Sunshine, snow, hiking, skiing – and the moon
Peaks visited:
| Peak | Height | PF | Location | WCP |
| Aretuva | 300m | 22m | Sande, M&R, Norway | |
| Aksla | 188m | 188m | Ålesund, Norway | WCP |
| Rjåhornet | 598m | 105m | Herøy, M&R, Norway | WCP |
| Hatlaåsen | 124m | 71m | Ålesund, Norway | WCP |
| Kyrkjehaugen | 106m | 71m | Ålesund, Norway | |
| Åsemulen | 105m | 22m | Ålesund, Norway | |
| Høgenakken | 130m | 87m | Ålesund, Norway | WCP |
| Øyrahornet | 417m | 42m | Herøy, M&R, Norway | WCP |
| Sandvikhornet | 352m | 14m | Herøy, M&R, Norway | WCP |
| Vardehornet | 600m | 60m | Ørsta, Norway | WCP |
| Ytrehovdeåsen (Høgåsen) | 170m | 72m | Ørsta, Norway | |
| Melshornet | 807m | 564m | Ørsta, Norway | WCP |
| Tuva | 63m | 36m | Ulstein, Norway |
Aretuva (300m), Dec 10 2018
Monday: It was a rainy afternoon, and it would soon turn dark. A perfect reason to stay indoors, and for that exact reason, I had to go out. It’s a thing I’ve got. Hard to explain.
As I hadn’t been to Aretuva before, I decided to go there by bike and foot. First, I would bike up Rosskarvegen from Jøsok.
After 2km, there was too much snow on the road to continue biking. I left the car and we proceeded on foot.
We passed the farm at the end of the car road, and continued towards the Roskarristninga petroglyphs. It was pitch dark by now.
We were halfway up to Aretuva when a snow shower came along. The combination of snow and headlamp made it difficult to navigate in the terrain. But the snow shower passed and things got easier.
We took a slightly different route back to the road and was very happy when I returned to a warm house…
Trip statistics: 7,9km, 290 vertical meters, 1h:26m
Pictures (Iphone) from the hike:
Aksla (188m) , Dec 11 2018
Tuesday: After my work day in Ålesund had ended, I took Karma for a walk across the Aksla mountain. It’s far from my favorite choice for hiking (I’d prefer more vertical meters), but Aksla is only minutes away from my workplace, and I don’t have to spend the little daylight available stuck in a car queue.
We started out at Gangstøvika and followed Borgarnes vei to Ålesund. Then awaited the 418 steps up to Fjellstua, where I could enjoy another nice view of this beautiful town.
We followed the ridge trail back to Gangstøvika, via Rundskue – the highest point.
Trip statistics: 7,5km, 360m vertical meters, 1h:24m
Pictures (Canon 80D) from the hike:
Rjåhornet (600m), Dec 12 2018
Wednesday: Another nice afternoon, which I dedicated to my local mountain Rjåhornet.
Karma and I headed out from Leikong and once above the forest, I had to stop and enjoy the view.
As daylight faded, beautiful colors appeared on the sky.
Definitely one of the nicer hikes to Rjåhornet in 2018!
Trip statistics: 6,3km, 600 vertical meters, 2 hours
Pictures (Canon 80D) from the hike:
Around lake Lerstadvatnet , Dec 13 2018
Thursday: After finishing my working day in Ålesund, I decided to go for a quite unusual hike, being me.
The plan was to hike across Hatlaåsen (124m), Kyrkjehaugen (106m), Åsemulen (105m) and Høgenakken (130m). In other words – across the forest tops surrounding lake Lerstadvatnet outside Ålesund. I had previously been to all of these tops, but not this way.
I parked by the Kiwi store at Ytre Hatlane and headed up to the ridge leading to Hatlaåsen. We crossed the high point and had to 0,6km along some back roads before we could get on the ridge leading to Kyrkjehaugen. This ridge continued to Åsemulen, where I could look down on the Moa shopping malls. So far, we hadn’t met a living soul.
To get to the ridge on the north side of Lerstadvegen road, I had to follow side roads until I noticed a pedestrian crossing (the traffic was continuous at this time of the afternoon).
We then went up to Øvre Nakken – where we went across the local forest top. But it wasn’t very prominent and as it doesn’t have a name on the map I decided to not consider this as a forest top.
I was now approaching an area I knew quite well, after living at Gåseidnes for 3 years (2005-2008). I located the east ridge path and followed it to the top of Høgenakken. Finally, I found it worthwhile to pull the camera from the backpack and try to get a picture towards Ålesund.
This was Karma’s first visit to this top. If my hiking log is correct, this was the 46th time I was up here, last time in 2008. Not that I made any sort of effort to be here often…
From Høgenakken, we continued down the west ridge and I passed only 250 meters away from where I used to live. Then it was just a matter of finding the shortest route back to the car. Which I think I did…
Trip statistics: 10,2km, 380 vertical meters, 2h:20m
Øyrahornet (417m), Sandvikhornet (352m), Dec 14 2018
Friday: Working from my home office, and I decided to spend the lunch by taking Karma to the Osnessanden beach in Ulsteinvik.
After work, I took Karma up to Øyrahornet, where I tried to take some nice after-dark pics. With the wind up there, that didn’t work well.
Going back the same way would be just boring, so I continued towards Sandvikhornet. Navigating in the dark wasn’t all easy, but I joined the ridge to Sandvikhornet roughly where I had planned to. We got a nice view towards Ulsteinvik from here.
This is a round trip hike I do from time to time. The local trail group (which I am part of) has got requests to develop and mark a route between Øyrahornet and Sandvikhornet. But the terrain (no solid ground, just turfs) doesn’t really inspire me to take an initiative. We won’t be able to make it any better, but I suppose sticks with reflective markers would come in handy. On the other hand, the local hunting organization has asked us to back away from Øyradalen, as they’re worried about birds nesting in this area. I’m as conscious about our environment as the next guy, but it feels a bit weird coming from them…
Trip statistics: 6,1km, 500m vertical meters, 2 hours
Vardehornet (600m), Dec 15 2018
Saturday: I drove to Volda to hike Melshornet, and I expected the good folks of Volda to have prepared a nice footpath all the way to the top. And it started pretty darn good up the forest road to lake Dinglavatnet.
I still swore to hiking, yet knowing that any day soon, I would have to get back on the skis. But not today. I really don’t know why. I love skiing, but it’s every season, it’s such a transition and “effort” to get on with it. But Karma doesn’t see to complain. At least, she doesn’t have to run for her life to keep up with me on the way down.
Regardless of equipment, it was a downright gorgeous day!
However, when we got to lake Dinglavatnet, the good folks of Volda had let me down. There were no tracks up to Melshornet, and the snow was just too deep for me to even think about it, wearing only terrain shoes.
So, then we had to settle with Vardehornet. Not where had planned to go, but given the situation…
Based on the nearby mountains, it seemed like it was wise to stay at this lower elevation. It looked quite windy on some of the mountain tops…
On Vardehornet, I met a guy that came up from the other side and I decided to follow his tracks down. The snow was really deep, so his tracks helped a lot!
Even though I didn’t reach my planned destination, it was a really nice hike on a really nice day!
Trip statistics: 6,7km, 440m vertical meters, 1h:41m
Pictures (Canon 80D) from the trip/hike:
Ytrehovådsen (Høgåsen), 170m, Dec 15 2018
Still Saturday: After the hike to Vardehornet, I wanted to stay outdoors a little longer and drove to lake Hovdevatnet to hike Ytrehovdåsen.
It’s been a few years since I was up there, and as Karma still hadn’t been there, I figured it was a nice place to finish off today’s walking.
There’s really not much to report from this hike. It was a nice and easy round trip hike with some great views along the way…
Trip statistics: 3,5km, 140m vertical meters, 50 minutes
Pictures (Canon 80D) from the trip/hike:
Melshornet (807m), Dec 16 2018
Sunday: Given the “failure” in reaching Melshornet the day before, I decided to rectify the situation. Today, I was back with a vengeance. And – more importantly – skis. Moreover, it was my birthday, and I had a nice run down a mountain awaiting. You can hardly get a better birthday present…
We started out at Helgatun, and the good skiing folks of Volda had left an excellent track up the mountain!
It was too early in the season for the snow groomer, so the tracks were made by skiers. Which was more than fine for me and Karma…
It was a gorgeous day, and the entire ascent were successive moments of pure joy!
Eventually, we reached the top and Karma sure knows how to have a good time!
It was windy up there, but fortunately, the wind doesn’t spoil the view…
And needless to say, the run down the mountain was just awesome…
Trip statistics: 6,6km, 590m vertical meters, 1h:20m
Pictures (Canon 80D) from the trip/hike:
Tuva (63m), Dec 16 2018
Still Sunday: On my way home from Melshornet and Volda, I decided to stop by Aursnes and do the 3,2km loop around lake Aursnesvatnet and across the top Tuva.
It’s a very uncomplicated walk and on an afternoon such as this – just nice. I met a family coming down from Tuva, busy with observing an eagle.
Safe to say, the moon was in center of this walk.
After the hike, I was quite happy with the hiking – and now finally – skiing week. And I already started to look forward to next week. What would be in store for us?
Trip statistics: 3,2km, 140m vertical meters, 50 minutes
Pictures (Canon 80D) from the trip/hike:
