Satellite photo of target area: Northern tip of Greenland , Kaffeklubben Island, and the Arctic Ice Shelf
Aerial photo looking north at the Greenland ice cap, 1.5 mi. thick, 250,000 years old
EXPEDITION PHOTOGRAPHS
(click to enlarge)
The Arctic Thule
Expedition target area
Arctic Thule expedition Team members
Our landing site in Independence Fjord
The flight from Iceland
to Station Nord in Greenland
Kaiser Franz Joseph Fjord, in the southern end of Greenland's National Park
Melting sea ice viewed from the plane while flying along Greenland's Northeastern coast
Flying over Northern Greenland
and Kaiser Franz Joseph fjord
Coming in for a landing on the tundra at Bliss Bay, on Greenland's north coast
Massive "scorpion" curved iceberg near "Suicide Cliff" the world's highest sea cliff (6,300 ft.)
Scenic vistas
in Northern Greenland
An expedition member comes across running bear tracks
Ivory gull (Pagophila eburnea) near Station Nord. It is the only species in its genus
Northern Greenland
wildlife encounters
Arctic Sea ice pack, temporary island floes for Polar Bears & skinny dippers
Greenland's Scoresby Sund, the world's largest and longest fjord system
Nature’s pristine
Arctic beauty
The world's largest fjord system is in Greenland's National Park
"Fish-eye" lens photo South of Kaffeklubben, melt-water pools, Cryoconite deposits on bottom
Aerial Views of Northern
Greenland
The cockpit of our Twin Otter aircraft flown by captain Johanns Skirnisonn
Landing on the tundra at Bliss Bay base Camp
En route to Bliss Bay,
arriving at base camp
Pearyland horizon near Bliss Bay, Kaffeklubben can be seen off the coast
Gunnbjørn Fjeld, Greenland's highest peak (3700 m / 12,120 ft)
Greenland terrain
and it’s highest mountain
One of our Arctic Thule expedition base camp tents at Bliss Bay
Two Polar bear cubs riding on their mother while she swims a fjord near Mugbukten
Arctic Thule expedition members
encamped at Bliss Bay
A Ruddy Turnstone (Arenaria interpres) at Bliss Bay, a species rarely photographed.
Snow hare, Cape Morris Jesup. Can run on it's hind feet like a Kangaroo.
Other residents
of Northern Greenland
Greenland's icebergs and cliffs in Isfjorden while traveling across an ice fjord by zodiac
A French expedition in the Southern end of Greenland national park
In the fjords of
Greenland National Park
Musk ox skull in Badland Valley: a traveler from another time
Hiking in the Arctic mist: expedition team trekking toward Cape Morris Jesup
The journey toward
Cape Morris Jesup
One of two species of Arctic Butterflies, Bliss Bay. Seen only on warm days in Summer
Mosquito Hawks in the Arctic, it is said they have anti-freeze in their bodies
Greenland’s unique landscape
and rare species
Looking West from Cape Morris Jessup, Mara Mountain (Greenland's Northernmost peak) in background
Arctic Thule expedition member Mara Boland at Peary’s cairn, Cape Morris Jesup, holding bottle left in 1921 by Lauge Koch
Cape Morris Jesup
in Peary Land
Polar bear with cubs near Mugbukten in Greenland's national park
A young Arctic fox stays close to it's mother's den
Day to day life
of Arctic residents
Ancient lifeboat found 3 miles inland, perhaps from whaling boat or vessel shipwrecked off Greenland long ago
Original note from the first visit to Kaffeklubben in 1960, signed by crew members of US helicopter & scientists
Relics of era’s
long past
Northernmost archaeological site in the world, possibly 1,000-4,000 yrs. old
Close up of archaeological site, only 400 mi. from the North Pole - note the rock formation in a circle
Northernmost archaeological
site in the world
Attastupan, in Greenland National park... the world's tallest sea cliff (6,300 ft.)
Crossing one of Greenland's fjords in a Zodiac inflatable boat
Geological beauty of
Greenland’s mountains
Red Lichen near Cape Morris Jesup, one of Earth's oldest organisms
Arctic Poppies, thriving in Greenland's brief Arctic Summer
Nature’s delicate beauty
in Northern Greenland
Flowers adorn a Musk Ox skull with the northern Greenland coast in the background
Mara Boland holding an ancient Narwhal tooth found on the north coast of Greenland
On the 12 mile overland trek
to Northern edge of Greenland
Polar Bear on ice floe near Daneborg
Musk Ox crossing an Arctic snowdrift
Large mammalian wildlife
in Northern Greenland
At the summit of Mara Mountain, 1 of 3 ancient stone pillars
One of 3 stone columns at the ridgetop of Mara Mountain
3 ancient stone monoliths
on the peak of the world’s
Northernmost mountain
Golden rock, snowfield, and Benedict mountains South of Amalortuk Lake
A herd of Musk Oxen, west of Cape Morris Jesup, in protective formation
The splendor of
Arctic summer
Northenmost nest made by the Sanderling bird at Cape Morris Jesup
Purple Sassofraxe flowers near Bliss Bay
Nature’s contrasts
in the arctic
Galen Rowell studying an "Arctic Oasis" - the ancient remains from the carcass of a musk ox
Dr. Peter Skafte at Midnight, sitting on an ancient log, perhaps from the last Arctic ice-free period
Overland encounters on the
trek to the North coast
Musk Ox skeleton turns into an oasis of flowers and grass
Caribou antler (now extinct since 1901) partially covered by moss and lichen
Survival of the fittest
in Northern Greenland
Arctic Thule expedition Team setting out for Kaffeklubben Island
Navigating the ice shelf and melt pools to reach the islands, the mainland far in the background
Trekking over the sea ice
toward Kaffeklubben Island
Snow hares near Cape Morris Jesup
Arctic fox in Summer (they turn white in Winter)
Arctic Wildlife
at the top of the world
Gaylen Rowell & Dr. Peter Skafte at summit of Mara Mountain
"Top of the World" Expedition team members on Kaffeklubben Island
At Southern end of
Kaffeklubben Island
Expedition team member Mara Bowland letting off steam
Trekking across snow-melt pools toward Ultima Thule
Continuing on to
the Arctic Thule region
Kaffeklubben Island detail from 2005 satellite photo composite
Northern tip of Kaffeklubben Island photographed from the air
Views of Kaffeklubben Island
from airplane & satellite
The 1993 search for a new Northernmost Island under the sea ice and water
A nudist spotted on one of the ice floes... obviously quite mad but we took him with us
Searching for Ultima Thule,
North of Kaffeklubben Island
Odaq Island from the air, lower left, Northern coast of Greenland in the background
Odaq Island, on the day it was discovered in 1978
Odaq Island, 1.3 km
North of Kaffeklubben
Expedition team at Ultima Thule Island in 2003
Dr. Peter Skafte celebrates on a "new" island in 1996, before it emerged from a melt water pool
Reaching the legendary
Ultima Thule area
Flying over Ultima Thule Island as photographed and discovered by Dr. Skafte in 1998
Looking back toward the Northern coast of Greenland from the ice melt pools
Exploring
Ultima Thule Island
Arriving at Ultima Thule Island in 2003, looking south toward the coast of Greenland
Celebrating at "Top of the World Island" in 1996
Two discoveries:
Ultima Thule Island
and Top of the World Island
"Stairway to heaven" - Mara Boland on Mara Mountain, looking up toward the summit
Dr. Peter Skafte holding his walking spear, an indispensable safety accessory
The ultimate quest…
for Ultima Thule
NASA satellite photo of Greenland's north coast showing Independence Fjord & Frederic P Hyde fjord
Amalortak Lake, location of Northernmost archaeological site
Arctic Thule
Land of Legends
photo credits: Roger Brown, Galen Rowell, Peter Skafte