Narsarsuaq was my jumping off point. From there it was a boat transfer to Itelleq on the Tunulliarfik fjord, hike to Igaliku, boat transfer to Sillisut, hike to Tasiusaq and three days of camping on the ice fjord at a campsite that was spitting distance from a Viking ruin. Then a hike to Qassiasuq, followed by another boat transfer back to Narsarsuaq. Boat transfer, hike, boat transfer, hike and camp, boat transfer hike, etc, etc.

Here’s what I learned about South Greenland along the way.

1. It’s the anti-Reykjavik

Walk through Reykjavik at night and you can feel the technopop from the bars and nightclubs deep in your abdominal cavity (I blame Iceland Air and their Stopover Deals). When I arrived in Igaliku (population 35), I heard nothing. No planes flying overhead, no car horns honking. No city buses spewing carbon monoxide, hydro-carbons or nitrogen oxides.

It helps that there are maybe four cars in the entire town. The only alcohol-centric place is the lobby of the tiny Igaliku Country Hotel or the “liquor aisle” of the Pilersuisoq, Igaliku’s one (and only) source for alcohol (as well as plenty of other items in small quantities). When backpacking in South Greenland, think of the Pilersuisoq as your local REI.

2. I Could Have Left the Moleskin Behind

When backpacking in South Greenland, there is only one rule: Sheep. Everywhere. Where there’s sheep, there are clumps of wool everywhere—on the hiking paths, the top of mountains, trapped in bushes and on fences, undulating in the breeze. I had brought along a package of Wuru Wool to mitigate any blisters that could emerge from days of hiking and carrying a heavy pack. Turns out I could have left it at home because the free stuff was everywhere.

3. I Should Have Brought my Kavu Chillba Hat

When the sun shines 20 hours a day and there are no trees for shade, a regular visor just doesn’t cut it. I left the Chillba hat behind because I thought it’s wide brim would interfere with the top of my backpack. Instead I packed a Kavu visor and a Buff. Meh.

4. It is Possible to Make a Campfire in a Country with no Trees

There is plenty of dried up bush branches that keep a small, manageable fire going for a few hours in the evening. On the off-chance a piece of driftwood floats into a fjord from Europe or North America, grab it and horde it like a prized diamond. A campfire would have been heaven. Firing up an existing field oven when I camped, and cooking a musk ox meat loaf, would have been the pièce de résistance. But I didn’t bring matches because.

5. You can’t Escape Tinkle Paper on the Trail

Ladies, for god’s sake. Bring a ziplock baggie. Or bury it under a rock if you can’t pack it out. Ever hear of Leave No Trace? It applies everywhere and to everyone. Especially when backpacking in South Greenland.

6. The Coffee was Forgettable

For a country that applauds coffee as its national drink and devised an official tradition around it, I had expected to be blown away by Greenland’s coffee. Instead, I was completely underwhelmed. Thankfully I’m enough of a coffee snob that I packed a couple boxes of instant Starbucks and Stoked Roasters Stoked Stix just in case. A brilliant move!

7. Jamie Lannister from Game of Thrones has a house in Igaliku

I tapped out of Game of Thrones after the first season (gratuitous violence and nudity does nothing for me) so I knew next to nothing about the actor. I creeped him on Google. Nikolaj Coster-Waldau. It all made sense. He’s a Danish actor and is married to a Greenlander. It’s easy to see why he chose cute, sweet, little Igaliku for his holiday home. It’s quiet, peaceful, out of the way, and private—or at least it was until I posted this article.

8. The beer is cheaper than beer in Norway

This shocked me. When I visited Norway in 2015, I paid $16 (in USD) for a craft beer in genteel cities like Bergen, Stavangar, Lillehammer and Trondheim. In Greenland the price of Qaqaq beer, my favorite, was a very reasonable $8-10 (in USD) depending on where I bought it. It helps to sustain the local economy and it’s one of the items produced in Greenland. Taste wise, it spanks anything painstakingly brewed in the finest American craft breweries.

