Exploring Atløyna island
Peaks visited:
| Peak | Height | PF | Municipality |
| Skredvarden | 636m | 636m | Askvoll |
| Skålefjellet (Tverrfjellet) | 340m | 97m | Askvoll |
| Buskefjellet | 123m | 105m | Askvoll |
| Brurastakken | 177m | 124m | Askvoll |
| Hovden | 367m | 304m | Askvoll |
| Høgeskolten | 307m | 104m | Askvoll |
The goal for my second day in Askvoll was to visit all of the peaks on Atløy(na) island with a prominence of 100 meters or more. There was 5 in total, but I also decided to visit Skålefjellet – which was pretty close to 100 meters.
After breakfast at Askvoll Fjordhotell, I took the 09:05am ferry to Atløy. When I arrived on the island, I noticed that I hadn’t download this quadrant of the map onto my GPS. That was indeed a rare mistake on my part. But I had brought a paper map, which was also an unusual thing for me to do. So I wasn’t totally in the dark and decided to start off with Skredvarden.
Skredvarden 636m, Skålefjellet 340m & Buskefjellet 123m
I drove to Lake Sætrevatnet and located the Skredvarden signpost. I had found this starting point on the internet the day before. The path was well marked and visible and I was really happy about being back on a trail on such a gorgeous day. It was a bit windy, quite a cold wind, actually. Borderline. But I decided to leave the jacket in the backpack.
I hiked up to Langetjerna where I left the marked path and followed an unmarked path up the mountain. As I planned to do a round trip hike, I expected that I would descend along the main path. When I got to Skredvatnet, I approached Skredvarden from the southwest.
I reached the top 10:45am with my dog Karma. The 4,1km hike took 1h:15m. After getting my jacket on, I could start to enjoy the nice views from up here. I could see all of the tops that I had planned for the day, in addition to a vast number of peaks on the mainland – and on the many islands in this region. To the north was the characteristics peaks west of Florø – like Kinn, Batalden. To the south was the distinct Solund tops and most prominent to the east was the Blægja/Kvamshesten massif.
Next up was Skålefjellet. I figured I didn’t need a path to follow and hiked pretty much straight east directly from the summit. Although off-trail, walking here was easy. At Kjøtjørna, I joined the marked path. We reached the top 11:37am, after a 3,2km hike from Skredvarden.
The summit’s visitor register, as well as the map says that this top is 334m. This is wrong. The top is at least 340m (ref. Økonomisk Kartverk). Point 334m is 200m west of the high point. The saddle south of Kjøtjørna is between 241 and 244m, which means that if the height of Skålefjellet is 341m, the saddle has to be 241m if this top is to be included in the list of Norwegian peaks with a prominence of at least 100 meters.
From Skålefjellet, we followed the marked path and joined our ascent route at 160m elevation. After a couple of minutes, we met 4 locals who had taken a pause on their way up. I asked about Buskefjellet and was told to head into the gorge. It was good that I asked, as the gorge was the only place I hadn’t considered as an ascent option.
Back at the car (after a 2,7km hike from Skålefjellet), I grabbed something to eat and continued towards the gorge in front of Buskefjellet.
Buskefjellet – “Bush mountain” is more a coastal hump than a mountain, but it delivered on the bush! However, there was a faint path in the gorge which really helped me out, when help was needed.
Once through the gorge, we turned right and stood on top after a 0,7km hike from the car. After a couple of minutes, we headed back the same way, eager to get on with top #4 (of 6) – Brurastakken.
Brurastakken 177m
I drove in the direction of Herland and parked at the Brurastakken trailhead. There was a signpost about the local geology but my primary focus was the 6-top project. It was clear that it would be a short hike to the top – only 0,7km up to Brurastakken.
Near the top, I met a family from Herland. After a nice chat, Karma and I went up to Brurastakken and enjoyed a grand view towards the islands Alden and Tvibyrge.
Upon our return, we stopped by Skardvikenova which the family I met called “Tyskerhytta”. I assume the Germans had a building up here during WW2.
Hovden 367m
Top #5 was Hovden. To get there, I had drive to the other (north) side of the island. A gravel road led me to the Hovden trailhead and the hike upwards looked fairly easy. Since I left home the day before, I had now been to 7 mountain tops and I admit that my legs were getting a bit tired. But once here, I was committed to achieve my goal. I didn’t want to leave this island with 1 or 2 mountains top that I had to come back for at some later time.
The hike to the top was only 1,4km and the 300 vertical meters turned out to be the easiest of the day. Perhaps I got more energy on realizing that I had only one more top to do after Hovden.
Karma was still going strong. She was a bit lazy in getting out of the car at the Brurastakken trailhead. She must have thought that the hiking was over and had gone into resting mode. But now she was moving eagerly, checking out the many scents that mother nature has to offer.
Høgeskolten 307m
On my way to Hovden, I noticed that there was also a marked path to Høgeskolten. My regards to the locals who has taken on this effort! This path starts out near Høyvikneset and follows the north ridge up to a radar building on Granefjellet (303m).
The highest point on this mountain – Høgeskolten – is found 0,4km to the south. There is also a marked path here, but it passes Høgeskolten on the east side. On my way up, I met a mother with a 5-year old child. And on Granefjellet, I also met a mother with a very young child. It was nice to see young children having a good day in the local mountains!
The time was 4:05pm when I returned to the car. I drove to the ferry harbor immediately, as I would hate missing the ferry by 1 or 2 minutes because I changed footwear.
At the harbor, there was no ferry and so I had time to change, stretch and relax. After some minutes, cars were forming a line in the left lane. This was very strange so I went over and asked what they were up to. “Oh, this is how we board the ferry here”, the answer was. No signposts, no marking, no nothing. At a few other harbors I know, one has to board the ferry in reverse. Of course, no signposts, no nothing. I just think this is so incredible silly. I hate feeling stupid like this.
The ferry left 4:30pm and I was back at the hotel 4 minutes later. I was the only guest at the hotel, but a bit later I saw a couple check in to the room next to me. I was a bit surprised to see that it was a colleague of my girlfriend Anne – and his wife. They were equally surprised to see me when I knocked on their door…
Pictures from the Skredvarden/Skålefjellet/Buskefjellet hike:
Pictures from the Brurastakken hike:
Pictures from the Hovden hike:
Pictures from the Høgeskolten hike:
