Day 5

  Yesterday (Tunugdliarfik) was a tough day - little did I know what was to come.  The morning started off innocently enough.  The second tour arrival was expected by helicopter around noon so we decided to make a quick trip out to Kvanefjeld to retrieve some sorensenite Peter had discovered a few weeks ago.  We brought an 18” gas saw to cut the crystals from the boulder.  The sorensenite had developed on the faces of very large lujaravite/arfedvonsonite boulders which tumbled from the sides of Kvanefjeld and lay exposed in the field below (see picture above).  We sawed a very large block of crystals off one boulder and retrieved a true museum grade specimen. 

Sorensenite imbedded in the boulder”

Sawing - a lot of rock dust and noise!

I noted a few other boulders with similar sorensenite growths.  One had a grouping of massive blue translucent mineral – possibly fluorite, but we ran out of gas (and time).  Had to run to the heliport to pick up Lee. 

Lee arrived a little late by helicopter while we waited with the director of the Narsaq museum.  She told us the flights were all delayed getting out of Greenland due to fog in the Narssarssuaq area – even the prime minister was grounded!  Remember – the weather gods rule in Greenland.

We got Lee checked into his hotel and – since he said he was not a bit tired – he and I decided to camp out atop Kvanefjeld for the night (climb the mountain again!!!).  We carried up water and some sandwiches, sleeping bags, and of course all our rock equipment.

 After a one hour climb up 600 meters we arrived at the tug mines.  We scouted the area for likely spots before it got dark and explored the mines.  Ate, got acquainted, and finally the sun looked like it was going down.  A couple of hours later it went down (real slow sunset here).  Got out our equipment and started picking up tug all over the place.  After an hour of tug hunting and our bags full we glanced at the sky to see the northern lights dancing.  They came and went but by the time we got back to our campsite they were over and I could not get a pic.

 The hours finally caught up with Lee and he went to bed (instantly – in mid-sentence!).  I climbed in the sleeping bag, slept fitfully until 5am – woke freezing.  It must have hit 32 during the night, our water froze a little (crispy) and there was frost everywhere.  We thawed out, dressed, and climbed back down the mountain - bags full of tug - to meet Peter. 

 I would not recommend this overnight camp to others.  Although the tugtupite is beautiful there’s really not a lot else to be found in this area.  At night you pick through some really nice multi-color pieces, but the same can be done in the daytime with a tent.  Other areas offer more variety and are easier to access.

On to Day 6