headed in the other, safer direction, first along the shoreline and then up a rocky slope. An early discovery was an ancient reindeer skull,

and antlers. Centuries have passed since reindeer have been in east Greenland.

Not far from shore was an old hut, likely used during hunting expeditions.

On closeup, we saw a greeting on the roof!

Google Translate renders 'Qalaati vaaje ittua' as Hausa, a West African language, for "It's time to go to bed." But if you omit the first space, submitting 'Qalaativaaje ittua', the answer is "start it up." Umm, OK.

Soon, we began hiking upslope. It was chilly with the low clouds and occasional snowflakes, but our exertions kept us warm.

Our guide watched for polar bears as our ridge began to curve inland. At this he was good, but Joan and I would also have appreciated the company of a naturalist such as Sergei on this hike.

Then it was time to return to the ship. Crumbling columns of basalt were visible on the steepest slopes.

The morning wasn't over yet. A polar bear had been spotted, and we set out in zodiacs to grab a better look.

Bear-a-palooza. He was foraging along the shoreline; one naturalist thought he spotted it working on a bird carcass.

The bear moved on, hoping the beach would offer him a snack, and kept an eye on those strange creatures in the water.

And we did look strange.

Finally he decided to rest,

and we returned to the Endurance for lunch. The ship began its departure from Greenland, aiming for Iceland, which we would reach the next day. Our afternoon featured two sterling talks, one by Bird Nerd Jamie Colman, "Polar Bears 101," and later in the afternoon the astronaut and explorer Kathy Sullivan spoke on "The New Space Age."

Ahead lay Ísafjörður, Iceland.