Greenland: The Healing Power of Nature

Although this blog is about our time in Italy, we occasionally venture farther afield, for example, our kayaking trip in Greenland last August.

Post-chemo shingles...life sucked.

We needed this trip. It had been a tough year for us with my two surgeries, chemotherapy, and then a case of shingles in my facial nerve. Getting through all of this was a struggle that took a toll on us as individuals and as a couple. Yet, I was recovering (gaining strength, putting on weight, growing hair), and life was slowly getting back to normal. I was healthy enough to take a wilderness trip, and we both desperately needed to get away. Only in the beauty and solitude of nature did I feel like we could regain perspective on life and reconnect with one another. It was also the perfect way to celebrate our anniversary. The day we arrived in Greenland marked 25 years of marriage. 

“Those who contemplate the beauty of the earth find reserves of strength that will endure as long as life lasts.” Rachel Carlson

Our planned route was too ice-clogged to paddle.

Greenland, which is slightly larger than Mexico, has a population of about 50,000 people. Obviously, there are vast areas of wilderness, but the area we visited has a scattering of small villages. We flew into Kulusuk, a village of a few hundred people, on a daily commercial flight from Reykjavik, Iceland. During our 2 weeks in Greenland, we also visited the smaller village of Kuummiit. Occasionally we’d see a small outboard boat running between the villages or the weekly cargo ship that transports supplies, but otherwise we were alone to enjoy the beautiful jagged granite peaks and iceberg-studded fjords. We had planned a 12-day paddling itinerary, but that quickly fell apart when we saw the unusual amount of sea ice in the area. We scaled back our paddling goals and filled in our extra time with long hikes, more time in the villages, and more R&R. We spent 9 days paddling to the end of the fjord north of Kuummiit and back to Kulusuk, a satisfying first trip to Greenland.

Planned route (green), actual route (red)

Kulusuk

The area around Kulusuk is a cold water kayaker’s paradise: Easy to get to, yet isolated; well-protected with plenty of opportunities to go out into more exposed conditions; typically sunny and relatively warm in the summer thanks to a high-pressure system that builds over the island each year; and miles of fantastic shoreline with good access to camps.

Hiking and camping were fantastic.

Probably the only thing this area doesn’t have is an abundance of wildlife. We saw seals in the distance (too gun shy to get close to humans), Arctic fox (had to chase the young ones out of our camp), a few sea birds, and a pair of ptarmigan. We heard whales, but never saw them, and we also learned that a couple of polar bear had been spotted. Thankfully we never saw them either. Perhaps the unusual ice was having an effect on the wildlife: keeping the whales away and the bears nearby. During the summer, the polar bears typically follow the pack ice so that they can hunt seal. With plenty of ice and seals around, we decided it was prudent to rent a shotgun. It gave us some peace of mind that we could at least try to fight off a polar bear attack if one occurred.

Even though the wildlife was not nearly as plentiful as in Alaska or on the Antarctic Peninsula, the weather was a whole lot nicer than on our trips in Alaska, and getting to Greenland is a whole lot easier than getting to Antarctica. In fact, it's possible to leave Milan in the morning and arrive in Kulusuk for dinner.

Plenty of open water here

What Greenland lacked in wildlife, it made up for in stunning terrain and great hiking. Typically we would spend a half day paddling and then a half day hiking above our camps across granite and Arctic tundra to high points with spectacular views. The vistas provoked gentle contemplation, not the rushed, mind-churning thinking our modern world can induce. To paraphrase John Muir, going out into wilderness gives us an opportunity to go inside ourselves. While gazing over such natural beauty, it’s hard to have negative introspections and remarkably easy to find the beauty of nature reflected within.


Here’s a 10-minute video that tries to capture some of Greenland’s beauty.