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GREENLAND 2002 - DISPATCH 10 The Final Day -
Expeditions R' Us
Greetings! We
have arrived in Constable Point on the coast. We
were lucky to get off as there were a number of
logistical issues with the Twin Otter over the
past few days.
Beyond Constable
Point to the northeast is Liverpool Land and to
the east are the icebergs of Scorsby Sund (the
largest and longest fjord in the world) - the pack
ice has completely melted since we have been gone
and ... the mosquitoes have arrived in GREAT
abundance.
If you look at a
map of Greenland you may see the symbol of an
airplane at Constable Point. There are two prereqs
for an airport here. Make it flat and throw
together a watch tower and you're in business. The
strip consists of dirt and scree ... but it works
what the hey.
Constable Point
is currently a clearing house for expedition
groups coming and going from mostly unfamiliar
places such as the Gronau Nunataker, Louise Boyd
Land and so forth. The nearest settlement is
Scorsby Sund a 20 minute chopper ride away. Its
600 people are mostly Inuit with a few Danes
thrown in. Presently there are a scant 56,000
residents inhabiting the largest island in the
world, most of them on the west coast. Room to
stretch!
There are quite a
few planes landing and taking off and it reminded
me of the occasional jet that passed over the NHN.
I am guessing the London to Tokyo polar flight. I
was thinking that the passengers on board those
planes could look down on the vastness of glacier
and rock and NEVER imagine that there were people
down there on vacation.
We are happy to
be on our way, and also gratified that we had a
chance to visit the NHN. There is a record of only
one other climbing expedition ever having ascended
alpine peaks north of the Niels Holgersen
Nunatakker (a Dronning Louise expedition in 2000).
So....... we are fortunate to have had this
chance. Most of us will probably be back to
Greenland, in fact, John Starbuck is staying
another three weeks in the Gronau Nunatakker, and
Gordon and Paul will be returning to Knud
Rasmassun Land in just two weeks!
This is the final
dispatch for NHN Greenland 2002, but photos will
be posted in the next week or so. Thank you again.
Have a great summer!
Best of luck to
‘peace climbers' Tunc and Fernando on Broad Peak!
David Keaton
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