Building up to summer vacation – part II
Peaks visited:
| Peak | Height | PF | Location | WCP |
| Laupsnipa | 558m | 380m | Herøy, M&R, Norway | WCP |
| Festøykollen | 911m | 433m | Ørsta, Norway | WCP |
| Aksla | 188m | 188m | Ålesund, Norway | WCP |
| Qvintushøgda | 911m | 100m | Røros, Norway |
Laupsnipa (558m), July 15 2019
Monday: Monday was the kind of day where you just want to stay home and do something useful instead going hiking in the rain and the fog. But when you’ve got a dog, it’s a different ballgame. Not that the dog requires a mountain every day, but if I’m going to walk the dog, I prefer to do it on a mountain.
With that context, I found my way to Voldnes and then up Laupsnipa. Once we get going, the weather becomes a secondary factor.
Besides, I like this mountain. It’s definitely one of my favorites on Ytre Søre Sunnmøre. Even in the fog and rain, but definitely on those rare days when one can ski down here.
Not much to report from the hike itself. Normally, we do a round trip hike but today, we just went up and down the mountain and I think we both were happy afterwards.
Trip statistics: 4,4km, 550 vertical meters, 1h:10m
Pictures (Iphone6) from the trip:
Festøykollen (911m), July 16 2019
Tuesday: After work in Ålesund, I took (for the first time) the Solevåg – Festøy ferry instead of the regular Sulesund – Hareid ferry. This route gives me access to a number of Sunnmøre alps peaks along Vartdalsfjorden. So, being the first time, I decided to begin with the first peak – Festøykollen.
I visited Festøykollen back in 2006 and it was high time I that I paid another visit to this top. I drove to the Ramoen/Festøykollen trailhead in Barstaddalen and barely found a parking place. The mountain was seemingly busy this afternoon.
Even if it was more than 10 years since I was up here the last time, I still remembered the forest path. Steep and well worn, just as I like it.
After passing Gamlestøylen, Festøykollen came into view. I tried to keep a good walking pace, which was a challenge on this very hot afternoon.
After hiking up the south ridge, we arrived on the summit 55 minutes after heading out (810 vertical meters) and saw that we were not alone here. The two ladies didn’t seem interested in chatting, so we just nodded. I gave the dog the summit treat, took a round of pictures and turned back around. We were back at the car 1h:45m after heading out.
I really wish I could take the dog up to Jønshornet/Ramoen, but it cannot be done from this side. It might be possible from Molladalen, thought. Time will show.
Trip statistics: 7,6km, 810 vertical meters, 1h:45m
Pictures (Iphone6) from the trip:
Aksla (188m), July 17 2019
Wednesday: My very good friends Lars & Cathrine were on a long sailing trip from Nøtterøy to Harstad, and Anne met them in Farsund while Anne were spending a week with a park ranger colleague in southern Norway. So when they passed Ålesund, I wanted to meet up with them of course.
I found them in Brosundet where they had anchored up for the night. Well, anchored isn’t the right term here, but they wouldn’t be drifting off…
We then took a walk up the Aksla mountain, where none of them had been before. We settled for pictures from the ramp and from above Fjellstua, as none of us wanted to pay NOK 30,- for getting onto the restaurant’s balcony – where you get the best city views. I think that’s a stupid fee and I might get back to you on this topic once I’ve done some more research on it. I think it’s good to know to know what you’re talking about before venting on the internet.
We continued up to Rundskue – the highest point on the Aksla mountain before descending to Borgarnes Vei and returning to Ålesund.
I would have loved to stay with my friends for dinner out, but I simply had to get back home to start preparing for the upcoming vacation – part II.
Trip statistics: 5,8km, 250 vertical meters, 1:55m
Pictures (Canon 80D) from the trip:
Fatal Accident on Litledalshornet, July 17 2019
Wednesday: In the evening, I got a phone call from VG – one of the biggest newspapers in Norway. They told me there had been a fatal hiking accident on Litledalshornet and they asked for permission to use a picture from my website. Normally, I take a small fee for my pictures when commercial organizations ask, but I make exception when it comes to fatal accidents (and non-commercial organizations). I don’t know – In respect to the families, I guess. Doesn’t feel right to ask for money when families are devastated.
The next morning, I was contacted by Dagbladet – the other large news newspaper in Norway – for the same reason. I offered them another picture of the mountain, but they wanted to run the same picture.
Every accident in our mountains is a sad affair, but I was really surprised to learn that rock fall had killed the woman. The normal route traverses the entire mountainside, so being hit by rocks must have been really, really bad luck. It’s really sad, and my thoughts most definitely went to the families and her hiking partner – who also was injured in the accident.
Qvintushøgda (911m), July 19 2019
Friday: Summer vacation part II was on! I drove to Sogndal on Thursday evening, and on Friday, Anne and I sat course for Nedalshytta in Tydal (close to the Swedish border in Trøndelag county) – where the main objective was to hike Storsylen (1762m). It was a fairly long drive – 477km – 7h:30m – via Sognefjellet, Dombås, Tynset and Røros.
Shortly after passing Røros, it was high time to stretch our legs and “as it happened” – there was a small hill with a prominence of at least 100 meters nearby. And – possibly – the only top in Norway starting with “Q” – Qvintushøgda.
It was also one of the shortest walks to any top I’ve been to. We parked 0,8km south of the top and followed a nice trail upwards. This area is *packed* with Norwegian mining history, and we would learn more about it on our way back home. The mission today was just to stretch our legs.
It was really nice to be on vacation with my family again. The first part of the vacation was spent on Jan Mayen, and it’s really a stretch to call that trip a vacation, but it was at least taken off that budget.
The reason why we ended up in this part of Norway was the weather forecast. The original plan was Rogaland, but why drive to the rain, when you can drive towards somewhere with a much better forecast. And we do like the eastern Norway mountains. Over the last 10 years, we’ve hiked quite a number of tops here and our last visit to the Femunden region was really nice. Most Norwegians think that Hedmark county is flat as Florida, but that just ain’t the case. Far, far from it.
We also observed that this was really nice terrain for bikers. The two we met on top were really happy about the trails.
After a short stay on top, we returned to the car and continued towards Nedalshytta.
Trip statistics: 1,8km, 100 vertical meters, 30 minutes
Pictures (Canon 80D) from the trip:
Nedalshytta (Tydal), July 19 2019
Friday: We arrived at Nedalshytta in the afternoon, in time for dinner. We had reserved a 2-bed room, which we had to pay extra NOK 200,- per day for. This meant that we couldn’t have the dog in the room, but we had figured that the dog could sleep in the car.
However, on this very day, there was a mosquito explosion and it was really, really bad. There was no way the dog could be in the car. It was too hot to have the windows closed and there were too many mosquitoes to have the windows open. We could convert our reservation to a “dog room” which meant that there could be more people with dogs coming during the evening.
To me, that’s the definition of a stressful evening. I wish I could relax about it, but I just can’t. It’s not the recipe for a good night’s sleep to me. So, we went to plan B. We put up the tent.
Anne got the room by herself and I spent the night in the tent with Karma. Actually, I spent in total 3 nights in the tent with Karma. Which is not an issue at all, except for the fact that we paid NOK 6360,- for 3 nights. It’s the most expensive camping I’ve ever done, but no complaints. It is what it is. The night before, there were no mosquitoes. Tonight, it was bonanza. You cannot control these things.
In any case, I had a good night’s sleep and looked forward to the next day, where we would hike Storsylen.
Pictures (Canon 80D) from the drive to Nedalshytta:
Storsylen (1762m), Vardberget (1096m), July 20 2019
Saturday: See separate trip report (coming up)
Skardsfjella (1629m), Nørdre Langsvola (957m), July 21 2019
Sunday: See separate trip report (coming up)
