Hiking Greenland – Icefjords and Remote Villages

Today was to be the most challenging day of hiking for the whole of the Icefjords and Remote Villages trip. The 1050m ascent to the summit of Mt Kuummiut, which towers over the town. Although it was a cloudy morning and the fog seemed to be coming and going over the top of the mountain, it wasn’t raining and we kept our fingers crossed!

Start of the hike to the cloud shrouded top of Mt Kuummiut - East Greenland — At the start of the hike, the summit of Mt Kuummiut (the peaky bits to the right) was appearing and disappearing in the low cloud

With this trek, you start climbing almost immediately upon leaving Kuummiut, the steady ascent offering wonderful views back down over the village and the fjord and up to our final destination.

Views of our climb up Mt Kuummiut - East Greenland — The hike up Mt Kuummiut offers amazing views down over the town (top) and ahead to the summit (bottom)

As with almost every hike in East Greenland, there is no trail to follow. Andrea led us across mostly rocky ground and slushy snow drifts, choosing her route based on previous experience in leading this trip.

Views of our route as we ascended Mt Kuummiut - East Greenland — Various views of our route up Mt Kuummiut

There were plenty of rest stops on the way up, to catch our breath and admire the views

Rest stop overlooking the fjord on the way up Mt Kuummiut, East Greenland — A rest stop with an amazing view. Actually, all the rest stops in East Greenland have incredible views!

with many mostly-frozen lakes

Frozen lake on the way up Mt Kuummiut - East Greenland

and the ever-present but magnificent Greenlandic rock. Yes, I’m a geology nut!

Rock face as we climb Mt Kuummiut in East Greenland — I should have been a geologist…

The normal route to the summit is to hike up a valley just before reaching the final steep uphill. However, given the amount of snow we’d already walked through, and the fact that the valley was very firmly held in a snowy grip, Andrea decided to explore a different route up via a ridge line to our left.

Hiking an alternate route up Mt Kuummiut to avoid the worst of the snow - East Greenland — Yes, there was still snow, but nothing like what we would have encountered down in the valley

It was a total winner of an idea! The ridge was quite wide and offered magnificent views that would not have been visible if we’d hiked up the valley. And the going was infinitely easier (and drier) than making our way through deep slushy snow.

The final uphill push to the summit was a good workout under bright sunshine (finally), but with plenty of excuses to stop along the way and take photographs. I could even see the Tasiilaq Fjord that we had walked along on Day 8 of Unplugged Wilderness last year.

The final ascent to the summit of Mt Kuummiut with the Tasiilaq fjord far below - East Greenland — The final ascent to the summit of Mt Kuummiut is quite steep, but with incredible views of the Tasiilaq fjord far below

And the view from the summit – a magnificent 360 degree panorama, where photos (even mine 😉 ) cannot do it justice!

Panorama of the view from the summit of Mt Kuummiut - East Greenland

[move mouse over image to see the full panorama]

East Greenland really is a spectacularly beautiful place!

We had lunch (and a nap) tucked into the rocks on the summit ridge

relaxing on the ridge at the summit of Mt Kuummiut - East Greenland — Relaxing on the knife-edge ridge at the summit of Mt Kuummiut

and took several quiet moments to marvel at the beauty before us and how incredibly fortunate we were to be here at this time.

One of the views from the summit of Mt Kuummiut - East Greenland — Me and my hiking boots enjoying one of the views from the summit of Mt Kuummiut

However, all perfect moments must come to an end and, about an hour later when the clouds started to close in, we began to retrace our steps down the mountain.

Views descending from the summit of Mt Kuummiut - East Greenland — Views as we descended from the summit of Mt Kuummiut. Note the weather getting worse (bottom image)

It was good timing in fact, as only an hour later the fog had started to obscure the top of the mountain once more.

Greenlandic rocks and the summit of Mt Kuummiut disappearing once again into fog - East Greenland — The summit of Mt Kuummiut disappearing once again into the fog after we summitted. LOVE Greenlandic rocks!

As you’ve probably guessed by now if you’ve read my other posts about this trip, it was time for tea, coffee, hot chocolate and bikkies when we reached the hut. Followed by salad, lamb roast, mashed potato, and chocolate mousse for dinner. Sooooo much food!