Done and done

Ever since I realised that the town of Uummannaq is placed on an island, I've been wanting to do a trip around the island.
I'm not sure how long it is, but I had heard that the east side of the island would be the worst part mostly consisting of loose rocks of shales.
So today was the day where I went on the east side of the Uummannaq Mountain to see for myself, if it it as bad as the rumours says.
There was nothing much to do in the hotel and my guests didn't need my help, so I got the rest of the day off, packed some water, raisins and my cap (this turned out to save my day later on) and headed of towards the east of the island.

Just so you all have an idea of the geography of Uummannaq Island. The island is actually one big mountain; the top of the mountain is placed on the middle of the island meaning that there are hardly any nice flat areas to walk on. But. On the west side of the island the mountain side is not at all as steep as it is on the east side – and on top of that the surface materials you walk on changes with every stone you cross – today I have been walking on huge rocks, in sand, in shales, in turf, on hard rock, in water, on loose loose rocks.. And almost all of it was on the mountain side with a declination of 25-70 degrees.

I started off at 12:00 and had the plan that I would turn back at 14:00. In that way I would be back for the semifinal between Germany and Spain :-)

The slopes on the east side was everything I had imagined and a bit more. I was struggling in the loose material and for every step I took, I lost at least 75% stepping through the gravel. But it was beautiful and silent. I was loving it – and because of that, I continued further and further away from the town.
Suddenly the time had reached 14:00 and I had come a much longer way than I would have expected. I was still fresh and believed that the north end of the island wouldn't be that far away – besides from that, I would never ever go back the same way I came.
Therefore Mr. Rolvsen continued along the high mountain sides determined to do the Tour de Uummannaq today.

My high moods caused by the anticipation of seeing the northside of the island quickly turned into a more limited joy. I was getting a bit tired and the shales and loose rock just continued on and on.
Apparently I was nowhere near the north end, but when I eventually found out I had gone to far to turn back.
The goal was now to find that north point and to find some more water (I knew that the trip would get a bit (danish understatement) longer than I originally had expected and my water supply was running out).
Finally the steep slopes of loose rock and sand turned into a more rocky surface. The mountain side was still very steep, but at least now I could count on the surface not underneath my feet.

Since the north side is as hard to get to as it is, it's a very unspoiled and pristine place. And more importantly: since the sun isn't that hard on this side of the island, the moss, flowers and herbs bloom here in abundance. It's one of the most beautiful sites I have ever seen. Hands down.
Of course I had forgotten the memory card for my camera in my computer (how stupid can you be..), so you will just have to take my word for it.

But just as beautiful as it was going around the north end of mountains, just as hard it was.
The mountains have arisen in such a way that the ledges all go up and up until you find yourself looking down 200 m of shear vertical rock. Because of this I had to climb down seemingly unclimbable walls to get to the bottom – all of this just to go around the wall and walk up again through one of the gullies.
Slowly I was making progress and little by little I could recognize the view to some of the surrounding islands.
But I must confess that when standing on a ledge 200 m up looking for, but not finding a way back or down... I felt like just sitting down and wait for something to happen. Fortunately I got my head together again and climbed/jumped/crawled my way down.

After almost 6 hours of struggling I made it back to the hotel and the last 15 minutes of the football game. A lot of scratches, bruises and experiences richer.
It truly was a huge experience, but I'm not sure if I want to do it again. The reason: That goddamned east side of the island. The rest of the trip I would love to do again, but there's no way I'm going back to those steep, treacherous slopes.

Getting back to the hotel I also found out that the Danish Ultimate Frisbee team Ragnarok ended up 12th at the World Championships for Clubs in Prague.
Therefore; this one goes out to you guys! Well done!

/ Aslak