One single highlight…
Peaks visited:
| Peak | Height | PF | Location | WCP |
| Blåtind | 697m | 697m | Ulstein, Norway | WCP |
| Svinetinden | 1092m | 102m | Ørsta, Norway | WCP |
| Djupvikhaugen | 98m | 29m | Herøy, M&R, Norway | |
| Aksla | 188m | 188m | Ålesund, Norway | WCP |
| Gyrinakken | 365m | 157m | Herøy, M&R, Norway | WCP |
| Almen | 226m | 28m | Herøy, M&R, Norway | WCP |
| Aregjell | 200m | 97m | Sande, Norway | WCP |
| Huldrehornet | 271m | 113m | Herøy, M&R, Norway | WCP |
Blåtind (697m),Sep 9 2019
Monday: With respect to the headline, perhaps I’m being unfair. It’s always nice to be back on Blåtind and as I’m writing this, I’m stuck @home with a bad kink in the lower back. It only reminds me that good health is not something to be taken for granted and that one should appreciate each and every walk, big or small.
Today’s hike started out in Ringstaddalen and instead of following the traversing path up to lake Hundelaupsvatnet, we continued straight up.
The weather was overcast, but OK. And I had a nice view towards Gurskøy (where I live) on our way up the mountain.
There is not much to report from the ascent. Karma kept a constant lookout for the local hare, but didn’t see it.
And the view from the summit was nice, as always…
Trip statistics: 4,7km, 630 vertical meters, 1,5 hours
Pictures (Canon EOS RP) from the hike:
Svinetinden (1092m), Sep 10 2019
Tuesday: This hike was clearly the highlight of the week. After leaving work in Ålesund, I took the Solavågen – Festøya ferry, aiming for Svinetinden – a nice peak in the outskirts of the Molladalstindane massif. The last time I visited this peak was back in 2006, with my good friend Torill.
I drove to the trailhead near Volland in Barstaddalen and parked the car. This is the common trailhead for Festøykollen and the Molladalstindane peaks. The path up the forest is quite nice.
Near Gamlestøylen, the path forks and Karma and I turned right (left is for Festøykollen). The path continues up to Rametinden, and while there MAY be a path in the direction of Svinetinden, I didn’t bother looking for it and just aimed straight for the mountain.
A 1000m ascent after a long day at work is sometimes easy, but normally hard. The hike up the looong hillside was bloody hard work. But the summit was the golden pot at the end of the rainbow and kept me going.
Eventually, we reached the summit ridge and it looked like a walk in the park up to the top. Still, I did seem to remember that there was one place that stood out from the others.
And sure enough – there was a rock that called for some careful moves, just before the summit point. As I didn’t find any safe way to get Karma around- or across, I decided to bring her down to the grass where she could wait for me. But I’ll give her this summit, because if I had let her take care of herself, she would have jumped up on the hilariously exposed rock (instead of going around it) and probably be alright. I just didn’t want her to take that chance.
It was really nice to be back on top. The views are awesome. Both towards Molladalstindane –
… and Hjørundfjorden
After a short stay on top, it was time to get back to the car and eventually home – a 1 hour drive from the trailhead.
I felt really uplifted after the hike. Like I do after hiking any peak in the Sunnmøre alps…
Trip statistics: 7,7km, 980 vertical meters, 2,5 hours
Pictures (Canon EOS RP/Iphone8) from the hike:
Djupvikhaugen (98m), Sep 11 2019
Wednesday: Pouring rain and wind. There was no way I would go hiking today. But I had to walk the dog, and headed for the low hill Djupvikhaugen – close to where I live. At least I could count the sticks – a project I had ongoing for the local trail committee.
Trip statistics: 1,9km, 150 vertical meters, 25min
Pictures (Iphone8) from the hike:
Aksla (188m), Sep 12 2019
Thursday: Ålesund day, and it was still raining. It was tempting to just get in the car and drive home, but I managed to pull myself out of this bad mental state and decided to do a round trip hike across Aksla.
Karma has gone tired of this route and normally sits down at the trailhead, and I have to get her going through “brute force”. So today, I decided to fool her by starting out a place we hadn’t gone before. She fell for it, but had this “hey!?!” look when we joined the normal route.
The first part of the hike went through the Kråkeskar forest.
Then we reached the high point of the Aksla massif – Rundskue.
We continued towards Fjellstua…
And when Ålesund came into view, it looked grey and gloomy…
It was altogether a very uneventful hike, but at least we got a hike…
Trip statistics: 7,8km, 305 vertical meters, 1h:25m
Gyrinakken (365m), Almen (226m), Sep 13 2019
Friday: Rain showers were roaming the Ytre Søre Sunnmøre region, but there were some “golden moments” in-between the showers. I felt that these moments were worth going out for, but I didn’t want to get caught in this rain and wind above the forest. So, I decided that Gyrinakken would be the target for this hike. And the bonus would be Almen – an “insignificant” forest hill that I still hadn’t been to.
We started out from the forest road near Vonheim and followed the forest path in the direction of Gyrinakken.
On our way up the forest, we got the first “golden moment“…
An additional bonus was that we reached the top of Gyrinakken without getting soaking wet from rain showers.
So far, so good! Then we sat course for Almen.
The off-trail hike to Almen was not fun!
And on the way back to the trailhead we got caught in a massive rain shower. We returned to the car absolutely soaked!
Trip statistics: 5km, 350 vertical meters, 1h:10m
Pictures (Canon EOS RP/Iphone8) from the hike:
Aregjell (200m), Sep 14 2019
Saturday: The rain didn’t stop and it made no sense whatsoever to be outdoors. But it felt better to take Karma for a walk, rather than watch her bore herself to death. I decided to hike Aregjell – the WORST hike in the Ytre Søre Sunnmøre region, by any measure or standard. The idea was that the aggravation would suppress the depression from being soaked. And it actually worked. Sort of.
We started out from lake Skogevatnet and headed up the east ridge. There is (of course) no path and the hike is just unpleasant. And THEN, the nightmare begins.
The two hurricanes we’ve had since 1991 have left this forest in a HUGE MESS and following the high ridge is a huge mental test. It’s almost impossible to make progress. You have to climb, crawl and fight your way through it.
And sometimes, it’s just impossible to go on, and you have to find a way around…
Here and there, Karma had a huge advantage…
But eventually, we had made it across the highest part of the ridge and could head north, aiming for the tractor road that would take us back to the road. But just before we reached the road, I decided that I wanted to finish off-trail also.
This hike is a clear candidate for my “3 worst hikes in 2019” list…
Trip statistics: 3,4km, 150 vertical meters, 1h:07m
Huldrehornet (271m), Sep 15 2019
Sunday: Hiking Huldrehornet on a Sunday is a testimony to the awful weather we’ve had most of this week. And Karma didn’t conceal her dislike for going up the forest on this rainy day. “I’m doing this just for you” didn’t have any impact on her, and I had to switch to the strong voice…
It’s always easier once you get going…
The wind on top was just amazing, but the bonus was that the rain had taken a pause.
We continued across the top, to descend along another path. And THEN we got some real rain showers.
Trip statistics: 3,2km, 250 vertical meters, 54mins
Pictures (Iphone8) from the hike:
Jog: home – Kjeldsund – home, Sep 15 2019
Sunday: The rain ceased in the afternoon, and I decided to go jogging. I couldn’t even remember the last time I jogged, but was quite convinced that I should do this every now and then.
So I put my jogging clothes on, and a Gore-Tex jacket on top and jogged from home, around lake Djupvikvatnet and to Kjeldsund – all the way to the very end of the road. It was probably the worst and slowest jog I’ve ever done.
When I finally returned back home (via Djupvikhaugen), it was quite clear that I should not do this again in the very near future. My legs had taken quite a beating. But a good beating. I think…
Trip statistics: 8,4km, 170 vertical meters, 1 hour (sharp!)
