Geo Adventure 2004 - Greenland Trip Report by Corby Waste

Trip Report by Corby Waste

Inuugujoq, kutta! Tikilluarit!

In July, 2004, seven "crazy Americans" went to Greenland to collect rare fluorescent minerals. I was one of them. We went to seven major locations in the world-famous Illimaussaq complex of minerals (see fluorescent Illimausaq specimens ). What was it like? Beautiful and wild! How did I get so lucky to go on this trip-of-a-lifetime? I turned 50 in February of 2004 and my big present was going on "Geo Adventure 2004", as it was called. After many months of planning it was time to fly East out of the Los Angeles area. I had to take three weeks off from my job as a computer graphic artist for the Mars Exploration Program at the NASA Jet Propulsion Lab in Pasadena, California. It was fun when I mentioned to the top Mars geologists that I was going rock collecting in Greenland - especially when it turned out that neither one of them had been there. They didn't know that I was a geological explorer, too.

I knew I might never get a chance to go there again so I had to make the most of it. It was a bit like going to the moon or Mars, that way - there would be little time to waste. Here are some of the pictures and stories from the trip - pictures of the fluorescent specimens are still to be added.

First stop: Iceland

Our jet from Iceland to Narsarsuak, Greenland

Arriving in South Greenland

Satellite view of South Greenland in July + origin of the icebergs

Flight to Narsarsuak


First sight of Greenland and icebergs	Icebergs off the east coast of Greenland

Icebergs below	South-east coast of Greenland

Greenland flight: eastern fjords panorama	Fjord's end and beginning of Inland Ice

Greenland flight: end of the Inland Ice - fjords ahead	Fjords appeared as we descended towards Narsarsauk

Fjords of south Greenland ahead	Historic Narsarsuak airport on Tunuliarfik fjord

We finally made it to Greenland!	Our group at the Narsarsuak harbor

Perfect first day in Greenland	The view on Tunuliarfik fjord heading to Narsaq

Narsaq, home base for Geo Adventure 2004

Closeup view from space of selected Geo Adventure 2004 locations

Home base for Geo Adventure 2004: Super-panoramic view of Narsaq, South Greenland, the gateway to the Illimaussaq complex

Small boat harbor, Narsaq panorama

Narsaq cemetery panorama

Enjoying the niviarsiaq, Greenland's national flower

The Illimaussaq complex near Narsaq

The road to Illimaussaq

"Geo Adventuring" locations

Taseq East

On our first night in Greenland we ascended an area called Taseq East

Large yellow sodalite specimen from Taseq East

First night's mineral pile from Taseq East

Fourth of July Kvanefjeld tugtupite hike

(Kvanefjeld is pronounced "Crane-feld")

The road to Kvanefjeld

The Kvanefeld trail to the tugtupite mines

Perfect weather - thank the gods!

Hiking up to the tugtupite mine near the top of Kvanefjeld

Hammering on the slopes of Kvanefjeld

Top of the Kvanefjeld trail with our Greenlandic friends

Kvanefjeld 4th of July tugtupite hike

Our main Kvanefjeld tugtupite site

The Kvanefjeld lake

Beautiful summer day at the tugtupite mines

Swimming in the Kvanefjeld lake

Sun-drying after Fourth of July swim

Fourth of July evening at the Kvanefjeld tugtupite mines

This is a vein of tugtupite

Lee McIlvaine holding a tugtupite specimen

Kvanefjeld sunset

Sorensenite hike


Base camp and the "sorensenite boulders"	Sorensenite collecting trip to the boulders below Kvanefjeld

Panorama from the sorensenite boulder area below Kvanefjeld

Illimaussaq sunset seen from boulders	A garden of lichens and moss on one of the boulders

Rainy day in the Illimaussaq complex


Icebergs in the Narsq Elv bay		Drving into the Illimaussaq complex

The rocky gorge of the Narsaq Elv		Narsaq Elv in the complex

Illimaussaq complex rainy day drive		Illimaussaq mountain road

Illimaussaq road rain hike		"What a great rock-hunting location!"

The Narsaq Elv on the Illimaussaq mountain road		Face rock collected during Illimaussaq rain hike

Unusual rock formation in the mist		Mysterious stone marker

Taseq West

Icelandic ponies in our base camp below Taseq West

Icelandic ponies in our base camp

Bridge over the Narsaq Elv near base camp

Crossing the rain-swollen Narsaq Elv

Crossing the Narsaq Elv

One rocky step at a time up to Taseq West

Hike from base camp to Taseq West in fog

Navigating to the Taseq West location by GPS

Moss with raindrops

Stream moss with raindrops

The collecting area at Taseq West

Howie Green collecting at Taseq West

"Taseq soup" boulder, Taseq West - source of the "monster polylithionite"

Panoramic view from Kvanefjeld to Taseq West

Taseq lake panorama, Taseq West

My Thor's hammer pendant on melting snow

Exploring Taseq West

View of the fjords

End of the hike: return from Taseq West

Tunuliarfik fjord

Boat trip to a collecting site on a dark stormy day

Tunuliarfik fjord panorama

Iceberg near our Tunuliarfik and Tugtup landing sites

Tunuliarfik landing party - lost in the immensity of the complex

Trail marker discovered on Tunuliarfik fjord

Stream boulder

Hiking above the rocky Tunuliarfik fjord shore to collecting site

Tunuliarfik beach and collecting site panorama

Illimaussaq complex view opposite Tunuliarfik collecting site

Lee collecting at Tunuliarfik

My discovery of yellow-green sodalite

The big rock pile at Tunuliarfik

Collecting fun on the fjord

Flowers among the boulders

Illimaussaq complex, Tunuliarfik fjord (opposite Tugtup)

Tugtup Agtakorfia

I found the rare but non-fluorescent mineral "tundrite" at Tugtup - it's so rare that it has never been found before on a Geo Adventure until this year. Pictures of our long, cold night sleeping on the ground with no camping gear at Tugtup will be added - Ed.

Spending time in Narsaq


On tour of the Narsaq museum	White wooly flowers

Kangerlussaq fjord

Super-panoramic view of the end of Kangerlussaq fjord

Kangerlussaq fjord campsite panorama


Edge of the Illimaussaq complex at end of Kangerlussaq fjord				Friable syenite boulders

Enjoying the lost world of Kangri-la

End of the trip


Exhausted from 10-days and nights of mining and transporting fluorescent minerals in cold Greenlandic weather				Returning up Tunuliarfik fjord to Narsarsuak airport

Journey's end: Return to Narsarsuak dock				Dramatic first minutes of the return flight to Iceland

THE END

Geo Adventure 2004 Stereo 3D
Please use only red and cyan (light blue) glasses, the red and dark blue glasses won't work.


Mysterious stone marker				Bridge over Narsaq Elv near base camp

"Taseq soup" boulder, Taseq West				Stream boulder, Tunuliarfik fjord

Friable syenite boulders, Kangerlussaq fjord

Stereo anaglyphs created by Corby Waste at the Illimaussaq complex during Geo Adventure 2004, in South Greenland. I shot them using a "normal" camera, not a stereo camera.

Links

Site of fluorescent mineral field collector Corby Waste

Our fellow Geo-Adventurer Herb Yeates has several sites:

Fluorescent Illimaussaq

Illimaussaq 2005

Geo Adventure 2004 was led by Mark Cole of MinerShop.com

*Inuugujoq, kutta! Tikilluarit! is Greenlandic for "Hello! Welcome!"

More about Greenland (in Greenlandic: Kalaallit Nunaat and in Danish: Grønland)

Greenland and Polar Scientific Research

Trip report author: Corby Waste