Quite a good week…
Peaks visited:
| Peak | Height | PF | Location | WCP |
| Rundevarden | 333m | 333m | Herøy, M&R, Norway | WCP |
| Rundebranden | 294m | 141m | Herøy, M&R, Norway | WCP |
| Sloktinden | 442m | 34m | Giske, Norway | WCP |
| Storhornet | 497m | 497m | Giske, Norway | WCP |
| Meraftafjellet | 578m | 578m | Skodje, Norway | WCP |
| Sulafjellet | 776m | 776m | Sula, M&R, Norway | WCP |
| Haddalshornet | 611m | 103m | Ulstein, Norway | WCP |
| Gjøna | 531m | 163m | Sande, Norway | WCP |
| Saursegga | 516m | 93m | Sande, Norway | WCP |
| Grøthornet | 298m | 50m | Sande, Norway | WCP |
| Breidfjellet | 535m | 72m | Ulstein, Norway | WCP |
| Sarshornet | 543m | 50m | Ulstein, Norway | WCP |
| Storebroren | 620m | 177m | Hareid/Ulstein, Norway | WCP |
Varden (333m), Rundebranden (294m), Jan 27 2020
Monday: The whatever-it-was virus-ish thing that kept me down the past week finally seemed to let go, and I felt fairly normal when I woke up this Monday morning.
After work, I joined Anne on her work trip to Runde island in the afternoon. She would inspect the paths up from Goksøyr, making notes about whatever needed to be fixed.
She let Karma and me off after the bridge. It’s now the way we do these Runde visits. Karma and I hike across the island high point (Varden), before setting the course towards Rundebranden via Sandshornet. And then meet up with Anne – somewhere…
It was nice to escape the rain for a change, and we had a nice hike up the mountain. Once we reached the ridge, the cliffs came into view. It’s a mighty sight!
It took us 35 minutes up to the high point. It was really nice to hike with terrain shoes again!
We descended down to the lakes (Sandvatna and Holmevatnet) before going up to Sandshornet.
I wondered where Anne was at. I gave her a call, but she didn’t answer. I went down to the top of Kaldekloven, where a guy told me that “a person in blue” was heading up Rundebranden. So, Karma and I went quickly up there and found Anne on top.
We descended via Raudtinden and it had turned dark by the time we reached Anne’s car at Goksøyr. This was a very nice start to the week!
Trip statistics: 7,8km, 600 vertical meters, 1h:55m
Sloktinden (442m), Storhornet (497m), Jan 28 2020
Tuesday: After work in Ålesund, I decided to drive to Godøya and – if I was lucky – witness my first sunset in 2020.
I decided to do the same round trip hike I did last year; from the school, across Sloktinden and Storhornet, down to Gjuv and back along the new gravel road. The time was 3:47pm when we were ready to head out (I left work a little early) and I really looked forward to get going!
Since I was here the last time, they had finished the rocky path up to- and across Sloktinden. I was mighty impressed with this work, and the result was superb!
I really, really love this island. There’s so many fun places to go. Like this route. Or the routes from Alnes or Gjuv. And not to forget the beach route between Gjuv and Alnes or the many cool off-trail scrambling routes on the west side. And Johan Skytt, of course – the rock above Alnes that will really test your comfort with exposure.
Looking down the ridge, I seemed to remember that I had done the entire ridge route, but it was so long ago that I will just have to repeat it.
Eventually we reached Sloktinden. And – I got my sunset…
We moved over to Storhornet where a small group of students were leaving as we came.
The time was now 4:37pm, and it would be fairly dark within 20 minutes. But I decided that I would make it all the way back to the trailhead without switching the headlamp on.
Better get going…
Oh, this was a nice trip. Back at the car, I was very thankful for the returned energy and the nice weather.
Trip statistics: 7,8km, 630 vertical meters, 1h:45m
Meraftafjellet (578m), Jan 29 2020
Wednesday: Another working day in Ålesund, and after work I decided to go for Meraftafjellet – the high point on Uksenøya island. This time – NOT along the forest paths but the off-trail routes I used to do when I lived in Ålesund (2006-2008).
I drove to Heggebakk and we followed the tractor road up to the large meadow.
From here, it was all off-trail up the forest. It was steep, but nice. No rain, no wind – just hard work. We reached the top 50 minutes after leaving the car.
The time was 4:37pm (the same time as when I was on top of Storhornet the day before) and I wondered if I was able to make it back without switching the headlamp on.
We took a parallel route down – a bit further west – and it was really dark in the lower forest. But once back on the tractor road, the headlamp was not needed and we returned to the car (5:18pm) without using it.
Trip statistics: 4,9km, 580 vertical meters, 1h:34m
Vardane/Sulafjellet (776m), Jan 30 2020
Thursday: Ålesund for the 3rd day in a row. Getting up at 5am 3 days in a row is just … hard! The working days are hard too, then I go hiking and it’s often 7-8pm before I return home. The hiking is voluntary of course, but the dog needs the exercise. No complaint though. I know how privileged I am, having an interesting job and the health to go hiking.
After work, I decided to hike to the high point on Sulafjellet. This time from Mauseid. It’s a long walk (11km in total) and I would get back home late if I didn’t push it.
Along the forest road to Rollonhytta (3,4km), I partly walked, partly jogged. But jogging with a 8kg backpack isn’t easy. What’s there to bring? Not much, really. But in addition to the camera, if I should take a fall and break a leg, I don’t want to freeze to death on the mountain. And then there’s some extra hardware; crampons, headlamp, GPS, phone, etc. Better be prepared…
The thin layer of snow was a delight to walk on, but just beneath the snow was ice. I better not forget that on the way down…
It took us 1h:15m to get to top. 4:50pm. Quite a leap from the 51 minutes it took in 2016. When I was young(er)…
One day, I’ll get back into running shape. It’s a goal…
We spent a couple of minutes on top enjoying the view towards Ålesund…
…and Hareidlandet. I actually made the 6pm ferry from Sulesund to Hareid!
When we left the top, I was determined to run all the way down. Carefully, though. The ice below the snow was dangerous. I took two falls before reaching Rollonhytta. I’m good at falling, it seems and got away with it. The time was 5:41pm when we returned to the car. No headlamp!
Trip statistics: 11,5km, 750 vertical meters, 2h:06m
Haddalshornet (611m), Jan 31 2020
Friday: The last day of the month! In the beginning of the month, when I realized that I would have a challenge in terms of the energy level and not to mention the weather, I decided that I would try to reach 500 vertical meters and 5km on foot or skis per day (in average) before the end of the month. That would mean 15,500 vertical meters and 155Km by the end of Friday.
So, how was I doing so far? Quite good, actually. On Friday morning, my stats read 15,020 vertical meters and 204,2km. I just needed mere 500 vertical meters to reach my goal and decided to “celebrate” on top of Haddalshornet.
I decided to do a round trip hike from Indre Haddal. The weather this week had been good so far, but now it was raining.
It was really tempting to go for the ultra-steep route (I’ve never heard about anyone else – except friends I brought along – going up there) up from Klungsdalen, but as I expected that there could be ice on this route. And I couldn’t remember if I ever brought Karma there. There is a very awkward section where I’m more happy when I have the ice-axe, so she’s probably not been there.
But, we found a steep enough route a bit higher up. Nothing dangerous, just steep.
And then we reached the top of Haddalshornet and I could “celebrate” having reached my “hairy” goal for January. 15,580 vertical meters. and 208,4km on foot and on skis. This was my 113th visit to this top.
For descent, we took the west flank. A route I’ve done many, many times.
Trip statistics: 4,3km, 560 vertical meters, 1h:18m
Gjøna (531m), Saursegga (516m), Feb 1 2020
Saturday: I DID celebrate my January achievement on Friday night and killed a handful of beers. That’s slightly above normal and I anticipated a slow Saturday. But, I got up at 7am feeling just fine.
After breakfast, I decided to pay Gjøna a visit and drove to Muren to do the straight-up route that I’ve grown to love since I discovered it in 2019.
The weather was hard to predict. It was raining when I drove to Gjerdsvika, but I hoped it would stop. Due to the steep route, I decided to bring my poles. Which I normally don’t – when not skiing.
I was a bit surprised to discover a fresh layer of snow above 300 meters. That said, the coastline weather should never really surprise me…
I enjoyed the steep ascent up from Muren. The poles really helped and it took us only 40 minutes to reach the top.
I now really looked forward to continue towards Saursegga. The thin layer of snow was delightful to walk on.
But I had to take it nice and easy in the steep drop down to the saddle.
I always enjoy looking back on Gjøna. It’s a fine peak…
I wasn’t really sure where I was going next, other than crossing Saursegga. Perhaps go to Haugshornet or even Nørdbergsheida. But I wanted to get some extra vertical meters, in order to get a good start of February, and the vertical meter/km ratio ahead of me wasn’t very rewarding and I decided to go for a second hike later on.
We continued to Hanen, where I decided to follow the marked route back to Muren (via Selhaugane) – a route that I’ve not done before. I was in a jolly good mood when we returned to the car.
Descen
Trip statistics: 6,8km, 700 vertical meters, 1h:58m
Pictures (Canon EOS RP/Iphone8) from the hike:
Grøthornet (298m), Feb 1 2020
Saturday: After the hike across Gjøna and Saursegga, I stopped in Gursken to buy some bananas and something to drink. Then I drove up to to Drageskaret to … just get some additional vertical meters. My initial goal was just up to Svedehornet and back.
From the trail, I had a good view towards the peaks that we just visited.
It was really nice to be back on a snowy trail!
We reached the top of Svedehornet (396m) which isn’t a real top and the maps refer to this point as Knottehornet. The signposts says Knottehornet is a different point. I am confused.
Then I noticed a marked path that went down in the direction of the lakes. I assumed this path would run across Grøthornet, and I knew that there was a path from Grøthornet back to Drageskaret. So, I decided to see where it would take us.
It took us down to the meadow between lakes Morkavatnet and Svartevatnet and clearly – continued up to Grøthornet.
On our way up to Grøthornet, it started to snow. Without the wind, it was just enjoyable.
From Grøthornet, we followed the marked route back to Drageskaret. Back at the car, I actually considered doing more hiking but ended up with driving back home. Better not overdo things. Don’t want to wake up on Sunday with no energy left…
Trip statistics: 4,2km, 300 vertical meters, 1h:05m
Breidfjellet (535m), Sarshornet (543m), Storebroren (620m), Feb 2 2020
Sunday: Today, I decided to go for Storebroren – the top on Hareidlandet where you’re most exposed if you run into bad weather. There’s no immediate escape off this top, and there was a fair chance that we could run into bad weather today. I still decided to take my chances.
I assumed the amount of snow would be the same as the day before. That was a wrong assumption. I also assumed we had a 10-11km round trip hike ahead of us. I was wrong about that too. In fact, we if I had known how strenuous this would be, I would not have taken it on.
The first part was quite OK. We followed the road up Midtflødalen, and then turned right on the road leading to Roppemarka.
Before we even got to the end of the tractor road, fog was upon us and it had started snowing. I decided to put the suit on Karma.
When we got to the Roppehornet – Trollvassegga saddle, we had been hiking for 3,8km and the weather didn’t seem to improve. That was kind of OK, though. I expected this to be a passing shower and I’d rather take the bad weather up front than getting it on Storebroren.
We reached the top of Breidfjellet, and so far, so good. Although we could have done without the wind…
As we sat course for Sarshornet, it started to clear up. I just hoped that it didn’t clear up too early. I know how weird that sounds, but we’re talking showers here…
And on our way to Sarshornet, the snow got deep enough to make progress much more strenuous than how it had been so far. On the upside, we now had Storebroren in clear view.
The final hill up to Sarshornet was tough, and I wondered if my plan for a full round trip was a bit too optimistic.
But it helped to reach the top of Sarshornet. Only one hill left before we stood on top of Storebroren…
As it was clearing up, we headed towards Storebroren with an optimistic mindset.
The 130 vertical meter ascent up to Storebroren was bloody hard work, but eventually we got there. I didn’t care at all about the fog coming back. And now we were on the most remote top on the entire Hareidlandet island (relatively speaking…). If we got a good whopping of snow and hail now, it would not be pleasant.
Fortunately, we just got fog and we plowed our way across Midtre (612m) and Nøre (605m) Broren before descending toward the Tørlingeskaret pass.
On Tørlingehaugane, I got the 5km Midtflødalen road in view and my energy was back. Karma was also tired. She initially laid down here, but got up when I told her that we would be taking a picture.
We moved on and I was quite happy when we finally were down on the road in Midtflødalen.
But 5km is 5km and we weren’t back just yet. But it surely helped to have solid ground below the snow.
Further down in the valley, we met other hikers. I chatted with some of them, and they seemed mind-boggled about my round trip hike. I still believed I only had hiked 10-11km and was shocked when I uploaded the GPS track back home. 17,5km is a “good walk” on a nice summer’s day. In deep snow, it’s a “bloody long walk”!
On the upside, it was a terrific hiking week! Fortunately, the virus is dead and buried…
Trip statistics: 17,5km, 870 vertical meters, 4h:15m
Pictures (Canon EOS RP/Iphone8) from the hike:
