We take van trips and non van trips. The non van trips are usually based on visiting a new country. We both wanted to see Greenland (Denmark) so decided to head there. We looked at various options. Cruise ships see a lot of the island, but are not very active. We looked at backpacking but were not too excited about carrying heavy packs for a week. I then found a boat supported hiking trip. That sounded good to both of us, so we booked it through Pirhuk: Greenland Mountain Guides
http://www.expeditiongreenland.com/trip/greenland-trekking/greenland-trek
When signing up for the trip they ask for your experience level with camping and backpacking. The owner responded that we might enjoy their extended backpacking trip more based on our experience. I told them we are not interested in carrying heavy packs on this trip. This might be the best decision we ever made. Even with a day pack the trip was hard: fast river crossings, lots of boulder fields, exposed edges and even a little rock climbing. This trip really pushed our skill level but the guides were awesome and got us through it.
The trip starts and ends at Reykjavik International Airport.
- Greenland Facts
- It is the world’s largest island that is not a continent
- It is mostly ice (80%) but 2,500,000 years ago is was mostly green
- It is an autonomous country within Denmark
- First humans arrived around 2500 BC
- 88% of population is Inuit, they invented the kayak
- 25% of the population lives in the capital city of Nuuk
- There are no roads that connect settlements.
- Boats are the most popular form of transportation
- The sun dos not set from May 25th to July 25th
- Greenland is 1/4 the size of the USA.
LET THE ADVENTURE BEGIN, STEVE