East bank of Tasermuit Fjord- South Greenland

[John “Jay” Menna]

This report details a five-day hiking trip along the east bank of the Tasermiut Fjord in southern Greenland, traveling south from Klosterdalen. The journey was the culmination of many years of meticulous research, including gathering maps and aerial photos from various sources.

Photos:   https://www.icloud.com/sharedalbum/#B1i5n8hH4nwrHg

Cartographic Discrepancies

A key source of information was the Harvey Maps, specifically the “Tasermiut Fjord & Nanortalik Hiking Map” (ISBN: GRE-TASER-17), which is the official map for the region: https://longitudemaps.com/products/tasermiut-fjorden-nanortalik-hiking-map_gre-taser-17. However, the route depicted on this 1995 map was found to be a “fantasy.” The trail shown simply does not exist today. As someone with a strong background in cartography, I can confirm that the topographic lines on the map are not accurate. I believe that Harvey Maps should update this map or cease its publication.

For reference, our actual route is available here: https://caltopo.com/m/N1SETQC.

The Challenge of the Terrain

The journey began with a drop-off by boat from Nanortalik onto a rocky shore, as there is no established trail. We were immediately confronted with the necessity of bushwhacking through dense and challenging terrain. The landscape was incredibly beautiful, but our progress was severely limited. After three grueling 10- to 12-hour days of hiking, we had only covered approximately five to six miles down the fjord, though we likely covered six times that distance in lateral movements while navigating obstacles.

The primary obstacles to movement were threefold:

1. Dwarf Birch Thickets: These trees grow sideways rather than upwards, creating an almost impenetrable thicket. At the end of the growing season, they were at their maximum size, completely obscuring the ground. Trekking poles were rendered useless as they would not find solid ground, sinking into the moss beneath the sticks. While challenging, a redeeming quality was the lack of thorns, which allowed us to push through without being shredded by briars. It is also important to note that the light green moss that grows over some creeks and runoffs will not support weight, a lesson we learned quickly.
2. Chasms and Cliffs: The route is extremely rough and remote, and we were constantly forced to navigate around numerous chasms, cliffs, rivers, and waterfalls. As regular climbers, we are accustomed to challenging rock faces, but trying to navigate this terrain while wearing packs on loose scree with potential for creating a small avalanche did not make for a good bouldering experience.
3. Route Passability: There is a lot of discussion online about the passability of the east shore of the Tasermiut Fjord. Based on our experience, I would say it is not passable for a through-hike. The only other report I have found from someone attempting this hike involved an individual coming from the south (we attempted from the north) who also abandoned their attempt. In the end, we abandoned our attempt halfway through the planned 20-mile route.

Communication Challenges – MAJOR ZOLEO FAILURE

A critical part of our preparation was carrying redundant communication devices. We carried both a Zoleo and an Iridium satellite phone. When we realized we couldn’t meet our original goal, we attempted to use the Zoleo to contact our boat captain for an early pickup. The Zoleo successfully connected to the satellite network in the U.S., but its backend telephone network failed to connect to the Greenlandic phone system ( or any +299 phone number) . This was frustrating as the Zoleo’s UI indicated the message had been sent with a green checkmark, which was misleading. When we finally got back to civilization, we placed the receiving Greenlander’s phone on a table and sent it a text. The Zoleo had indicated that it got through, but it clearly had not. Thankfully, our backup Iridium satellite phone worked, and we were able to arrange our pickup.

Conclusion

Despite only completing about half of our planned route, the trip was extraordinarily rewarding. We experienced a level of pristine beauty and remoteness that is hard to describe. We could even hear the sounds of snow and glacial cracking from a distance as avalanches occurred during the night.

I would recommend this area for hiking, but with the caveat that one should not expect to cover significant distances. This hike is the culmination of many years of backpacking experience and requires a painstaking amount of preparation. The audience here on Backpacking Light seems the appropriate place to find people who would be adequately prepared for this. The average person who just happens to be stumbling into Greenland looking for an adventure should probably not try it. The feeling of being “beyond the edge of civilization” was a unique and unforgettable experience.

[dirtbag]

Im gonna dive into this over the weekend!!! EXCITING!!

[Terran]

+1 for your costar.

[Philip Tschersich]

It was interesting comparing this latitude (60 degrees N) to to my backyard. I live at 58 degrees north in Alaska. I have traveled the southcentral Alaska coastline for the last 30 years, and each place I visit has somewhat different geology and plant communities, but they share a theme. It all fits in what could be called the Alaska Pacific Maritime Zone. Kodiak straddles a transition from dense temperate coastal rainforests to the east and the maritime tundra and grasslands to the west. It’s cool to be able to travel a short distance and experience both.

Anyway, one thing that dictates the ease of travel in these regions is the presence or absence of large animals. In Kodiak, we have piles of Sitka blacktail deer and brown bears. Both can make some lovely trails. We have large herds of Roosevelt elk in the archipelago and they make freaking highways. Mountain goats on Kodiak and areas of the mainland also make very nice trails in the rocky alpine and even down into the forests of the Kenai. The AK mainland has piles of black bears which also wander the landscape. The critters are the ultimate locals and know exactly how to get around in the easiest and most expeditious manner. It is to the point where if I’m traveling through an area with no animal trails I start thinking, “this must be a bad idea if even the bears avoid this place.”

Recently glaciated terrain is among the worst you will run into around here. Lots of talus and huge angulated boulders with a thin veneer of tundra, moss and grasses that give willows, alders, devils club and salmonberries some purchase to grow, and effectively hiding the leg-snapping gaps between the boulders from view. Scary stuff to hike through. I don’t mind swimming blindly through dense brush as long as there is not a high likelihood of receiving a serious orthopedic injury with every step. If you have large animals living in the area they generally do a great job of guiding you through these boobytraps. Serendipitously, we have tons of large fauna for both route-setting and wildlife-viewing purposes. Recently glaciated terrain with no megafauna seems like a recipe for getting an ouchie.

[John “Jay” Menna]

Philip:

I have done so little hiking Alaska ( The Chilkoot is hardly virgin wilderness). It sound as if I need to add it to the list.

The terrain is exactly as you describe: “Recently glaciated terrain”.  We had to take great care to not get injured.  This was the first major hike I have done on a new set of knees.  Lots of unstable scree and foot grabbing vegetation.

The only mammal life we saw were seals and a whale.   As the “green land” is all bordered to the north by the icecap. and chopped up into little parcels to the east and west by one of many hundred fjords.  It does not lend itself to large populations of big animals.   Having said that I really did not want to meet one of the local bears.    As a local told me.   You don’t fret a fox in the chicken coop when you have seen a polar bear in a sheep pen.

[Paul Wagner]

Stunning photos.  Thanks for posting this.  I may never get there, but I now have a library of images to dream!

[dueurt]

Seems like a fantastic trip.

Regarding maps, the Danish Agency for Climate Data (current home of the regularly renamed national Danish mapping agency), have freely available topographical maps of Greenland, both online and as printready PDFs. I’ve never been to Greenland unfortunately, and have no idea how good the maps are, but I expect they’re decent. Given the size of the mapped area, don’t expect yearly updates, however they are significantly more recent than 1995. Machine translated description from the site:

The Greenlandic vector data is based on commercial satellite images with a resolution of 0.5 meters. These images were primarily collected during the summer months in the period from 2017 to 2021. The data was produced and quality assured in accordance with ISO standards.

You must register a (free) account to download (unfortunately I can’t see an english version of the site, so machine translation is probably your friend).

Online (WMS etc.): https://dataforsyningen.dk/data/4771
Browser viewable map: https://dataforsyningen.dk/map/4771
Printable PDFs: https://dataforsyningen.dk/data/4848

Anyways, too late for this trip, but might be useful to you or others in the future.

[John “Jay” Menna]

I should have mentioned those.   We did use those maps too.   They are extremely wonderful, and unlike the 1995 Harvey maps, the topography is quite accurate. However, While they are a good piece of the puzzle, they are only that, a piece of the puzzle.  If I’m not mixing them up with the other 30 sources I had, they don’t have any trail information, nor do they show vegetation very well. But they do give you very accurate topography.     (I will admit that half of the fun of this trip was prepping for it pouring over as many maps, trip reports  and air photos as I could get!  Finding sat photos that did not show the terrain covered in snow was like a kid  finding an easter egg)

[Author]

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