9. The food. Wow. The food.

Igaliku’s only “grocery store” is housed inside the Pilersuisoq, a Greelandic chain of variety stores. The variety is that under it’s small roof is Greenland’s version of Hyvee, Home Depot, Target, TJ Max, DSW, REI, Bed Bath and Beyond, Total Wine, UPS, Cabela’s and the post office. The grocery aisle is takes up all of eight feet and food items were limited to very basic foods: pastas and sauces, Ramen-type noodles, crackers, cheeses, tins of canned fish and ham, canned soups, packages of cookies and chocolate, long-shelf vegetables preserved in layers of vacuum-sealed plastic wrap to sustain the long journey from Europe and a big massive barrel of onions and potatoes. The meat section offered big hunks of frozen whale, seal parts, lamb and mutton, pre-made musk ox patties, and what I think may have been packaged chicken parts.

Despite the lack of abundant options, it was healthy and nourishing. No GMO’s, low on the lab-born preservatives. The real treat was how the chef at the Igaliku Country Hotel served dinners made from all local ingredients: sausages made from reindeer, musk ox and lamb. Halibut and cod from the fjords. Blueberries and wild thyme foraged picked from the fields.

10. Melted Iceberg Water didn’t Live up to its Hype

Leading up to the trip I dreamed of kicking back at camp and sipping a glass of Scotch clinking with 15,000 ice cubes. Except that I couldn’t find any Scotch in Greenland. Instead I carved a chunk off an iceberg that remained lodged on the beach after the tide ebbed and boiled it down in my stove. I used it for oatmeal, tea, coffee and to fill my hydration pack. It was refreshing and clean but no more refreshing or clean than a bottle of Voss.

The post 10 Things I Learned Backpacking in South Greenland appeared first on gritandgearonline.com.

TrailFork Peanut Butter Banana Oatmeal compostable and burnable packaging burning in a campfire

*You still gotta pack out your trash, people. Leave no Trace.

I had the opportunity to try TrailFork Peanut Butter Banana Oats and Pizza Casserole the week of Memorial Day on a sea kayaking trip to Lake Superior’s Apostle Islands.

The weather was typical spring on Lake Superior. It rained. When it wasn’t raining the menacing sky threatening to rain. The water temperature was around 38 degrees. The nights down to the high 30s and the mornings were damp chilly. Hot food in the form of oatmeal and casserole makes nature’s adverse elements bearable.

What I Loved

Peanut Butter Banana Oats: Apple-n-brown-sugar-flavored Quaker instant oatmeal it ain’t. It’s more like the steal-cut oats that I buy in bulk at my co-op, cook for 40 minutes and then add bananas, peanut butter, walnuts and cranberries.

In Minnesota, we call this concoction “paddler’s porridge”. The TrailFork version took less time to cook and filled me up. As for flavor, it’s oatmeal. On its own its bland. But mix in some almond or peanut butter and some honey and voila.

TrailFork PIzza Casserole compostable and burnable packaging burning in a campfire

Pizza Casserole: It’s not what comes on the menu at California Pizza Kitchen but when camping it’s as close as one can get.

Still,  the veggie sausage, spiced marinara, red and green bell peppers, and the mozzarella cheese topping made a four-day sea kayaking trip on the Apostle Islands that much more of a slice of heaven.

Final Thoughts

Per instructions on the package, pour the freeze-dried food into a pot, add boiling water and cook or reconstitute accordingly.

Because TrailFork’s packaging is home-compostable and burnable in a campfire, it isn’t lined with foil to aid the reconstitution and cooking process. This is a culture shift from the days of Mountain House and Backpacker Pantry but one I have been waiting for and embraced.

A couple other notables of TrailFork that I have to call out.

• Woman-owned, woman-developed. Grit and Gear is a women-centric site and we promote women in the outdoors, women-run and led-companies, and women athletes. This is a product we can easily get behind because TrailFork hits all our hot buttons.
• Gives back 1% to the planet by donating to the Friends of the Cedar Mesa in Utah.
• Vegetarian, vegan, gluten free, and paleo friendly.
• Customizable. Tell them what you like and they’ll cook it up for you (for a fee).

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