Greenland: Herjolfness – Long Hike

Herjolfness is located around 50 km (31 m) northwest of Cape Farewell (the southernmost tip of Greenland) and sits at the mouth of Herjolfsfjord, facing the open Labrador Sea. With the location – you are experiencing here the full force of the strong winds sweeping along the Greenlanding coast and we felt it full on during our long hike, with gusts up to 25 knots. Nevertheless, the hike was truly amazing with sweeping panoramas of the coastal mountain ranges, many islands just offshore, massive granite boulders and flat granite plateaus. There was also a lot to see under your feet, like unique Arctic flora, berries, moss, and lichens. We even found a Greenlandic orchid here! Herjolfness is also a site of a historic old Norse settlement from 985 AD by Herjolf Bardsson, a prominent chief from Iceland who joined Erik the Red’s expedition of about 25 ships. Unlike other settlers who favored inland fjordheads for better farming, Herjolf chose this exposed coastal site, emphasizing trade and maritime access over agriculture – this later became the main port for all Icelandic ships arriving in Greenland. We saw some ruins leftover around the landing site.