The day after the shock…
Peaks visited:
| Peak | Height | PF | Location |
| Fivelstadnibba | 1209m | 319m | Stranda |
Fivelstadnibba is a characteristic peak, located above Fivelstad in Nibbedalen valley, Stranda municipality, Norway. I’ve been thinking about this peak for many years, and I always thought that I would also visit the neighbor peak Sætredalsfjellet – once up there.
My girlfriend Anne fractured a spine her back the day before. She participated in the “Over Stokk og Stein” competition in Ørsta, and I was about to sail down a 4m rope when she lost control of her grip. She fell badly, and I was standing right beside, without a chance to do anything. It was quite a shock. For the both of us. She was taken to a the hospital in Volda, x-rayed and MR’ed. Fortunately, the prognosis was that she would get well again, and she was dismissed the day after.
While waiting for news at the hospital, I started talking to a man who lives at Fivelstad. I took the opportunity and asked about the Fivelstadnibba trailhead and if there was a path up the valley. He gave me all the details I needed for when I had the opportunity.
The opportunity came already the day after the accident. Anne’s only task for the next 6 weeks was to take it very, very easy – in her corset. The weather was gorgeous and I figured she could do fine a few hours without me. Sætredalsfjellet would have to wait to some other day.
I drove from Gurskøy to Volda, along Austefjorden, through Kvivstunnelen, up Honndalen and up Nibbedalen. It’s about a 1h:20m drive. I found the trailhead right away (N62.09786 E6.76649) – a tractor road close to RV655 in Nibbedalen. I followed the tractor road for 0,2km, then turned north – towards a gate.
After the gate, I turned right and headed up to a “Gapahuk“, then north approx 0,2km to the gate on the other end of the field. From this gate, the forest path along Sætreelva river was marked.
The path led us (the dog and I) up to a viewpoint at approx. 650m elev. Here I met a family who told me that this spot was a popular destination. I told them I was heading for Fivelstadnibba, and they recommended me to deep into the Sætredalen valley before I started my ascent.
I chose to not listen to their advice, as the mountain side ahead me looked quite OK. Not that I recommend my route to anyone – it’s very off-trail, rugged and with lots of rocks, but I don’t think there is any easy way up this mountain.
Progress was good, Karma was really thirsty but found a tiny snow field where she could cool off. After a while, we got onto the ridge, where we had a good overview of Nibbedalen.
1h:20m after heading out, we reached point 1198m, which is the south top on this mountain. The drop down to Nibbedalen was awesome.
The main summit is 300m to the northwest, and the hike over there was easy.
There are higher peaks in almost all directions, so the views get quite obscured. But it doesn’t matter when the nearby peaks are of the gorgeous sort…
After a round of pictures, it was time to descend. Should I play it safe and retrace my steps or find a different route? I chose the latter, and took a southeast course down the mountain. This turned out to be a very good route, although I was probably quite lucky to avoid the many obstacles (slabs, cliffs) surrounding me.
We were back at the trailhead before 3 hours had passed, and I had get back home to see if my sweetheart needed my assistance. I actually returned here one week later, this time to visit both the peaks on the Sætredalsfjellet massif.
Pictures from the hike:
