Last week before Jan Mayen…

Peaks visited: (Click on the Peak name link to go directly to the chapter)
Peak | Height | PF | Location | WCP |
Rjåhornet | 600 | 107m | Herøy, M&R, Norway | WCP |
Nonshornet | 485m | 7m | Herøy, M&R, Norway | WCP |
Røddalshorn | 563m | 100m | Herøy, M&R, Norway | WCP |
Storevarden | 744m | 26m | Hornindal, Norway |
When posting this, I’ve finally gotten to the end of my backlog. But that’s not why I’m posting a week report in the middle of the week. The reason is that I’m going on an exciting expedition and there won’t be any updates for some weeks. If I can just get to Oslo on time on Friday morning. If I don’t, there won’t be any expedition and I’ve lost a large sum of money. I don’t really appreciate that “excitement”…
Rjåhornet (600m), Nonshornet (485m), June 3 2019

Monday: Today, my mission for Turstiprosjektet Myrvåg/Tjørvåg (the local trail committee) was to check the ground where we are going to put up signposts. Can we slam dunk the pole into the ground or do we need to drill through rock?
I started out from Stemmedalen, planning a round trip hike.

I passed the steep section, observing two things: 1) I’m still very unhappy about the rope that the committee decided to put up (I was voted down) and 2) this section will soon be naked rock after wear and tear. People seemingly find their way up this new route.

The weather was unstable. I could feel raindrops every now and then. Which was not what I wanted on this moderately long hike.

But first things first – the normal treat for Karma on top of Rjåhornet.

I now had a good round ahead of me.

I walked some, jogged some and eventually got to the first temporary signpost. I took pictures and concluded that we would have a 50% chance of getting the signpost into the ground without drilling.
Then I continued to the far side of lake Holmevatnet where the other temporary signpost was. Here, I was quite confident that we have to drill. The weather had changed to the worse. It was raining and quite windy.

Then we moved on to Nonshornet before taking a direct route across Høgsetdalen, aiming for the section with the rope. Along the way, the weather changed for the better and we even got a nice rainbow.

Trip statistics: 11,6km, 780 vertical meters, 2h:13m
Pictures (Iphone) from the trip:
Røddalshorn (563m), June 4 2019

Tuesday: Very tired after work in Ålesund and I considered skipping hiking altogether this afternoon. I had gone to G-MAX in Breivika to shop for mountain gear after work, and I felt it was already late in the afternoon when I got home.
But I pulled myself together and drove up to Leikongeidet to hike Røddalshorn.

The path was soaking wet all the way up to the high ridge. Not very inspiring!

But we reached the top and I looked forward to the descent. But then there is reluctance to return the way I came. So I took a parallel route, very, very off-trail and not pleasant at all. Still, it was better than taking the same route back down…

Trip statistics: 3,7km, 400 vertical meters, 53 mins
Storevarden (744m), June 6 2019
Thursday: The last day before I went on my Jan Mayen expedition. After work, I drove to Stryn to hand my dog Karma over to my girlfriend Anne, as she would look after the dog until I returned on the 23rd of June.
It was strange to part from them. Last time I away for more than 2 weeks was when I went to Svalbard in 2013. I was going to Svalbard this time too, but now Svalbard would just be a transit point. How weird that may sound…
After returning from Stryn, I wanted to a final hike before leaving Norway mainland. At Grodås, I decided to hike up Ytrehornsnakken. A ridge I’ve often thought about going up, but it just hasn’t happened. Until today. However, this ridge is only leading up to the Kviven top, which I visited in 2011.

I found the trailhead near Ytrehorn and the trail looked dry and nice. And steep. Which I like.

Along the way, I passed the new Dagsturhytten in Hornindal (day trip cabin – with a library), that every municipality in Sogn og Fjordane has built – or is in the process of building.

Eventually I came up to the Ytrehornsnakken viewpoint and enjoyed the view for a minute. I could have stayed a little longer, but the flies were just plain evil.

I decided to continue up to Storevarden – 1,2km to the northwest.

Once there, it was tempting to keep on going, but I needed to get home and start packing. The time was almost 18:00 and I would be on the 02:30 ferry from Hareid. I had hoped to get a little sleep in the meantime, which I didn’t…
Next: the Jan Mayen expedition…
Trip statistics: 5,9km, 660 vertical meters, 1h:25m
Pictures (Iphone) from the trip: