After the yellow trail walk to Kuanit, I teamed up with 2 Danish walkers and we decided to prolong the morning walk and add an afternoon trail walk on the red trail through Blaesedale. Halfway the return walk to Qeqertarsuaq, we said goodbye to the other walkers that returned to the village and went of, walking north west, not on the trail yet though. This 1st part we were crossing a piece of tundra, walking towards the same river that we crossed at the start of our walk on the yellow trail. The red trail was also starting at Qeqertarsuaq but where the yellow trail followed the coast line, the red trail bend away to the north following the river immediately after crossing  it at the bridge.

Map:

The shortcut we were making through the tundra towards the river would bring us inevitably to the red trail.

The sun was getting more powerful now and the last remnants of the fog around the mountains, were evaporating quickly. The Wandelgek could already see the enormous glacier on top, underneath a clear blue sky…

Didn’t have a lunch yet and after reaching the river and finding the red trail, we decided to find a spot directly overlooking the ravine. Awesome views while munching my sandwiches and drinking some coffee…

Then we followed the river for several kilometers upstream and the ravine got more shallow…

The trail started to climb and got much less visible due to plants overgrowing it and its markers. On top of a large hill we had a brilliant view over the upcoming section of the trail. The trail however was still not visible. I didn’t see any red markers in the next section, but because the trail followed the course of the river, which meandered through the now very broad Blaesedalen, guessing in which direction it would lead was a no brainer.

After enjoying the view, we went down toward the river and followed it for several kilometers in northern direction. Although the vale looked quite flat, it was difficult to walk. The ground was covered with rounded wet river stones, overgrown by plants which made it hard to see where to place the next step without slipping off of a stone.

Blaesedale or Vale of the Wind

The Danish word Blaesedale consists of Blaese and dale. Danish is a Germanic language as are German and Dutch. Blase in Danish means wind. In Dutch we have the word Blazen, which is a verb for blowing air from your longues and out through the mouth. Dale is Danish for vale or valley. In Dutch we have the word dal (from German tal) meaning vale. Lots of words in Danish are similar to Dutch in that way. They are not exactly the same (the Dutch word for wind is…wind) but because we have this verb blazen, it still is quite understandable and obvious what the Danish Blaese meant. I just love these language comparisons.

After having followed the river for a long time, we reached a point where all of us felt it was good to start turning and walk back to Qeqertarsuaq. We paused for a while and lay down in the grass to enjoy the lush green environment in the warm sunlight, listening to the clear rippling of the water.

The valley floor was green but littered with loads of arctic flowers in full bloom…

The small dangers of hiking

After we turned we had to cross some small tributaries of the main river. Not very broad or deep, but because of all the green plants it was difficult to spot where the embankment ended and where the plants were not supported by soil anymore. Everything here was wet and slippery and it meant being  really careful where to position the next step. But even with care it went wrong twice. The Wandelgek stepped on a wet somewhat moss covered round stone and slipped, bending the ankle dangerously far, because the weight already had moved towards that leg and carrying a backpack didn’t help either. Was afraid for a short while that the ankle band got torn but luckily it didn’t. Hooray for high ankle supporting shoes. A bit further we had to cross another river and while my walking partner from Denmark jumped from the embankment to the other side, the leg slipped and slided down into the river. The height difference was about a half to 3 quarters of a meter and it is quite dangerous to slip and then land on the leg when the rivers are full of these wet round stones. But again no real damage done.

We walked back towards the bridge near Qeqertarsuaq but now we did follow the red trail all the way and when we passed the lunch spot where we sat for a while earlier that day, the ravine got deeper and steeper and the little rivers running from the mountains around us made the river grow. Suddenly the main river disappeared and a bit further on the trail we saw it did so because it became a waterfall, falling even deeper into the ravine…

 

The tributing rivers cut deep into the rocks of the surrounding mountains before joining the main river. Near the coast line, the ravine started to flatten and I could see the icebergs drift in Disko Bay. We walked though a flat rocky expanse which felt a bit like a lunar or martian landscape…

After the river crossing we walked towards the outskirts of the village and passed the football field where a match for the Greenlandic Championship was commencing…

 

I always like seeing how different and varied people can spend their time. Specially after a walking day like this when I sometimes start to think that I’m alone in the world and the few other people that live there are scattered over the planet and are walking through tundras or forests or along beaches just like I am. Than walking into town gets me back into reality seeing people enjoying football matches or getting groceries at the supermarket or bringing their kids to school or going to a movie teatre or shopping or sitting all day on a bench watching television or visiting a restaurant with friends or writing poetry or a novel on a bench near a river or…

Life is never boring!!!