Trip Report by Corby Waste Inuugujoq, kutta! Tikilluarit! In July, 2004, seven "crazy Americans" went to Greenland to collect rare fluorescent minerals. I was one of them. We went to seven major locations in the world-famous Illimaussaq complex of minerals (see fluorescent Illimausaq specimens ). What was it like? Beautiful and wild! How did I get so lucky to go on this trip-of-a-lifetime? I turned 50 in February of 2004 and my big present was going on "Geo Adventure 2004", as it was called. After many months of planning it was time to fly East out of the Los Angeles area. I had to take three weeks off from my job as a computer graphic artist for the Mars Exploration Program at the NASA Jet Propulsion Lab in Pasadena, California. It was fun when I mentioned to the top Mars geologists that I was going rock collecting in Greenland - especially when it turned out that neither one of them had been there. They didn't know that I was a geological explorer, too. I knew I might never get a chance to go there again so I had to make the most of it. It was a bit like going to the moon or Mars, that way - there would be little time to waste. Here are some of the pictures and stories from the trip - pictures of the fluorescent specimens are still to be added.

First stop: Iceland     Our jet from Iceland to Narsarsuak, Greenland     Arriving in South Greenland Satellite view of South Greenland in July + origin of the icebergs

Flight to Narsarsuak          First sight of Greenland and icebergs Icebergs off the east coast of Greenland     Icebergs below    South-east coast of Greenland         Greenland flight: eastern fjords panorama Fjord's end and beginning of Inland Ice        Greenland flight: end of the Inland Ice - fjords ahead  Fjords appeared as we descended towards Narsarsuak       Fjords of south Greenland ahead Historic Narsarsuak airport on Tunuliarfik fjord             We finally made it to Greenland! Our group at the Narsarsuak harbor                Perfect first day in Greenland  The view on Tunuliarfik fjord heading to Narsaq   Narsaq, home base for Geo Adventure 2004    Closeup view from space of selected Geo Adventure 2004 locations     Home base for Geo Adventure 2004: Super-panoramic view of Narsaq, South Greenland, the gateway to the Illimaussaq complex    Small boat harbor, Narsaq panorama      Narsaq cemetery panorama        Enjoying the niviarsiaq, Greenland's national flower     The Illimaussaq complex near Narsaq    The road to Illimaussaq

"Geo Adventuring" locations   Taseq East      On our first night in Greenland we ascended an area called Taseq East          Large yellow sodalite specimen from Taseq East    First night's mineral pile from Taseq East   Fourth of July Kvanefjeld tugtupite hike (Kvanefjeld is pronounced "Crane-feld")      The road to Kvanefjeld   The Kvanefeld trail to the tugtupite mines         Perfect weather - thank the gods!     Hiking up to the tugtupite mine near the top of Kvanefjeld         Hammering on the slopes of Kvanefjeld   Top of the Kvanefjeld trail with our Greenlandic friends           Kvanefjeld 4th of July tugtupite hike   Our main Kvanefjeld tugtupite site               The Kvanefjeld lake   Beautiful summer day at the tugtupite mines            Swimming in the Kvanefjeld lake   Swimming in the Kvanefjeld lake           Sun-drying after Fourth of July swim     Fourth of July evening at the Kvanefjeld tugtupite mines           This is a vein of tugtupite   Lee McIlvaine holding a tugtupite specimen           Kvanefjeld sunset           Sorensenite hike       Base camp and the "sorensenite boulders" Sorensenite collecting trip to the boulders below Kvanefjeld       Panorama from the sorensenite boulder area below Kvanefjeld                 Illimaussaq sunset seen from boulders A garden of lichens and moss on one of the boulders       Rainy day in the Illimaussaq complex        Icebergs in the Narsq Elv bay    Drving into the Illimaussaq complex         The rocky gorge of the Narsaq Elv   Narsaq Elv in the complex            Illimaussaq complex rainy day drive   Illimaussaq mountain road       Illimaussaq road rain hike   "What a great rock-hunting location!"       The Narsaq Elv on the Illimaussaq mountain road   Face rock collected during Illimaussaq rain hike         Unusual rock formation in the mist   Mysterious stone marker     Taseq West        Icelandic ponies in our base camp below Taseq West    Icelandic ponies in our base camp             Bridge over the Narsaq Elv near base camp   Crossing the rain-swollen Narsaq Elv                  Crossing the Narsaq Elv    One rocky step at a time up to Taseq West             Hike from base camp to Taseq West in fog      Navigating to the Taseq West location by GPS          Moss with raindrops     Stream moss with raindrops              The collecting area at Taseq West   Howie Green collecting at Taseq West           "Taseq soup" boulder, Taseq West - source of the "monster polylithionite"    Panoramic view from Kvanefjeld to Taseq West             Taseq lake panorama, Taseq West   My Thor's hammer pendant on melting snow             Exploring Taseq West   View of the fjords         End of the hike: return from Taseq West          Tunuliarfik fjord         Boat trip to a collecting site on a dark stormy day     Tunuliarfik fjord panorama           Iceberg near our Tunuliarfik and Tugtup landing sites    Tunuliarfik landing party - lost in the immensity of the complex           Trail marker discovered on Tunuliarfik fjord   Trail marker discovered on Tunuliarfik fjord                 Stream boulder    Hiking above the rocky Tunuliarfik fjord shore to collecting site           Tunuliarfik beach and collecting site panorama   Illimaussaq complex view opposite Tunuliarfik collecting site          Lee collecting at Tunuliarfik    My discovery of yellow-green sodalite       The big rock pile at Tunuliarfik   Collecting fun on the fjord                 Flowers among the boulders   Illimaussaq complex, Tunuliarfik fjord (opposite Tugtup)     Tugtup Agtakorfia I found the rare but non-fluorescent mineral Tundrite at Tugtup - it's so rare that it has never been found before on a Geo Adventure until this year. Pictures of our long, cold night sleeping on the ground with no camping gear at Tugtup will be added - Ed.     Spending time in Narsaq   On tour of the Narsaq museum White wooly flowers     Kangerlussaq fjord  Super-panoramic view of the end of Kangerlussaq fjord   Kangerlussaq fjord campsite panorama         Edge of the Illimaussaq complex at end of Kangerlussaq fjord   Friable syenite boulders              Enjoying the lost world of Kangri-la

End of the trip                   Exhausted from 10-days and nights of mining and transporting fluorescent minerals in cold Greenlandic weather   Returning up Tunuliarfik fjord to Narsarsuak airport                Journey's end: Return to Narsarsuak dock         Dramatic first minutes of the return flight to Iceland     THE END

Geo Adventure 2004 Stereo 3D
Please use only red and cyan (light blue) glasses, the red and dark blue glasses won't work.

Mysterious stone marker    Bridge over Narsaq Elv near base camp          "Taseq soup" boulder, Taseq West    Stream boulder, Tunuliarfik fjord        Friable syenite boulders, Kangerlussaq fjord   Stereo anaglyphs created by Corby Waste at the Illimaussaq complex during Geo Adventure 2004, in South Greenland. I shot them using a "normal" camera, not a stereo camera.

Links Site of fluorescent mineral field collector Corby Waste   Our fellow Geo-Adventurer Herb Yeates has several sites: Fluorescent Illimaussaq Illimaussaq 2005   Geo Adventure 2004 was led by Mark Cole of MinerShop.com

*Inuugujoq, kutta! Tikilluarit! is Greenlandic for "Hello! Welcome!" More about Greenland (in Greenlandic: Kalaallit Nunaat and in Danish: Grønland)   Greenland and Polar Scientific Research

Trip report author: Corby Waste

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