Kuannit – Basalt Columns, Waterfalls and Arctic Lushness

We walked past the small heliport and the new football stadium with the bright green synthetic grass field. We had to take the opportunity to play some football. It’s hard to imagine a more beautiful place to play football than here on the edge of the great iceberg-filled Disko Bay with the red-brown basalt mountains towering behind.

Then we reached the Kuussuaq River, which is also called Røde Elv (Red River) in Danish. On the west side there is a campsite and a few primitive shelters with toilets. This is where we pitched our tent most of the days while we were on Disko.

The Kuussuaq River is a dramatic river that drains the large glaciers of the highlands. It got its Danish name from the reddish-brown sediment it carries, which can be seen from the mountain tops as a long, large tail that extends far out into Disko Bay.

The Big Waterfall

We crossed the Kuussuaq River over a wooden bridge and followed the red marks close to the river towards Qorlortorsuaq, “the big waterfall”. After fifteen minutes we reached the fall, or rather the falls, as there are several, small and large. There was a spot where we stood on the edge of the cliff and really felt the rush in our stomachs (and a little fear of heights) as we looked down at the huge masses of water pouring down the gorges.

We then returned the same way back to the trail towards Kuannit, which is marked with yellow dots. We headed east towards Kuannit along the trodden path. The weather was somewhat unstable and alternated between fog and drizzling rain, but also with occasional sunshine.

Just over halfway towards Kuannit we spotted the “Elephant”. It’s a funny rock formation down by the coast that really looks like an elephant drinking from the water with its thick trunk.

Basalt Columns in Kuannit

A natural “gateway” led us into Kuannit, a nature area in a class of its own. On the steeply sloping and lush terrain, we saw one impressive rock formation after another. All created by the red-glowing lava flows of the past, which, during the rapid cooling of the sea water, have become quirky pentagonal and hexagonal basalt columns.

The beautiful rock structures invited closer inspection, and the boys got to do a lot of climbing on the basalt columns. It was both challenging and mind-expanding to move around on 50 million-year-old solidified lava. While in Kuannit, be sure to stick to the foot paths or walk on solid rock to protect the sensitive vegetation and the in places fragile basalt.

There are several thermal springs in Kuannit, creating small and large streams and waterfalls that make the area particularly green and lush. The water gives life to many flowers, mosses and the large and edible Angelica plant. Kuannit also means “angelica” in Greenlandic. Every summer, the locals collect angelica, which is eaten raw as a snack or used in Greenlandic cooking. However, when we were there, the angelica plants were still small.

Bathing in the hot springs on Disko Island is not possible, and they are rarely more than a few degrees warm, but that’s enough to keep them from freezing in winter. On the rock walls of Kuannit towards the coast, several metres high icicles and “ice cathedrals” are formed in winter by the water from the springs.

While we were in Kuannit, we also saw many Black Guillemots, which is a beautiful black seabird with white wing patches and bright red legs. They had nests in the rock walls and we saw them flying back and forth to the nests, probably carrying food for the young. The black guillemot has specialised in catching benthic organisms and use both wings and feet to swim.

The day ended with us finding a good spot in the terrain a short distance from Kuannit where we pitched the tent. It was good that we had brought a trangia with us so we could cook a hot dinner while enjoying the view of the sea. However, it started to rain, so we had to sit inside the tent. The next day we planned to climb Skarvefjeld, if the weather isn’t too bad.