A small raid, on my way to Sogndal
Peaks visited:
| Peak | Height | PF | Location |
| Eidaåsen | 240m | 117m | Gaular, Norway |
| Nasakletten | 428m | 170m | Gaular, Norway |
| Hatlebrekkholten | 349m | 121m | Gaular, Norway |
| Solåsen | 356m | 183m | Gaular, Norway |
If I ever am to reach 100 new tops in 2018, then a count of 12 by end of April is a terrible start. If I mean business, I’d better get to work. So, on my way to the bi-weekly trip to Sogndal, I took the long way from Sunnmøre. First, to Førde, then 4 tops in Gaular before taking the road across Gaularfjellet to Balestrand. And, eventually Sogndal. It was a long day. I left home 6:30am and reached Sogndal closer to 5:30pm. It was a very productive (extended because of May 1st) weekend and I returned to Sunnmøre on Tuesday afternoon with 8 new tops. The first 4 described below…
EIDAÅSEN, 240m
When I left Sunnmøre in the morning, it was raining. I was mentally preparing myself to hike four tops (which was my goal) in rain. But as I approached the Gaular region, it turned out to be a gorgeous day. What a bonus!
First top out was Eidaåsen in Bygstad. I had no idea where to hike from, so I drove down to the fjord, saw two guys and asked them if there were paths to Eidaåsen. They recommended that I should head out from the school, head straight up and … Bob’s your uncle!
I did just that. The hike up and down took 42 minutes and was a mix of path and off-trail. With a GPS, things get quite easy.
The trip: 2,2km, 255 vertical meters.
Pictures from the hike:
NASAKLETTEN, 428m
I reckoned that my next goal – Nasakletten – would require some more effort. I drove in the direction of Bringeland to hike this top from the north. In retrospect, from the south would have been more convenient, but I was eager to get on with it.
I parked by the main road and followed a (closed) road down to Øyra. From here, it was off-trail. Nasakletten looked mighty steep from here, but I had my eyes on a less steep section east of the top.
The birch forest was for the most part easy to get through. The route I had planned was just as easy as I had hoped for, and soon I was up in the rotten snow. But it wasn’t far top the top, so the snow wasn’t a problem. We took the same route down and we were back at the car 1h:10m after leaving it.
The trip: 4,4km, 365 vertical meters.
Pictures from the hike:
HATLEBREKKHOLTEN, 349m
To get to the Hatlebrekkholten trailhead, I had to get back on E39 and drive south to Saghaugen. I followed the gravel road to its end and parked there. We crossed the creek on a bridge and it looked to be an easy and uneventful hike. Until Karma came across some dark matter and rolled in it.
It smelled like…. Well – Fat Bastard said it better:
“Alright, analysis. Smells like carrots in throw-up! Ooh, that could gag a maggot! Smells like hot sick ass on a dead carcass! Even stink would say that stinks! You know when you go into an apartment building and you smell the other people’s cooking on each floor and you go “What are they cookin’?” That, plus crap!”
I took Karma to the nearest creek, flipped her upside down and gave her a good bath. It didn’t help one bit. A bit higher up, I took her to a snow field and gave her a roll. She protested, which is weird, as she always rolls around on snow fields. In any case, it didn’t help either. I was furious. Just the thought of her in the back of my car.
We reached the top, and Karma did NOT get the regular top snacks. She knew she’d been bad. On the way down, I gave her another roll in snow and one more bath, but the stink was omnipresent. We returned to the car 45 minutes after leaving it, and I drove away with all windows open…
The trip: 2,7km, 260 vertical meters.
Pictures from the hike:
SOLÅSEN, 356m
The last hike was Solåsen, west of Sande. Karma took the rear position, well knowing that daddy was NOT HAPPY!
I chose to hike this forest top from the north. The first part looked easy, the rest looked steep. But the solution was to keep right every time I ran into a cliff that couldn’t be negotiated. And eventually, we found the top. We were back at the car 50 minutes after leaving it.
The trip: 2,7km, 255 vertical meters.
Pictures from the hike:
GAULARFJELLET
I had never driven Gaularfjellet from Sande before, so this would be a first. Except for a rough road in the beginning, it was really nice to drive across this mountain pass – the day after it was opened.
SOGNDAL
Once in Sogndal, first priority was to get Karma into the bathtub. I had already called Anne and asked her to go buy dog shampoo. She threw in balsam as she understood the problem. And 30 minutes after entering the bathtub, Karma smelled normal again.
