DAY 7: Morning off / p.m. to Taseq

Day 7 has a gray and drizzly start, which is welcome, as it gives us the chance to finally catch our breath. We actually relax this morning. I review what rock I’ve found thus far (lots).

Around midday we walk down the road and called on Børge Brodersen, Narsaq resident and avid longtime collector of the local minerals. He owns a very nicely kept shop. Børge welcomes us in and we admire a few of nicer specimens that are not for sale, but kept on display for visitors. Notably, he has a very large (40+ cm) boulder studded with masses of fine, platy sorensenite. He explains that his wife had found it, many years ago, while out hiking up near Kvanefjeld.

In late afternoon we all head out to Taseq again, where Howie and I explore the lower sections of the east and middle slope, and Mark takes John and Kathy over to the uranium ore piles across the valley. Mark and I also plan to night collect here on Taseq after the others turn in.

In better condition for hiking now, I manage to traverse from west to east on the slope with relative ease. I don’t collect much but see lots of interesting things, and think back to that initial sorry slog I’d made the first night and found nothing. At around 8:00 p.m., much to my surprise, I spot Finn, his wife, and two young children heading up to where I am—mid level on the eastern section of Taseq slope. As they finally reach me, Finn takes out a thermos and asks if I’d like a cup of coffee. What a treat! I’m not sure a cup of coffee has ever tasted so good.

Howie, working the bottom sections of the slope, will be leaving Greenland tomorrow, so returns early with Finn and family as they descend, to start packing up his cache back at the Rock Hut.

From this perch high on Taseq, I watch as Mark completes his guide duty across the valley at the uranium ore area, and drives the others back to Narsaq. I spend early evening hours simply watching the light on Taseq slope shift and change, look at rocks, and relax. It's quite peaceful up here.

Soon enough Mark returns, and we explore the middle area of Taseq together until things start to darken enough for UV work, near midnight. Then, our UV lights can really be turned loose on this ground. Or at least that's the plan. Instead, my UV light troubles start anew. The same litany of failures that almost scuttled Kangerluarsuk start again. And again, Mark's patience and resourcefulness finds ways to bypass problems, and my light stays on for much of the short night. (His lamp always worked: he had the good sense, before traveling here, to drill out his lamp’s faulty connectors and replace them with ruggedized ones; discard flimsy wire and use industrial strength cable; do away with all the silly under-rated fuses; and use high-performance batteries rather than the ungainly, heavy, lead-acid ones supplied.)

I find several nice specimens of tugtupite, and lots of bright sodalite with blue-white fluorescing analcime. It's an almost indescribable treat to be lamping the rocky ground of Taseq slope: a kaleidoscope of colors and patterns. After an hour or so we decide to head back to the truck and inspect those uranium ore heaps across the valley, in the dark while we have the chance.

We park at the entrance to the area, and quickly begin scanning the darkened mounds of rock. Only the bright green films and coating of uranyl-activated fluorescence and the red glow of Mark's cigarette is seen. No “keepers” for me here, but just the fun of lamping these rocks is reward enough. It's now after 2:00 a.m. and the sky just starting to lighten.

We get back in the truck, and as we drive off I lecture Mark on his wisdom of combining smoking with uranium tailings. He sneers, we laugh, and drive off under an eerie light back to town. A full moon peeks through clouds over Taseq.

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