Northern Norway, day 5
Peaks visited:
| Peak | Height | PF | Location |
| Søla | 432m | 432m | Vega, Brønnøy, Norway |
Continued from Mosaksla…
There are tops all around Norway, which I think of as “exclusive“. It could either be that they need to be climbed, or that just getting there requires some effort in itself. Søla is on this list. Not only is it 476km away from where I live, but there is no regular shuttle traffic to the island. Mainly because no one lives there. So when my mom told me (I was visiting her in Brønnøysund) that DNT Sør-Helgeland was organizing a trip to the island, I was more than happy about her invitation to sign us up.
Søla is located just outside Vega island – a world heritage site.
On the 21st of July, mom and I drove to Horn and took the ferry to Vega island. We drove to Nes, where we met the rest of the group – counting roughly 24 souls. The guides were Solveig Lomsdal from DNT Sør-Helgeland and Olav T. Søla – the guy who knew the Søla island inside and out.
The boat trip was a little more than 12km, and everyone was in an extremely good mood.
The weather was OK, and our way out there, the fog on the mountain seemed to let go. Yeah!
We gathered on the shore, where Solveig and Olav gave us a rough outline on the plan for the day. First, the hike, then barbeque before returning to the mainland.
We headed out 12:22pm and aimed for a distinct couloir on the north side.
After a transport leg towards the foot of the mountain, the terrain got steep and we had to make sure we didn’t kick loose any rocks.
The Vega archipelago is just amazing…
Eventually, we reached the top of the couloir, on the north end of a horseshoe that included the two tops on this mountain.
We had a long break and enjoyed the day.
When we headed for the summit, we got fog, but when we reached the top, we rose above the fog. Simply stunning!
Both mom and me were extremely happy to be up here! At age 73, mom is a very avid hiker – killing me on distance per year (although not on vertical meters). Very impressive! 70 is the new 50. Which should make me – say … 35?
A couple of pinnacles further down the summit ridge caught my attention, so I went over there to scramble. Sigrunn followed my activity with some concern.
This was just too fun to NOT share, so I went over to the others and got Merete and Silje to come along. Being part of the “Fjellsport” group, they’re quite used to airy terrain and we all had big fun!
When we joined the others, mom gave me a “cold shoulder“. She has clearly faith in my mountain skills, but this was kinda pushing it 😉
Then it was time for the group picture…
On the way down, a couple of us decided to pay the north top a visit. Along the way we passed a rock we thought looked cool…
Time for descent, now back into the fog..
Back at the beach, Per Alfred had the fire going, so we could enjoy a hot meal. Which tasted very nice…
Afterwards, a very small group (me included) took a swim into the ocean before returning to the boat.
Thanks to Solveig, Olav, mom and the rest of the group for an unforgettable day!
Trip statistics: 4,8km, 500 vertical meters, 4 hours (plus 40 minutes boat trip, total)
Pictures from the hike:
