2018 Week 32

Afternoon hikes

Peaks visited:

Peak	Height	PF	Location	WCP
Hogden	601m	168m	Stryn, Norway	WCP
Svarstadveten	591m	38m	Stryn, Norway	WCP
Grødet	693m	360m	Haram, Norway	WCP
Rambjøra	132m	109m	Herøy, M&R, Norway	WCP
Blåtind	697m	697m	Ulstein, Norway	WCP

Hogden (601m),  Aug 6 2018

Monday: On my way home to Sunnmøre, from Sogndal. The plan was to do a hike in Sogndal, but due to rain I decided to try my luck closer to home.

The weather was OK enough in Stryn, and Hogden seemed like a good destination. I had been to Hogden back in 2011, but had NO recollection from neither the trailhead nor the route. But from the map, Vinsryggsætra seemed like a good starting point, with a path and all…

After some hiking, I felt I was in familiar terrain. And sure enough, it turned out that I had found my way up the same route as in 2011, albeit from a different starting point.

It didn’t take long before Karma and I rose above the forest and could head towards the high point on Hogden.

The views were pretty grey, but I have seen all the mountains in shiny weather before.

I decided to do a round trip hike via Svarstadveten, and upon heading down the forest, I was *pretty sure* I followed my 2011 footsteps. Which turned out to be true. Altogether a nice and easy walking the dog hike…

Trip statistics: 4,9km, 310 vertical meters, 1h:15m

Pictures from the hike:

Spjelkavika,  Aug 7 2018

Tuesday: Ålesund day and after work, I drove to the foot of Blindheimsfjellet, aiming for Geitnausa. But Karma wasn’t in mood at all. I guess she had some ups and downs after being treated for a nasty hot spot, and today was seemingly a down day.

But she had to do *some* walking, so I headed for the waterworks – a route she is not familiar going *up*. She came along, somewhat reluctantly, but I didn’t put any pressure on her. The forest part upwards seemed more interesting and she sort of looked like herself again.

But when we reached the fork where we could go left towards Geitnausa, she told me very clearly through body language that she wanted to go down. And down we went.

Back at the car, I felt like exploring the flat hiking loop, starting at the foot of the ski-jumping hill. As Karma had never gone there before, curiosity won, and we had a nice walk on a very nice trail.

Trip statistics: 5,5km, 220 vertical meters, 1h:09m

Grødet (693m), Aug 9 2018

Thursday: After giving Karma a day off from the trail, we were back in Ålesund and drove to Vatne after work. We had done Otrefjellet on skis earlier in the year, and now the time had come to visit Grødet.

We followed the road towards Ulvestadsætra and Karma seemed fairly happy to be on the trail again.

Before reaching lake Ulvestadvatnet, we took the forest path up Grødet’s southeast ridge and eventually reached the summit.

It was clear from the beginning that this would be a round trip hike – a revisit to the route I did in 2007 – down via Kollen on the west side of the mountain.

Even if the weather wasn’t superb, there were still some very nice moments…

The west side route is quite scenic, compared to the normal route…

And we got some nice views towards Grøtshornet and Storfjellet.

Eventually, we reached Ulvestad and followed smaller roads back to the trailhead. I really enjoyed this hike, and Karma seemed to be on a rising curve.

Trip statistics: 6,9km, 630 vertical meters, 1h:45m

Pictures from the hike:

Rambjøra (132m), Aug 10 2018

Friday:  Dead tired after a busy week, and I was NOT in the mood for hiking this Friday afternoon. But I don’t feel good at all if I haven’t walked the dog. And on days like this, Rambjøra is an easy choice, as I can get on the trail almost from my doorstep.

We took the usual round trip route and when I returned home, I was super-happy about giving Karma close to a 4km walk.

Trip statistics: 3,9km, 150 vertical meters, 50 mins

Blåtind (697m), Aug 11 2018

Saturday: I had to work the first part of the day, and again later in the afternoon. So the local mountains were my only options in between work sessions.

I decided to drive to Havåg and hike Blåtind. I really, really, like the path from Havåg. One of my absolute favorites!

Mixed weather. Sunshine and rain showers. But not *bad*.

Karma’s wound kept healing nicely and she seemed like a happy dog again.

Unfortunately, we had fog on top, but it’s not like I wondered what we could see on a clear day. I know that view far too well…

Trip statistics: 7,4km, 690 vertical meters, 1h:37m

Pictures from the hike:

Kyrkjenibba (1400m), Steindalsegga (1366m), Aug 12 2018

Sunday: See separate trip report…