arctic – Irreverent Outcrop https://irreverentoutcrop.com Travel stories with mild geo-flavor Mon, 13 Apr 2026 06:26:15 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.8.1 https://irreverentoutcrop.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/cropped-logo-temp-01-1-2-32x32.png arctic – Irreverent Outcrop https://irreverentoutcrop.com 32 32 [Extra]Leaving Greenland – gap year Arctic trips (IX) https://irreverentoutcrop.com/leaving-greenland-flights/ https://irreverentoutcrop.com/leaving-greenland-flights/#respond Mon, 13 Apr 2026 06:24:11 +0000 https://irreverentoutcrop.com/?p=2819 Read more]]> Our flight out of Greenland happened to be the final flight of 2025 between Greenland and the US. While thick clouds still hung over the Labrador Sea, we managed to catch quite a few glimpses of the landscape below. On the flight later from New York back to the West Coast, the skies remained perfectly clear and the light was brilliant the entire way, and that’s why I decided to write this…

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]]> https://irreverentoutcrop.com/leaving-greenland-flights/feed/ 0 Ilulissat, the hometown of icebergs – gap year Arctic trips (VII) https://irreverentoutcrop.com/ilulissat-icefjord-en/ https://irreverentoutcrop.com/ilulissat-icefjord-en/#respond Thu, 01 Jan 2026 00:14:18 +0000 https://irreverentoutcrop.com/?p=2771 Read more]]> Our third stop in Greenland: the Ilulissat Icefjord! Kangerlussuaq sits at 67°N while Ilulissat is roughly 69°N. Since both share the same longitude of 51°W, our flight path from Kangerlussuaq was essentially a straight shot north. The hop in the small propeller plane took less than an hour. Unlike the inland landscape of our previous stop, Ilulissat is a coastal town, tucked perfectly into a…

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]]> https://irreverentoutcrop.com/ilulissat-icefjord-en/feed/ 0 Kangerlussuaq by the ice sheet – gap year Arctic trips (VI) https://irreverentoutcrop.com/kangerlussuaq-ice-sheet/ https://irreverentoutcrop.com/kangerlussuaq-ice-sheet/#respond Wed, 17 Dec 2025 08:26:59 +0000 https://irreverentoutcrop.com/?p=2739 Read more]]> In the afternoon of our third day in Greenland, we departed Nuuk aboard a small Air Greenland plane heading for the tiny settlement of Kangerlussuaq. This village sits quietly just inside the Arctic Circle, right next to the massive Greenland Ice Sheet. Nuuk was overcast, but once the plane climbed above the clouds, we were able to see numerous horns poking through the cloud…

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]]> https://irreverentoutcrop.com/kangerlussuaq-ice-sheet/feed/ 0 Greenland’s capital on Archean gneiss – gap year Arctic trips (V) https://irreverentoutcrop.com/greenland-nuuk-gneiss/ https://irreverentoutcrop.com/greenland-nuuk-gneiss/#respond Thu, 27 Nov 2025 03:35:58 +0000 https://irreverentoutcrop.com/?p=2715 Read more]]> Nuuk’s new international airport officially opened at the end of 2024. As a result, United Airlines announced a new direct route from New York (Newark EWR) to Greenland’s capital for June through September 2025. I excitedly bought my tickets not long after. Booking ten months in advance makes this the most “long-term” planning I have ever done for a trip! Historically…

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]]> https://irreverentoutcrop.com/greenland-nuuk-gneiss/feed/ 0 Glaciers and narwhals of northern Baffin – gap year Arctic trips (III) https://irreverentoutcrop.com/arctic-pond-inlet-inuit-narwhals-en/ https://irreverentoutcrop.com/arctic-pond-inlet-inuit-narwhals-en/#respond Thu, 16 Oct 2025 05:02:03 +0000 https://irreverentoutcrop.com/?p=2025 Read more]]> My last post covered first impressions of Nunavut’s capital Iqaluit, and this one will continue our journey further up north to the Inuit village of Pond Inlet in Northern Baffin, as well as the adjacent Sirmilik National Park. Pond Inlet is a traditional Inuit village on the northern coast of Baffin Island, right across from Bylot Island. The total population is about 1,600…

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]]> https://irreverentoutcrop.com/arctic-pond-inlet-inuit-narwhals-en/feed/ 0 First impressions of Baffin permafrost tundra – gap year Arctic trips (II) https://irreverentoutcrop.com/arctic-south-baffin-inuit-en/ https://irreverentoutcrop.com/arctic-south-baffin-inuit-en/#respond Fri, 03 Oct 2025 23:49:11 +0000 https://irreverentoutcrop.com/?p=1881 Read more]]> We took a trip to Baffin Island (i.e. “Qikiqtaaluk” in Inuktitut, meaning “very big island“) in August 2025, exploring lively permafrost, ancient rock formations, and spectacular Arctic fjords, while also getting a glimpse of the unique lifestyle of Inuit people today. This trip was overflowing with fascinating and thrilling experiences, far too many to capture in a single post. I’ll tell the…

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]]> https://irreverentoutcrop.com/arctic-south-baffin-inuit-en/feed/ 0 Flying over the northernmost mountains: Alaska’s Brooks Range and Gates of the Arctic National Park https://irreverentoutcrop.com/brooks-range-alaska/ https://irreverentoutcrop.com/brooks-range-alaska/#respond Wed, 26 Feb 2025 20:01:39 +0000 https://irreverentoutcrop.com/?p=1174 Read more]]> In the winter of 2023, we traveled to the northernmost mountain range of the North American continent—the Brooks Range. The heart of this range lies within Gates of the Arctic National Park in Alaska. On the day of departure, the temperature was still below freezing, but the sky was perfectly clear. We flew with Wright Air Service, departing from a small airstrip at Fairbanks…

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