Tag Archives: Ellesmere Island

Baad Fjord

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Several hours into our journey East in the Jones Sound, we had a further stop for another shore landing – and the Baad Fjord at the South of Ellesmere Island seemed to be the right spot for an afternoon stroll.

We found ourselves once again in fabulous surroundings with a nice table mountain backdrop, good views to the bay and a nice beach.
I had walked up the incline a bit to get a better view and continued walking up here in parallel to the beach, when suddenly I realized something white (small enough to not pose a threat) about ten meters in front of me. I froze – and realized there was a pair of arctic hare just in front of me. It stayed that way for a minute or two – until the two started to run away. They obviously had not seen humans before and were not sure on how to react or what to do … and ultimately decided to just run.

I also did run at a later point during this landing – – for a quick Arctic plunge.
I kind of had this on my agenda and it was to be expected, that this tour operator would not go for an official polar plunge (as for instance Quarks did on my first Antarctica cruise). So this landing was just the right time to go for it (Baad is close enough to Bad, which is “bath” in German). So I had already put my swimmers on and a towel in my pack, and after an extensive walk (long enough to be sure that the masses and the ship’s photographer are back on the ship) … just did it. It may have destroyed my hair-do, but was well worth it – plus … I now own a comb ????

Hell Gate

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Overnight we had left the Eureka Sound and made it into the Norwegian Bay – from here we had to pass back into the Jones Sound.

On the way in we had to go via the Cardigan Strait, as the Hell Gate had been locked by ice – now the situation was the other way round and we – while enjoying breakfast (and taking the occasional photo) – did pass through the <evil voice> Gate of Hell </evil voice> this time. The views certainly were spectacular and despite our fears not accompanied by swaths of sulfur, also no sudden appearances or disappearances.

We made it into the Jones Sound by the time the breakfast buffet was getting closed and were greeted by a bit of ice, which we got by easily. The journey continued East …

Eureka

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When I got outside this morning, we were just leaving the Eureka Sound and turning into the Slidre Fjord with just a few kilometers to go to our first stop of the day – Eureka.

Just a few hundred meters South of the 80°N line, Eureka is the world’s northernmost civil weather station. The station also serves for scientific and military research. It is connected to the world through its own airstrip and a yearly supply ship (at least in those years, when ice conditions allow for that).
Our arrival did coincide with this year’s supply ship, which had – accompanied by an ice breaker – made its arrival just a bit earlier with everyone busy to unload.

We stayed on Hanseatic for breakfast, while the expedition leads got ashore to talk with the station manager. Unfortunately (understandably though) we were not allowed ashore for a visit and tour of the station – the team was just to busy to unload the supplies. There were however enough volunteers available at the station to come to the ship and set up a small souvenir shop.

We nevertheless ended up getting ashore – – just a bit further into the fjord. From the landing point we enjoyed a short walk up a hill to – surprise, surprise – find ourselves not too far away from a musk ox. We also had some good views of the station. A view of the inside had to wait for another few days, until our expedition leader shared some of the photos, that he had taken during his visit.