A challenging week…
Peaks visited:
| Peak | Height | PF | Location | WCP |
| Signalen | 231m | 231m | Giske, Norway | WCP |
| Middagstua | 163m | 40m | Giske, Norway | WCP |
| Kongsvollen | 683m | 200m | Hareid/Ulstein, Norway | WCP |
| Huldrehornet | 271m | 113m | Herøy, M&R, Norway | WCP |
| Leinebjørnen | 271m | 108m | Herøy, Norway | WCP |
| Saudeskorene | 261m | 68m | Herøy, Norway | WCP |
| Nonshornet | 485m | 7m | Herøy, M&R, Norway | WCP |
| Sollia | 661m | 661m | Herøy/Sande, M&R, Norway | WCP |
| Sollia SE-1 | 598m | 50m | Herøy, M&R, Norway | WCP |
Monday: This was not a challenging week. Not only was the weather really shitty, but I was really *down* with something that had to be a virus. I call it the flu – but without the sneezing and the fever. Energy was really low. Every step from getting up in the morning to going to bed in the evening was a huge struggle. With all this in mind, the little hiking I got to do was very uneventful, except for the huge victory it was to overcome the fatigue.
In any case, there would be no hiking on Monday. The weather was AWFUL. The pouring rain came in from all directions due to the winds.
Signalen (231m), Jan 21 2020
Tuesday: The weather was BAD all day, and after a tough working day in Ålesund I pulled myself together and drove to Valderøya, with the intent to hike Signalen. I found some energy in choosing a route that was either new to me, or that I had completely forgotten about. After looking on the map, I settled for a round trip hike where I could not remember having visited the paths up and down the mountain.
I started out at Nordstranda, located on the east side side of the Valderøya island. The name was an oddity in its own right…
It was a fairly short hike to the top and as the wind was really strong, we found it best to seek shelter behind the summit cairn.
Then we hiked across Middagstua and descended towards Sætredalen valley. But instead of going into Sætredalen, we followed a vague path that took us in the direction of Blomvika. From here, we had exactly 2 Km back to the car.
Trip statistics: 5,1km, 330 vertical meters, 1h:13m
Kongsvollen (683m), Jan 22 2020
Wednesday: The weather was actually OK today and decided to visit Kongsvollen – the 2nd highest top on Hareidlandet island.
Getting up there, being so low on energy, seemed like a monstrous task. But, one step at a time would hopefully do the trick. The dog would be happy, and so would I – probably. Although I had this inner voice mentioning that resting is not overrated…
We headed out from the Ringstaddalen trailhead and followed the path up to lake Hundelaupsvatnet. Here, we could feel the wind. But it wasn’t strong and cold enough to go straight through my clothes, which made it easy to ignore.
It was amazing to see that there was hardly any snow left, but this is January on the Norwegian coast in this day and age.
Some colors on the sky gave evidence that the rain, hail and snow does not necessarily have to go on forever. I appreciated that…
I was really happy when we reached the top. A hike like this normally doesn’t cost me anything, and today Kongsvollen was Mt. Everest.
It was tempting to descend via the “Bukketrappa” (goat stairs) ridge, but due to some ice on the upper mountain, I decided that we should go back the same way. Bukketrappa is narrow and steep in places, and ice is not directly helpful.
I was very happy that I got to do this hike, although it didn’t come for free. I hit bed record early this evening…
Trip statistics: 7,2km, 660 vertical meters, 1h:58m
Pictures (Canon EOS RP) from the hike:
Osnesstranden, Jan 24 2020
Huldrehornet (271m), Jan 24 2020
Friday: The list of disappointments just grew: 1) I didn’t go hiking the day before because of extremely bad weather, 2) the bad weather continued and so I ended up with my local top Huldrehornet, 3) Karma was all of a sudden *limping* and I could not take her with me and 4) my general shape and form was just rotten. On the positive side, I wasn’t sick (as in SICK) and furthermore – Anne had come up from Sogndal and no matter what, we would have a nice weekend!
I went hiking just as it was getting dark, but made it all the way to the top before having to turn on the headlamp.
Life on Huldrehornet was not particularly fun, and I got off the top as fast as I could.
My return hike went across Lidafjellet and Dyrkyrkja – hoping that I had scraped together at least 5km, but I was 0,4km short…
Trip statistics: 4,6km, 340 vertical meters, 1h:08m
Leinehornet (366m), Saudeskorene (261m), Jan 25 2020
Saturday: Hiking a low local top on a Saturday is not what I normally do, but the weather didn’t invite for going any higher and besides, we had invited friends for dinner and had some preparations to do. As Karma wasn’t limping anymore, she was back in the hiking business…
I know that I’ve hiked Leinehornet from Sande before, but could remember anything from the hike and therefore I suggested that we should go from there. When we got to Sande, we didn’t see any path and I decided to ring a doorbell and acquire some useful information from a local guy.
The path started behind his house, and he told me that he was not happy about hikers going here, but “as we now were here”, it was OK. I didn’t bother asking why, as I already know the answer. I’ve heard it before. “We … just don’t like it“. Fair enough. On the upside, he let us park next to his house. We appreciated that.
It was very hard to figure out where the path went, but the guy was so kind to shout instructions from his front door. After some back and forth, we finally found the right path and were on our way up Sandedalen valley.
It was raining (of course) and the wind got stronger the higher we got. Still, I wanted this to be a round trip hike and asked Anne if she was okay with returning via Saudeskorene – defining the other side of the valley. She was okay with that.
Once on top, we appreciated the shelter that the large cairn could offer – before descending along the southeast ridge – along the path leading to Leinebjørnen.
Eventually we left the path and went off-trail in the direction of the high point on Saudeskorene. It had stopped raining, which was really good news.
And – we could enjoy a nice view towards Ulsteinvik.
We continued down the ridge, very off-trail and the terrain was simply not fun. But eventually, we made it down to the road and then back to the car. It was not our most memorable hike, but at least it was a hike!
The dinner with our friends was surely the highlight of the week. We had so much fun from the get-go at 6pm and until we parted 01:30am. Looking very much forward to go abroad with them in March.
Trip statistics: 5,3km, 500 vertical meters, 1h:54m
Pictures (Canon EOS RP) from the hike:
Sollia (661m), Jan 26 2020
Sunday: As Saturday night was nothing but big fun, Sunday was sort of doomed to be a downhill from the very beginning. But – my general shape and form was not as bad as feared, and at breakfast I told Anne that I would be doing a longer hike across Sollia. She didn’t have the urge to come along, but told me that she could pick me up, if I chose to descend a different route (leading me away from my car).
I drove to Tjørvåg (legally sober) and Karma and I followed the path in the direction of Nonshornet.
This is not a very enjoyable route, although I’ve marked the entire route myself. The terrain is just too wet and boggy. And although the forecast didn’t mention anything about rain, it started to rain…
Fortunately, the rain stopped after a little while.
Once we got to the top of Nonshornet, I realized that the rest of the hike would involve a strong wind. But not stronger than what we could deal with.
The little amount of snow left on the mountain was mind-boggling. But at least, it made hiking easy.
In the distance, I could see some rain showers that combined with a strong wind would make life utterly miserable for Karma.
We got to the top without any more rain and I gave Anne a call, letting her know that we would descend to Leikongeidet. If she could take my bike, go to Tjørvåg, pick up the car and meet us at Leikongeidet – that would be great!
On the way to Leikongeidet, we went across point 598m. Here, a hare ran for its life just a few meters away from Karma. The tone of my voice made a stronger impact than the need to chase the hare, and Karma stood still. Good girl!
We met Anne just below “Skaret” and Karma had picked up her scent “a mile away”. She was very happy to see “mom” again!
At Leikongeidet, I took the car while Anne biked home via “Lysløypa” (the lit ski track which was not suitable for skiing right now).
Back home, we enjoyed the leftovers from the Sushi dinner with our friends the day before. Yum!
My general shape and form had clearly improved the last 24 hours. I went to bed on this Sunday night, *hoping* that I woke up the next day feeling quite normal…
Trip statistics: 10,2km, 770 vertical meters, 2,5 hours
