The Impressive Arctic Circle Trail
The very thought of trekking the longest waymarked trail in Greenland must produce images of endless ice-fields, marauding polar bears, desperate struggles for survival and large expense. In fact, the Arctic Circle Trail provides a pretty easy trek, provided it really is approached with careful thought and planning. Forget about the huge ice-cap and polar bears, that are there if you need them, but don't feature on the trail. Instead, pay attention to one of several largest ice-free areas of Greenland, between your air port at Kangerlussuaq and the western seaboard at Sisimiut.
The Arctic Circle Trail is genuinely north in the Arctic Circle for its entire length, so that in midsummer there isn't any nightfall, and for the brief summer time ordinary trekkers can enjoy the wild and desolate tundra merely by following stone-built cairns. Bearing in mind that there is absolutely nowhere you can obtain provisions on the way, for upwards of 100 miles (160km), the difficult part shall be ruthless when packing food and all the kit you need to stay alive. Water is clean, fresh, plentiful and freely available. In case you bring your entire food to Greenland and limit your spending, the path can be completed within a strict budget. Detailed maps and guidebooks can be purchased.
Some trekkers burden themselves with huge and packs, which require great effort to hold, which means carrying lots of food to stoke up with extra calories. Think light and pack light. There are a few basic wooden huts at intervals along the way, offering four walls, a roof covering, and bunks for between four and 24 trekkers. They're not staffed, cannot be pre-booked, and provide no facilities in addition to shelter. In the event you carry a tent, you can pitch it anywhere that suits you, subject just to the type in the terrain and also the prevailing weather.
In general, the next thunderstorm comes from two directions - east and west. An easterly breeze, coming off of the ice-cap, is cool and extremely dry. A westerly breeze, coming from the sea, will take cloud plus a way of rain. It's not going to snow from the short summer time, mid-June to mid-September, but for the other time, varying quantities of ice and snow covers the way, plus the middle of winter it'll be dark all the time and temperatures will plummet far, far below freezing for months on end.
The international airport at Kangerlussuaq enjoys around 300 clear-sky days per year, so the weather must be good, along with the trail starts following a fairly easy tarmac and dirt road. At night research station at Kellyville, the path is simply a narrow path across empty tundra dotted with lakes. If you are planning to steer from hut to hut, then this route will take maybe nine days, unless stages are doubled-up. By using a tent offers greater flexibility, and some trekkers complete the road in as little as every week. Huts are located at Hundeso, Katiffik, The Canoe Centre, Ikkattook, Eqalugaarniarfik, Innajuattok, Nerumaq and Kangerluarsuk Tulleq. Youth hostels and hotels can be found with the terminal points of Kangerlussuaq and Sisimiut.
There is a substitute for utilize a free kayak to paddle all day long across the large lake of Amitsorsuaq, instead of walk along its shore. There are only a handful of kayaks, of course, if all of them are moored with the 'wrong' end with the lake, then walking is the only option. The path is usually low-lying, below 500ft (150m), but climbs occasionally over 1300ft (400m), notably around Ikkattook, Iluliumanersuup Portornga and Qerrortusuk Majoriaa. You can find a few river crossings whose difficulty is determined by melt-water and rainfall. They're difficult at the start of the summer season, but better to ford later. The largest river, Ole's Lakseelv, features a footbridge if neccessary.
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