Northern Norway, day 3
Peaks visited:
| Peak | Height | PF | Location |
| Gråfjellet | 292m | 199m | Brønnøy, Norway |
| Furuhatten | 233m | 100m | Brønnøy, Norway |
| Mofjellet (Mosaksla) | 526m | 448m | Brønnøy, Norway |
Continued from Geitfjellet and Medhatten…
Gråfjellet (292m), July 19 2018
Today, the plan was to “bag” my new top 2018 #96 and #97, leaving me with only 3 to go before reaching my annual goal of 100 new tops.
It was raining cats and dogs, so some low forest tops were quite in order. Mom – whom I was visiting in Brønnøysund – agreed to take me up Gråfjellet by Strauman – a top she had visited a couple of times before.
We parked at Svelia and I proposed that we head straight up a grassy tractor road, which provided a short off-trail route up to the high ridge (the above picture). She had not taken this route before, but was OK with it.
We found an odd deer track here and there on the ridge, but it was basically easy off-trail.
After a little while we reached the high point and we could enjoy the views. I spent 5 of my first 6 years in this region, so it was nice to see familiar places from a totally different angle.
And I’ve heard so much about Strauman, but reckoned it was “just another lake”. But from up here, I really, really wanted to go kayaking there…
So, which way home? I am a huge fan of round trip hikes and I proposed to mom that we should descend southwest and join the road from Strauman. The interesting part was that it wasn’t quite clear whether we would have to deal with a narrow ridge or not. Mom has great trust in me as a mountain man and followed willingly.
As it turned out, the ridge was quite friendly, and after a short off-trail hike down in the forest, we joined the Strauman road and 1,4km back to the car.
Trip statistics: 4,6km, 310 vertical meters, 1h:38m
Pictures from the hike:
Furuhatten (233m), July 19 2018
While here in this part of Velfjord, it was only natural to visit Furuhatten also – a small and fairly uneventful hill above Barstad. This was a clear hit and run hike, especially given the rain.
We parked by the power station near lake Storvatnet and took a more or less direct route up the east ridge. It was slightly steep, and mom needed a moment here and there.
And all of a sudden, we stood on top.
We were now between Landfjellet and Straumsfjellet. Tosenfjorden was less than 3km to the east. It was an interesting neighborhood, lots of potential interesting routes up Straumsfjellet, but now we just wanted to get down and return to a warm house in Brønnøysund.
Trip statistics: 1,4km, 150 vertical meters, 43mins
Pictures from the hike:
Mosaksla (526m), July 19 2018
The weather cleared up during the day and was downright gorgeous in the afternoon. I was fed up with overcast and rain and wanted to enjoy sunshine. I decided to be bold and try something I’ve been thinking about for years – ascend Mosaksla (Mofjellet) via Kjerringskardet (the pass in the above picture). It looked quite steep from a distance, but I wouldn’t know before I had tried.
I drove up the Skåren farm and tried to find a place to park without blocking for local traffic (tractors). Locating someone to give me permission seemed to take all evening, so I dropped it.
I found a tractor road that took me to the long couloir leading up to Kjerringskardet. Actually, I was looking down on the couloir, seeing no obvious route down to it. I figured if I just stuck to the ridge I was on, it would eventually blend in with the couloir. It didn’t. Big mistake. Time wasted.
So I tried a different couloir, hoping everything would work out in the end. It didn’t. More time wasted and I was tired of making mistakes. I went back down and eventually found a way into the real couloir. Nothing stopping me now! Well – the pass could, of course…
Up in the pass, the east side was total no-go terrain. But luckily, that was not the way I was heading.
The west side looked more promising. The scrambling was easy enough, but a fall back into the saddle would be a severely disturbing experience. So, better not fall…
I was thoroughly happy when I left the pass behind me and could enjoy normal hiking up the ridge.
When I reached the high ridge, I got the summit in view – 1,8km to the northwest. Smooth sailing, stunning weather. Life was totally good!
I really enjoyed the walk over to the summit. The terrain was constantly changing and just – big fun!
When I reached the summit, I saw a girl, and a boy was shortly following. As I headed down the north ridge (the normal route), I met a bunch of youngsters on their way up. I should have asked if they were a school group or something…
The deal was to call mom when I had an ETA and when I reckoned I had 20 minutes left, I gave her a call. She was already waiting when I got down – very, very happy about this beautiful walk and having “defeated” Kjerringskardet.
Trip statistics: 7,5km, 750 vertical meters, 2h:20m
Pictures from the hike:
