An icy Surprise at the Sefstrøm & Gully Glaciers

We had made it deeper into the fjord system over night – now sitting in the Alpefjord, right ahead of Sefstrøm & Gully Glaciers.

This morning a zodiac cruise along the 4km-wide glacier front was waiting for us; with a surprise at the far end: the hotel team was waiting here and handing out glasses of champagne for a bit of a celebration.

Geology again – at Flower Bay

We did not have to wait for too long to get off the ship; the destination being the Blomsterbugten (Flower Bay) on Ymer Ø (Ymer Island) – and just across the fjord from the devil’s castle.

A hike was waiting for us – through truly spectacular landscape, more rock formations and of course the occasional plant life. The hike ended at a viewpoint towards a lake and the Ymer Island backcountry (and designated point of silence) at about 73°19’40″N / 25°14’56″W.

On the way back I made it up another hill for great views across the fjord, overlooking the ship and devil’s castle. The colorfully layered rock faces easily win over the plant or animal life today.

Devil’s Castle

Welcome to Geology day – today geology was to beat biology … showing off how beautiful rocks can be.

Over night we had moved the ~140 nautical miles deep into the fjord system of East Greenland into the Kaiser Franz Joseph Fjord and around Ymer Island – when the Devil’s Castle – an isolated mountain (about 1300m high) in the fjord, that reminded its discoverers of a decaying castle – came into view just after 06:00 in the morning.

After having had breakfast going through the Hell Gate back in 2015 it felt appropriate to now have breakfast in front of the devil’s castle … 😉

Clavering Ø – Part 2

We stayed in the neighborhood this afternoon, for another landing on Clavering Ø; this time at Dødemansbugten (Dead Man’s Bay) less than 20km away from our morning stop.

The stop featured another beach walk, more plant life and great views from a hill.

Ice for Dessert – again …

We were taking a bit of detour this evening … the Ocean Novo had seen polar bears in an ice field to the North earlier the day – so we tried our luck, heading North … getting to an ice field right in time for the cheese cart or dessert (well make that and for me). We did not see any polar bears – though the atmosphere with the ice was stunning. (For the record: photos below were taken at around 22:45.)

And this is how it looks like in the middle of the night … when the sun sits right in the North.