A content-rich week!
Peaks visited (click the links to get to the entry points):
| Peak | Height | PF | Location | WCP |
| Høgekubben | 461m | 102m | Ålesund, Norway | WCP |
| Rjåhornet | 598m | 105m | Herøy, M&R, Norway | WCP |
| Huldrehornet | 271m | 113m | Herøy, M&R, Norway | WCP |
| Middagshornet | 1091m | 389m | Ørsta, Norway | WCP |
| Veten (Vetleholten) | 632m | 184m | Gloppen, Norway | |
| Trivselsskogen | 415m | – | Gloppen, Norway | |
| Svartekari | 1220m | 121m | Gloppen, Norway | |
| Heia | 1021m | 51m | Gloppen, Norway |
Høgekubben (461m), Aug 12 2019
Monday: After the end of my working day in Ålesund, I was dead met. All I wanted to do was to drive home and go to bed. Perhaps it was because I had somewhat pushed it a bit, after spending 4 days last week with headache and pain in my ears. Or – I was just dead met. Plain and simple. But I owed Karma a walk, after having been in the car since 6am this morning (except for a walk at lunch time).
So, I decided to head for Høgekubben, where I hadn’t been so far this year. The easy way out was to drive all the way to Eikenosen (approx. 190m) and walk from there.
We walked along lake Røssevolsvatnet (and the dam) before we got on the southwest ridge towards the top.
As we headed up the ridge, it became apparent that we would get fog on top. No big deal, though. I know the views…
On the top, I noticed that they still haven’t changed the signpost saying “Høgkubben 450m“. Because that’s plain wrong. Høgkubben 450m is 3,4km to the west. On the other hand, it’s a mystery of they ended up with two almost identical names, so close to each other…
Trip statistics: 7,9km, 355 vertical meters, 1h:43m
Rjåhornet (600m), Huldrehornet (271m), Aug 14 2019
Wednesday: After work, I decided to visit Rjåhornet and count sticks. I have decided to walk all our paths and do a tally on the number of sticks we’ve put up along the paths we manage. It’s a lot.
Karma and I headed out from Stemmedalen, not knowing whether we would get rain or not. If not, then at least I expected a rainbow. And we got one…
Focusing on the sticks also made me mindful about the many signposts we’ve put up, and how much more these paths are used – after they got marked. Many say they feel more secure when going out now. I understand that. The sea fog could come in pretty quickly, and if you don’t know the area inside and out, one could certainly feel unsafe. So, I imagine we’ve done something good for the community.
What was new was the missing 2nd cabin on top of Rjåhornet. The Tussa company had a couple of guys up there for a few days, bringing the old cabin down. A helicopter took the material off the mountain. I had hoped they could leave it up there and make it available for hikers, but that was a no-go. The fear of the cabin collapsing on innocent hikers was too much of the risk for the power company.
In any case – the number of sticks to the route coming from Djupvikvatnet was 61. And the high ones were in desperate need for maintenance. I guess that job falls on me…
On the way down, I decided to hike via Huldrehornet. We managed to get all the way down to lake Stemmedalsvatnet before the rain sat in…
Trip statistics: 8,8km, 710 vertical meters, 2h:05m
Pictures (Iphone6) from the hike:
Middagshornet (1091m), Aug 15 2019
Thursday: For the 3rd time this year, I took the Solavågen – Festøya ferry after working in Ålesund, opposed the Sulesund – Hareid ferry – which is my normal route home.
This detour offers a number of interesting peaks, both along Vartdalsfjorden, but also along Hjørundfjorden, if I’m willing to drive home via Standalsdalen.
But today, I would be hiking Middagshornet from Melbøsætra. It should have been Barstadsætra, but I tend to get confused about which side of the road I should follow – up Erdalen valley.
It’s a fairly short hike. 3,5km is nothing in the Sunnmøre alps.
I’ve been to Middagshornet a couple of times before, but always from Årskogdalen and Vartdalssætra. Today would be my first hike from Erdalen and I looked forward to it.
I also knew that the route was straightforward for a dog, except for the final yards. But I’ve got the dog up once before so I reckoned I could do it again.
The route from Erdalen was quite nice. I’d actually done most of it on my previous visit to Klovetinden, but there was a pitch between the valley path and the ridge to Middagshornet that was new to me.
I noticed that there was a “Middagshornet 3,5km” signpost after 1,6km – which was a bit weird, as the distance from the trailhead was also 3,5km. A way to save money for signposts or just a blunder? In any case, the remaining distance from that point was 2,1km and not 3,5km.
When we got the summit ahead of us, I recognized the pitch that was somewhat problematic. But once I got closer, I found a way to bypass this pitch without any problems whatsoever. Good news! And shortly after, Karma could celebrate her 2nd ascent of this fine peak.
The views are outstanding. This is not really the heart and soul of the Sunnmøre alps, but it’s a not a bad neighbourhood. That’s for sure…
We followed the ridge back down, but then I took a detour across point 698m, where we passed a nice pond along the way.
Back at the trailhead, I promised myself that my next hike would be from Barstadsætra, as the road to Melbøsætra is way rougher.
Trip statistics: 7,7km, 920 vertical meters, 2h:15m
Pictures (Canon 80D) from the hike:
New camera & Kari Bremnes concert, Aug 16 2019
Friday: A milestone in my 20-year career of taking pictures: finally, a camera that falls more into the “professional” category, rather than “consumer”. The new Canon EOS RP costed me 25K NOK, with extras. Purchased at Alf Helgheim & CO at Skei, of course. I wouldn’t be shopping in any other store. The level of service is way above expectation…
Afterwards, I drove to Sandane where I would meet up with Anne. It was the “Sandane days” (Sandanedagane) and we had rented a room for the weekend at the Gloppen hotel. We had no particular plans, except for the Kari Bremnes concert on Friday afternoon. The weather would determine if there would be any good hikes.
Kari is one of our favorite Norwegian singer-songwriters and has a heavenly voice.
I brought the new camera to the concert, without being familiar with other buttons than the “ON” button. I took a number of pictures during the concert, and based on what I could see from the camera display, I got chills…
No flash, no nothing, just zoom, point and click… Definitely better than the mobile camera pictures I could see from the nearby audience. By any measure…
After the concert, we went back to the hotel, where Karma was waiting (quietly) for her mom & dad to get back home. Happy reunion!
Veten (Vetleholten) (632m), Aug 17 2019
Saturday: After a nice breakfast at the Gloppen hotel, I suggested that we should hike Veten – a top that I’ve visited on several occasions, but one Anne hadn’t been to yet. We drove the toll road up along Leirelva and parked close to Leirstøylen. Then we followed the nice path up the west ridge.
After 2,1km, we reached the top in light rain.
But the weather wasn’t worse than that we decided to take a different route down – around lake Røsskleivvatnet.
This route was slightly longer – 3km, and it was altogether a nice round trip. Happy to be hiking with my girlfriend again!
Trip statistics: 5,1km, 350 vertical meters, 1h:39m
Pictures (Canon80D/ Iphone6) from the hike:
Trivselsskogen, Aug 17 2019
Still Saturday: As the weather wasn’t quite bad (yet), we decided to continue to Trivselsskogen – a very interesting concept located just above Sandane. The name translates to something like “the forest where you’ll enjoy yourself”
At the trailhead (by Holvik), we had to decide which direction we should go. We went left (northwest) and soon arrived at an impressive picnic- and camping place , in lack of a better word.
Here, you could enjoy your lunch in shelter, put up your tent on a wooden floor, sleep in a hammock, or – throw a wedding. Which was exactly what someone was about to do today. Hence, the place was closed. But as no one had showed up yet, so we took a look around before moving on.
We continued up to approx. 230m elev., where I visited my third “Dagsturhytte“. Each municipality in Sogn og Fjordane county have or will have one. All of the cabins have a library and have become popular hiking destinations, also for the smaller children.
Next on the agenda was to visit (the many) Sherpa stairs that has been built in this forest. As with most things in life, there are different opinions about this new trend, but I fully support it. For several reasons.
