Lots of nice hikes!
Peaks visited:
| Peak | Height | PF | Location | WCP |
| Sandvikshornet | 352m | 13m | Herøy, M&R, Norway | |
| Rysseviktua | 452m | 34m | Herøy, M&R, Norway | |
| Øyrahornet | 417m | 42m | Herøy, M&R, Norway | WCP |
| Melshornet | 807m | 564m | Ørsta, Norway | WCP |
| Høgkubben | 450m | 62m | Ålesund, Norway | WCP |
| Geitnausa | 456m | 102m | Ålesund, Norway | WCP |
| Nuken | 919m | 126m | Sogndal, Norway | |
| Tylderingen | 1104m | 241m | Sogndal, Norway | WCP |
| Molden | 1118m | 805m | Luster, Norway | WCP |
Sogndal – Sunnmøre, Sep 30 2019
Monday: After spending the weekend in eastern Norway, I worked from Sogndal on Monday. The weather in Sogndal was just fine and the drive home should have been straightforward.
But rumours had it that it was full winter closer to home. Should I give it a try with summer tires or play it safe? I called the nearest auto shop and asked if they had studded tires for my car and if yes, could they swap today?
The answer was “yes” on both questions, and a few hours later, my car was quite ready to face whatever awaited further north. It was quite early for studded tires. Legally, the date was Nov 1st, but we are at all times responsible for having tires matching the conditions. And, as I had to return to Sogndal at the end of the week, I decided to spend NOK 8000,- on a set of new tires. That made my Oslo weekend quite expensive. NOK 13,000+, counting the flight, the rental car and now new tires.
But when I crossed Utvikfjellet (approx. halfway between Sogndal and Sunnmøre), I didn’t feel too bad about having invested in new tires…
Sandvikhornet (352m), Rysseviktua (452m), Øyrahornet (417m), Oct 1 2019
Tuesday: Those of you who read my Week 39 report, could see that I had been struggling with a bad headache lately. And today, I was able to get an appointment with a chiropractor that I hadn’t been with before. He was a really nice guy and cracked me up as they are supposed to do. I am no stranger to tension headache from muscle asymmetry. Most of my life, except the 2008-2019 years, I’ve been struggling with this. After an Osteopath in Ålesund found the problem, I thought I had got rid of this. But this was something else. Something new. No matter how much I massaged my muscles, the headache persisted. Hence, I was semi-optimistic when I left the chiropractor. On the upside, the modern thesis is that whatever you’re dealing with, talking a walk will only do you good. Until a certain point, of course.
So, this afternoon, I settled for a nice walk in my local mountains. Karma and I started out from the Coop store in Tjørvåg, followed the road up to Sandvikskaret, and then along the marked path to Sandvikhornet.
I had no particular plans about where to go, but decided to continue towards Rysseviktua. My usual round trip – all the way to Storehanen and return across Selsteinen and Slettheia was not on the table today.
Insted of returning the way we came, we crossed over the meadow, aiming for Øyrahornet. The terrain was not very nice for off-trail hiking, but the outlook of a different descent route weighed up for it.
I always enjoy the descent from Øyrahornet. The view is incredible!
Trip statistics: 8,2km, 580 vertical meters, 1h:52m
Pictures (Iphone8) from the hike:
Melshornet (807m), Oct 2 2019
Wednesday: After work, and a new appointment with the chiropractor, I drove to Ørsta for one of my favorite walks – to Melshornet via “Pølsa“. The trailhead in Rystefeltet is approx. 160m, and the hike into Osdalen is very nice.
Once we entered Osdalen, we turned left and followed the steep mountain path up to “Pølsa“, where the view is quite spectacular.
Then we continued across the Okla ridge towards Melshornet.
There was a thin layer of snow on top, but considerably more in the Sunnmøre alps – like on Saudehornet. I had recently been up there in snow, and it was a cumbersome ascent- and descent.
We descended down to lake Dinglavatnet, and my plan was to hike across Vardehornet before descending into Osdalen.
But down by the lake, I changed my mind, and walked around the lake until I met the path that took us directly into Osdalen. A very nice round trip hike!
Trip statistics: 7,3km, 660 vertical meters, 1h:56m
Pictures (Canon EOS RP/Iphone8):
Høgkubben (450m), Geitnausa (456m), Oct 3 2019
Thursday: After work in Ålesund, I had a beautiful afternoon ahead of me. I decided to spend it on Uksenøya island and Blindheimsfjellet.
We started out in Spjelkavika and hiked up “Turheisa” (a ski-lift running whenever there is snow) and we had a fine view towards the Ålesund – Spjelkavika region from up here.
Then we moved on towards Høgkubben. When dry, the paths on this mountain are very nice.
From Høgkubben, I got a good feeling about the snow line…
A round trip hike was on the agenda, and we sat course for Geitnausa.
It was so nice to be outside. Too bad that at the end of the month, there would not be enough daylight to have afternoon hikes like this.
Eventually, we reached Geitnausa and Karma waited patiently for her “reward“…
We left Geitnausa with a fine evening view towards Ålesund and Spjelkavika.
When we got to the ferry at Sulesund, darkness was on its way.
Trip statistics: 10km, 500 vertical meters, 2h:05m
Pictures (Canon EOS RP/Iphone8) from the hike:
Nuken (919m), Oct 4 2019
Friday: Returning to Sogndal, and the driving conditions across Utvikfjellet (ref. Monday) were just fine. I had my 3rd appointment with my chiropractor today, and things were seemingly moving in the right direction. I was not really sure what the diagnosis was, but the muscles running up to the back of my head were really stiff. Hence the headache.
As I was approaching Sogndal, I figured that a late afternoon hike would be a good idea, in this nice weather. I called Anne and asked if she wanted to come along to Nuken from Åsen (the only reasonable hike with this little daylight left). She would, and I picked her up in Sogndalsdalen and drove up the toll road to Åsen.
The sun was dropping fast, but we were climbing equally fast…
It’s a short hike – close to 3km from Åsen. And, together with Amlaholten (Kaupanger), it’s the only short hike in the Sogndal region. If you want to reach a top with a prominence of 100 meters, that is. Well, Stedjeåsen isn’t too far either, but it’s a steep 550 vertical meter hike. Nuken from Åsen is only 350 vertical meters.
We reached the top in a beautiful light!
We turned back around quite soon, hoping to get back to the car before it got totally dark. I had a headlamp, but Anne didn’t. But, we reached the car without having to switch it on. This was a very nice bridge from my working day on Sunnmøre and a nice afternoon.
Trip statistics: 5,7km, 350 vertical meters, 2h:12m
Tylderingen (1104m), Oct 5 2019
Saturday: The headache was as good as gone, and the weather was gorgeous. It’s interesting how much better life is without pain in the skull…
Anne and I decided to go to Tylderingen, which is a beautiful hike and a very nice ski-trip. There was probably snow on top of the mountain, but certainly not enough for skiing. I hadn’t brought my skis either, so…
We drove up to Fretland, left one car there and drove up to Kleiv – which was our starting point.
I really enjoy the Kleiv route, which runs quite steeply up to the Stepin cabins (old summer farm), from where you have a nice view towards the Sogndalsdalen valley.
The route continues northeast, almost up to Kleberg, before it turns south – towards Tylderingen. And the views towards Sogndalsdalen get better by the minute…
There was snow on top, but not much.
Then we got company. A guy named Knut (whom Anne knew) and then of course Tom Dybwad – Mr. Tylderingen in person. And then it was time for a group photo.
We hiked down to Fretland together with Tom, where he met his wife Eli near the trailhead. This was yet another beautiful trip to Tylderingen!
In the evening, we drove to Jostedalen to celebrate Oddbjørn Saltnes’ 50th birthday. There were MANY speeches, and Anne and Tom were serving anecdotes from the Jostedalsbreen National Park history…
Trip statistics: 8,1km, 710 vertical meters, 3h:19m
Pictures (Canon EOS RP) from the hike:
Molden (1118m), Oct 6 2019
Sunday: The contrast between Monday and Sunday couldn’t have been bigger. After a miserable start to the week, the weather got more and more gorgeous day by day.
It was quite clear that we would go hiking today, but we were not in a rush, for several reasons. The first was that it got quite late in Jostedalen the night before. But also, morning frost and sunshine were also factors we put into the equation.
But eventually, we sat course for Mollandsmorki and Molden. And we were not alone. The Mollandsmorki parking lot was full of cars! I’ve never seen that before. But it took a little while before we caught up with people ahead of us.
As we got closer to Svarthiller, we were in a long chain of hikers.
Above Svarthiller, the path had got a face-lift – by Sherpas…
Life was just nice!
And then we reached the top of Molden…
It was really, really tempting to descend to Marifjøra, although our car was at Mollandsmorki. We decided to go through with it. Surely, we could get a taxi?
On the way down to Marifjøra, Anne called her colleague Liv – who volunteered to pick us up and drive us back to Mollandsmorki. This is stuff that really good friends do…
The descent from Molden (1118m) to the Marifjøra (sea level) was long and mighty nice!
And the terrain kept on changing…
Eventually, we reached Marifjøra and waited for Liv. I decided to relax on the bench with Karma while Anne and Liv went up to Marifjøra. I really enjoyed life! Nice weather, many nice hikes and no headache. Unfortunately, the headache came back – stronger than ever – the following week. But more on that later…
Trip statistics: 11,1km, 630 vertical meters, 3h:50m
Pictures (Canon EOS RP/Iphone8) from the hike:
