For days now, fog, drizzle and low-hanging clouds have been our constant companions. Often, the coastline reveals its contours for just a few moments before fading back into the grey. Only gradually does the landscape through which we are travelling reveal itself to us: rugged cliffs, deeply carved fjords and a coastline that gives the impression of having been freed from the ice only yesterday.
A landscape shaped by ice

Labrador forms the north-eastern part of the North American mainland. The peninsula stretches for around a thousand kilometres from 60° to 51° latitude, or from the northern tip at Killinq Island down to the Strait of Belle Isle.

Hardly any other region in North America bears the mark of the ice ages as clearly as this one. Over thousands of years, mighty glaciers have carved out deep fjords, shaped river valleys and left behind countless lakes. The landscape appears rugged and primeval, almost untouched.

Labrador comprises four vegetation zones. In the south, extensive mixed forests grow, giving way further north to boreal coniferous forest. This is followed by a transitional zone of low, wind-swept trees, before the treeless tundra finally begins.

That is exactly where we have been for the past few days. In northern Labrador, rocks, mosses, lichens and low grasses dominate the landscape. Even in the midst of the short Arctic summer, the vegetation remains surprisingly sparse. Only here and there do lichens and mosses add splashes of green to the grey-brown landscape.

The Torngat Mountains rise up before us. Their name is derived from the Inuktitut word ‘Torngait’, which roughly translates as ‘place of spirits’. The highest peaks reach over 1,600 metres and are among the highest elevations east of the Rocky Mountains.

Little greenery, surprisingly abundant life

At first glance, this landscape seems almost lifeless. In fact, it provides a habitat for numerous Arctic and boreal animal species. Polar bears, caribou, arctic foxes, wolves and black bears can all be found in Torngat Mountains National Park, as can a wide variety of seabirds.
So far, we haven’t spotted any of these larger animals on land. Instead, birds are a constant companion above the water. Even though there aren’t many of them, their diversity brings movement to a landscape otherwise characterised by rock, water and mist.

Since the day before yesterday, we’ve been sailing through the waters east of Torngat Mountains National Park. We aren’t entering the national park itself. Our course takes us along its wild coastline, whilst fog and rain often limit visibility to just a few hundred metres.

The sea provides our Dinner

After dropping anchor in Eclipse Bay, Matze provides the culinary highlight of the day. He’d actually only intended to dip his fishing rod into the water ‘just for a moment’. A few seconds later, he’s laughing, and a massive Greenland cod is on the hook. What initially looks like a stroke of luck quickly turns into a bit of a fishing frenzy. More fish follow, and within a short time it’s clear: dinner is sorted.
In the evening, Miri conjures up an excellent meal from the catch. Fish couldn’t be any fresher.

Even when at anchor, the Dagmar Aaen is never left unattended. One member of the crew is always on anchor watch, ensuring that the anchor doesn’t slip and that all systems are working. There’s also time to read, study nautical charts or simply listen to nature. That means almost complete silence. Only the murmur of a mountain stream or a waterfall can be heard.

On one of the Earth’s oldest foundations

Few regions on Earth reveal their geological history as impressively as Labrador. Large parts of the land consist of rocks estimated to be up to 3.8 billion years old. They form part of the Canadian Shield, one of the oldest surviving components of the Earth’s crust.

As the Earth slowly cooled, a solid crust formed over the still-hot mantle. Enormous forces deep within the Earth caused mountains to rise, which, over the course of unimaginably long periods of time, were subsequently eroded, subsided and were at times flooded by the sea. These movements repeated themselves four times throughout the Earth’s history. Today, erosion has a greater impact in the Labrador region than uplift. Consequently, large parts of the region look geologically much the same as they did billions of years ago.
Around 200 million years ago, the North Atlantic finally began to open up. The Earth’s crust was pulled apart, and Labrador and Greenland emerged from a single, contiguous landmass. Looking at their coastlines on a map, one can still make out the former connection.

A land with surprisingly few people

Labrador covers an area of almost 295,000 square kilometres, yet is home to only around 27,000 people. This equates to a population density of just about 0.09 inhabitants per square kilometre. By way of comparison, in Germany an average of around 236 people live in the same area.

The vastness of this landscape is almost impossible to capture in figures. When travelling here, what you encounter above all else are rocks, water and sky.

Heading south

We continue our journey southwards. We have around 60 nautical miles ahead of us. Our destination is the base camp on the southern edge of Torngat Mountains National Park. There, we will apply for an official permit to enter the national park and are already looking forward to the next chapter of our journey: when we meet, for the first time, the people who call this remote region home. We’ll tell you all about it in our next post.

Thomas

Position: 58.883225, -62.904968