What I wasn’t a really fan of, was the humongous steel construction that took us safely up to the (unlikely) road that cuts through this mountain face. I can fully accept that this was the only safe way to get people up the last part, but it is definitely a “foreign object” that doesn’t really belong in this forest. I would be curious to know if there was no other place, to the west, within reasonable distance, where Sherpa stairs could have done the job.
I can certainly understand (and fully support) the project’s wish to offer a round trip hike, rather than going back down from “Dagsturhytta”. And the view from “Utsikten” ain’t bad…
The weather was still stable. But it wouldn’t stay that way for long…
Our final stop was at Holvikfossen, where a ramp gives you a test yourself for vertigo.
The place is called “Den himmelske freds plass“, which translates to “the Gate of Heavenly Peace” – you know – Tiananmen in Beijing. I have no clue why they gave it that name, given the roar from the waterfall. But, I suppose one could find a certain peace up here. If you have the time to look for it…
In any case, the waterfall is quite spectacular.
We left as it started to rain. More Sherpa stairs guided us safely down the steep terrain and we were pretty impressed by the stairs and the whole concept. My hat off for it!
Enough walking for the day. We returned to Gloppen and had a look around. The town was pretty packed with people – which was impressive to me, given the not-so-good weather.
We ended the day by a nice dinner in the hotel restaurant.
Trip statistics: 3,9km, 315 vertical meters, 1h:20m
Pictures (Canon EOS RP/Iphone6) from the hike:
Svartekari (1220m), Aug 18 2019
Sunday: As the weather would get gradually better during the day, we were in no rush to get up for breakfast and check out. Besides, I had to work between 10 and 12, and just after noon, we checked out from Gloppen Hotel.
We had decided to hike Svartekari, and located the forest toll road that took us all the way up to Mardalsvårstøylen. A LOT of potential hiking already saved. As we parked at 470m, our vertical ascent would only be 750m. In other words – a reasonably modest hike.
After approx. 550m along the continuation of the forest road, we got on the forest path. It was nice to hike along the river.
1km later, we arrived at Mardalsstøylen – a summer farm in the past. Nowadays – a cabin area where I believe you are more likely to find heavenly peace than above Holvikfossen.
We could now start moving towards the mountain. Anne had suggested that if I wanted to do the entire round trip (Svartekari – Tverrfjellet – Storevarden – Daurmålsnibba), I was most welcome to. She knew all too well that it would help me towards my goal of 100 new tops this year. Like every year. James…
And I was opting to do just that, weather permitted. I would make the final decision when we got to Svartekari. It was very sweet of her. But I guess that’s what you can except from a sweetheart (bad Pun)…
But it didn’t take me too long to let the other tops go. We got a rain shower up on the mountain, and it seemed like it wouldn’t be the last. And as I hadn’t brought anything to eat, I figured that a 19km round trip hike would be a little too much today. I’ll be back, though. For sure…
Fortunately, the rain shower passed and after a while we could celebrate Svartekari summit. Or wait – something was wrong…
They had managed to put up the name of the top 167m west of- and 20m lower than the summit. I’m sure they had their reasons, but none of them are acceptable by my standards. And I am most likely speaking for many “peakbaggers”. At least, the view was nice…
Finally, we made it to the real summit of Svartekari! My 2019 new top #80. Things were looking good! Except for the battery in my brand new camera. It went dead on top…
I had long ago decided to return with Anne. Sort of. Me and Karma sat course for Heia (1021m) while Anne was heading down the path. With a prominence of 51m, it didn’t bring me any closer to 100 tops, as they need a prominence of 100m of more. Nerd stuff. But – stuff that matters!
After a pretty fast and rough descent in unfriendly terrain, we reunited with Anne just above Mardalsstøylen. As a variation, we followed the path along the river all the way back to the car.
After the hike, we drove down to Gloppen and found a table at the local pizza restaurant. The pizza took a really long time to get on our table, which was a shame, as we had to sit and listen to two drunk and loud persons, for far too long. But at least we got something to eat and then we parted. Anne went back to Sogndal, Karma and I returned to Sunnmøre. But – we would meet again 5 days later, in a totally different place…
Trip statistics: 11,8km, 820 vertical meters, 3h:40m
Pictures (Canon EOS RP/Iphone 6) from the hike:
