Highs and lows…
Peaks visited:
| Peak | Height | PF | Location | WCP |
| Helgehornet | 626m | 545m | Volda, Norway | WCP |
| Veten (Hidsegga) | 556m | 320m | Sande, M&R, Norway | WCP |
| Storehanen | 493m | 67m | Herøy, M&R, Norway | |
| Muletua | 253m | 65m | Herøy, M&R, Norway | WCP |
| Barmen | 278m | 245m | Herøy, M&R, Norway | WCP |
| Børa | 207m | 44m | Herøy, M&R, Norway | WCP |
| Okla | 147m | 24m | Herøy, M&R, Norway | WCP |
| Sandhornet | 909m | 471m | Ørsta, Norway | WCP |
| Rebbestadhornet | 815m | 42m | Ørsta, Norway | WCP |
Helgehornet (626m), Oct 7 2019
Monday: I was on my way home from Sogndal and started thinking about where to walk the dog. The choice turned out to be Helgehornet, after calculating distance, vertical gain and amount of daylight left.
But I couldn’t hike this mountain without bringing a headlamp without hurrying. The time was 6:14pm when we left the shooting range at Sollidalen (the above picture).
I jogged until it got too steep to jog and I switched over to fast walking.
There was enough time to stop by the viewpoint just north of Helgehornet, but not enough daylight for my Iphone to get a good picture.
We reached the top 6:43pm and I reckoned it would be PRETTY dark within 30 minutes. But that would be more than enough time to descend via the south ridge, which we did.
We were back at the car 7:03pm, and I was quite happy about doing this 4,3km round trip hike in a little more than 45 minutes…
Trip statistics: 4,3km, 400 vertical meters, 49mins
Veten/Hidsegga (556m), Oct 9 2019
Wednesday: In my last week report, I mentioned that I had been struggling with a bad tension headache, but the situation improved greatly over the weekend. Now, I was on a downward spiral again, and had to go back to the chiropractor. He did his stuff, but the headache persisted. I looked forward to the end of the work day and go hiking.
It was a nice weather day and I decided to try a new variation on Hidsegga. But, we started out along a well known route from Hidsneset. Well known by me, and a handful others, I suppose. This is clearly not a route where average hikers seek to. It’s cumbersome and steep…
After a long hike up a slippery gully, we reached the ridge that connects to Hidsegga.
And shortly after, we were on top of Veten, aka Hidsegga.
From the top, we had some incredible views…
Then it was time for the variation. We headed towards Tarbergtua – where I’ve never been before. We then headed towards Nakkane and took a direct route down to Tarberg. This was not pleasant terrain, and I don’t think I’ll ever descend here again.
Now, we had 3,1km back to the car, along the main road. That was more boring than I hoped it would be, but eventually we got there. Unfortunately, I didn’t get a GPS track from this hike – MOST LIKELY because of the military jamming the GPS signals. At first, I had no idea what was going on, but a week later, I read a newspaper article about this, and it started on – wednesday!
Trip statistics: 8,0km, 550 vertical meters
Pictures (Canon EOS RP) from the hike:
Oct 10 2019
Oh my, this was a bad day. The headache was so bad that I was unable to go to work. I wasn’t able to eat anything either. I called the doctor’s office and explained the emergency. I needed some pain killers – of the serious kind.
I also called a good friend of mine, who is a physiotherapist. She recommended me go to a chiropractor in Volda, that she knew quite well. I was fortunate enough to get both an appointment both with the doctor and the chiropractor on the same day.
The doctor put me on sick leave right away. For 10 days. I must have looked that miserable. I got a couple of prescriptions that I seriously hoped would help the situation. I was not happy about the sick leave from work. I can’t even remember the last time that happened, but I accepted the situation.
Later in the day, I drove to Volda and surrendered myself to the chiropractor’s capable hands. He put me straight into X-ray, and then he went to work, based on the findings. He referred to the muscles in my neck as “bass guitar strings“, and I got the point.
The medicine didn’t seem to work at all, and the headache was naturally worse after the treatment than before I came in. But, some things have to get worse before they get better, but Oct 10 2019 was a bad, bad day.
Please don’t read this as I am a dude feeling very sorry for myself. I don’t. I have my perspectives in order. I am a very, very fortunate guy with some occasional headache in October 2019. But – I do blog about my weeks and this just happened to be part of a couple…
Storehanen (493m), Oct 11 2019
Friday: Anne was on her way up from Sogndal and signaled that she wanted to do a hike when she got to Sunnmøre. I figured that Storehanen in Moltudalen would be a nice afternoon hike before it got dark. My health condition slightly better and unless I’m down with maximum fever, a hike will always do me good.
Anne agreed, and we drove up to Moltuldalen and parked the car at the trailhead.
The plan was to hike up the south ridge and descend to Kvia.
We had a nice walk up to the top…
The top has no signpost, but we’re working on it. “We” as in the local trail committee, which I am part of. There is a sensitive issue here, as our committee and the Moltu community doesn’t agree about neither the name of the top nor the height. We’ll see how it goes.
In any case, it was a nice walk and now we could go home and enjoy our Friday evening.
Trip statistics: 4,2km, 280 vertical meters, 1h:17m
Muletua – Barmen (278m), Børa, Okla, Oct 12 2019
Saturday: It was a rainy and windy Saturday and the higher mountains didn’t seem attractive at all. The headache was gone, and life could hardly be better. So, I suggested a hike to Anne that I thought she would like very much: Mulevika – Muletua – Barmen – Børa – Okla – Golleneset. She had been to Muletua and Barmen before, but not across the whole coastal ridge.
We got a proper rain shower already when heading out from the trailhead and I had to get my rain clothes on. Anne was already dressed for the occasion…
The rain ceased when we got to Muletua and we got a nice view towards the sea.
Barmen was next – along a nice path.
From Barmen, we continued towards Børa, and here began a small nightmare. I had to lift Karma across fences – 6 times! Which was not the optimal exercise for a my neck and back. The dog weighs 30kg! So, if you have a heavy dog – this is NOT the route for you!
I tried not to let the stupid fences get to me. Well, it wasn’t the fences. They are there for a reason, but the lame solution to get people, but not dogs – across was terribly annoying.
The hike itself was mighty nice. I felt super-good and it wasn’t raining, and then we got to Børa.
We continued towards Okla, and the plan was that we would find a route down to the waterworks from there.
But Anne then said she wanted to hike down to the lighthouse at Golleneset. She really enjoyed this route, as I hoped (and excepted) she would.
Golleneset was a cool place. We would have explored it further, if it hadn’t started to rain again, which made the rock really slippery.
So, we decided to head back to the main road and follow it back to Mulevika.
Trip statistics: 7,9km, 450 vertical meters, 2h:24m
Pictures (Canon EOS RP/Iphone8) from the hike:
Sandhornet (909m), Oct 13 2019
Sunday: Finally – a really, really nice weather day. Clearly, we had to seek to the Sunnmøre alps, but not so high that we had to break a trail in the snow. Sandhornet was the obvious candidate – given its moderate height and its superb views.
For the first time, I drove the toll road from Barstad. This gave us a starting position at approx. 200m elevation. Furthermore, I wanted to descend along a different route and visit Rebbestadhornet along the way. I had previously been to Sandhornet 11 times, from all directions, but never visited Rebbestadhornet. It was high time I did…
The path up to Brekkesætra is really nice. Only goes to show that Sherpas are not strictly needed to build a nice path…
After passing Brekkesætra, we aimed for the ridge to Grøthornet.
Once on the high ridge, the views open up.
And eventually, we reached the top of Sandhornet. What a glorious view!
In all directions, majestic peaks rise…
After a nice stay on top, we continued towards Rebbestadhornet. It was quite cold on the mountain, so Anne decided to get going wearing her down jacket. I think she felt a bit silly about it. Unless you are in the high mountains of the world, you don’t hike with a down jacket. It’s like an unwritten rule…
From Rebbestadhornet, Vassdalstinden presented itself from its finest angle…
We continued down a marked path down to Barstadsætra.
Then we followed the gravel road down – the same road we normally ski in winter – back to the trailhead. This was a superb hike and without any headache, life was at its best. If this glory continued, I would be back at work early next week. Which I was…
Trip statistics: 9,7km, 800 vertical meters, 3h:18m
Pictures (Canon EOS RP/Iphone8) from the hike:
