Celebrating the Norwegian National Day
Peaks visited:
| Peak | Height | PF | Municipality | Location |
| Haugshornet | 431m | 53m | Sande | GPX |
| Saursegga | 516m | 96m | Sande | |
| Gjøna / Nipa | 531m | 163m | Sande |
17th of May is the Norwegian National Day. A day packed with traditions more or less targeted towards the children. But the parade is for everyone to celebrate our Constitution. It’s, bar none, the “biggest” day in Norway.
Normally, I celebrate this day by going up to the mountains. In this country, we have the right to go where we please, and enjoy the nature independent of who is the owner of the land. This law is called “allemannsretten” and there are of course some logical exceptions to this law, such as access to cultivated fields, etc. This law is still not part of the Constitution (although I think will be soon) but I choose to look at it as a part of my constitutional right. Having experienced access restrictions in other countries, I am nothing but thankful for this right.
On this 17th of May, my girlfriend Anne and I wanted to combine the social and outdoor traditions and we started out by going into the city of Ulsteinvik to take a look at the events. However, a trip to the beach with Karma was much more fun.
So a mountain hike was much more tempting, and I proposed that we should visit Gjøna. She immediately liked the idea. Anne and I led a trip organized by Sogndal Turlag to Gjøna (and Runde island) a few years ago, and the trip was a big success.
We drove to Haugsbygda and followed the normal path up to Haugshornet. This is a slight detour if the destination is Saursegga and Gjøna, but this is the easiest way if you want to follow a good path.
After a short stop of Haugshornet, we followed the path up to Saursegga, where the narrow ridge to Gjøna begins. From Saursegga, we could both see and hear the parade down in Gjerdsvika, and it was really nice to listen to the national anthem “Ja, vi elsker dette landet” played by the band 500m below us.
We moved on to Gjøna, which is a really nice viewpoint – especially if you like the ocean view. I reminded myself – again – that I MUST come back in winter to ski this ridge. It will definitely be more dramatic then.
It was nice to be back on Gjøna and we had a very nice stay on top!
Pictures from the trip:
