Weather not totally hopeless – for a change…
Peaks visited:
| Peak | Height | PF | Location | WCP |
| Rjåhornet | 600 | 107m | Herøy, M&R, Norway | WCP |
| Sukkertoppen | 314m | 314m | Ålesund, Norway | WCP |
| Skolefjellet | 102m | 54m | Ålesund, Norway | WCP |
| Blåtind | 697m | 697m | Ulstein, Norway | WCP |
| Haddalshornet | 611m | 103m | Ulstein, Norway | WCP |
| Melshornet | 668m | 560m | Hareid, Norway | WCP |
| Nykelen | 555m | 19m | Vanylven, Norway | |
| Storehornet | 686m | 256m | Vanylven, Norway | |
| Vardehornet | 582m | 34m | Vanylven, Norway | |
| Årvikveten | 458m | 205m | Sande, Norway | WCP |
| Fyre | 389m | 66m | Sande, Norway | WCP |
Rjåhornet (600m), Feb 3 2020
Monday: Another week and the general shape and form had plummeted. Perhaps yesterday’s hike was a bit too hard? The week would show. But I’m used to that the form has been a roller coaster ride since December. But as long as I can get outdoors, there will be no complaints.
This afternoon, I set my eyes on Rjåhornet. I didn’t have the energy to make a longer drive, and it only takes me 5 minutes to get to the Leikong trailhead. It was definitely nice to start at sea level. Even though we live on the coastline, most hikes DO NOT start at sea level. But this hike did. Literally.
The path up the mountain was icy until we reached proper snow, but hiking on ice upwards is never a problem. On the way down, one can just walk next to the path.
Based on what I can see, winter seems to be coming back and that I probably should try to ski on Melshornet in Ørsta. That would be my first ski-trip in my local region this year.
There wasn’t a whole lot of snow on Rjåhornet, but where the wind had moved the it, there was plenty.
Even though we started as “late” as 4:14pm, I knew that we would get to the top and pretty far down before the headlamp had to come on.
The wind on top was so cold that I don’t think I would have survived the night if I had to sit down without shelter. The difference between 550m and 600m was mind-boggling. And while I just wanted to get to the top and back down, Karma had a mighty good time…
I’ll be honest. This hike was bloody hard. But I made it. I should probably have rested today, but I’m just not that smart. We’ll see what happens…
Trip statistics: 6,3km, 610 vertical meters, 1h:42m
Sukkertoppen (314m), Skolefjellet (102m), Feb 4 2020
Tuesday: I went to bed at 9pm, got up at 5pm the next morning (Ålesund day) and felt more tired than before going to bed. OK, it’s that kind of week – again. The weather forecast for the afternoon was not so good, so I was curious about where I would end up after work.
I ended up on Hessa island, with the plan to hike Sukkertoppen. The hike from Hessa school only “pays” 250 vertical meters and I figured I had to be “creative” to get some more into my “savings account”.
It was definitely a hail shower day, and while it can be painful to be in the midst of it, it’s quite rewarding to look for motives between the showers!
When we reached the top, we were between showers and it was really nice to be back on one of my favorite mountains.
My main goal for this hike was to see if there was a way I could Karma up the back side of Sukkertoppen. The “back side” route is called Trollråsa, and is a route I developed in 2006. The route was named after my former dog Troll, and the route is nowadays quite popular. But the upper part – connecting to the summit ridge is just too steep for taking a dog up there. But is there an alternative route? As I had forgotten how the terrain looked like in the cliffs facing Skarbøvika, I was curious to see if there was an alternative route.
And by the look of it, there seemed to be! I would require an ice-axe (even in summer), a rope and a harness for the dog. And I’m looking forward to try it out. The rest of the Trollråsa route doesn’t offer a problem – although quite steep in places.
I then noticed that the hail shower in Breidsundet came closer…
And soon after, we were in the “midst of it”. But these showers didn’t last for long, and pretty soon it had cleared up again.
We went down to the mast, then I took a different route (very, very off-trail) back up to the plateau. 100 additional vertical meters in the bag!
Afterwards, we followed the ridge all the way down to the main road, crossed it and visited Skolefjellet – a small forest top. I don’t think I’ve been there since 2006. Then I figured I had done at least 500 vertical meters and decided to call it a day. I still had some driving home to do. The time was 5:17pm and if traffic was gentle, I would make the 6pm ferry and be back home around 6:50pm. Long days. Voluntary long days…
Trip statistics: 6,2km, 520 vertical meters, 1h:49m
Pictures (Canon EOS RP) from the hike:
Blåtind (697m), Haddalshornet (611m), Feb 6 2020
Thursday: The weather the day before was so bad that walking the dog around the block was a totally miserable experience. No way I was going hiking!
But on Thursday, the weather was much better. It wasn’t even raining, and I decided to hike Blåtind. Anne was on her way from Sogndal, but I would be back home before she got there.
We started out from Havåg – my favorite route to this mountain – and we had a nice hike up the forest.
Once above the forest, we ran into fog – which seemed to be stuck on ~500m elevation.
But, as we continued upwards, the fog seemed to lift. Good news!
Unfortunately, the fog didn’t lift fast enough, so we had a little fog on top of Blåtind. But, as this was my 171th visit to the high point on Hareidlandet, it wasn’t so that I felt cheated of any views.
The week started out with low energy, but I felt a small lift in the energy level, and decided to visit Haddalshornet on the way down. It would be a fairly small detour, AND give me at least 100 more vertical meters. Which I would need, if I would make my February target of 550 vertical meters per day.
It was getting quite dark when we reached Haddalshornet, and the headlamp had to come on.
I was mighty pleased with almost 800 vertical meters, 2 tops, a certain rise in the form and knowing that Anne was “just around the corner”.
Trip statistics: 8,6km, 795 vertical meters, 2h:11m
Melshornet (668m), Feb 7 2020
Friday: I left my work place in Hjørungavåg a bit early, only to drive home, pick up Anne, drive back to Hareid, drop her off (she was heading for Trondheim) and drive back to Hjørungavåg to hike Melshornet.
The weather was gorgeous, and given the bad forecast for the weekend, I decided to “suck it all in”.
I decided to go for a round trip hike, starting from Kverngota, up Ovranakken and down to Pilskog. A loop I did for the first time in August last year.
I started out 3:47pm (35m above sea level) and tried to keep a good pace, hoping to get a glimpse of the express boat leaving Hareid – with Anne onboard. At 4:07pm, we reached Ovranakken (300m) and was able to take a picture of the express boat before it headed into Breidsundet.
The hike up Ovranakken is very nice, with the summit 2,3km to the west/southwest from the place you enter the ridge (the actual walking distance is 2,7km).
And the view towards Hareid is superb.
The sun shone its last rays on the Sunnmøre alps, and I took some pictures of the obvious landmarks.
The final ridge had snow, and if the snow had been hard, it would have required some form of crampons. But today, the snow was soft and offered no problems. The amount of snow had been a roller coaster lately. Last Sunday, I was up to my knees in snow while hiking across Storebroren. On Blåtind the day before, there was hardly any snow left.
Eventually, we reached the top – just before 5pm. And I was just able to get the sunset. As I fumbled with the camera, the sun had disappeared by the time I got my camera ready. But I saw the sunset! I swear…
My only goal now was to get back to the car without using the headlamp. It’s just a thing. Not important. We descended down to Pilskog, and it was pretty dark in the thickest forest, but we returned to Kverngota without pulling the headlamp out from the backpack.
All in all, a really, really nice hike!
Trip statistics: 7,3km, 670 vertical meters, 1h:11m
Pictures (Canon EOS RP/Iphone8) from the hike:
Nykelen (555m), Storehornet (686m), Vardehornet (582m), Feb 8 2020
Saturday: The weather forecast for this Saturday wasn’t great, but there was a “window of opportunity” for the first half of the day. As I wasn’t on duty and with Anne in Trondheim, I decided to go outside my local region and took the Årvika – Koparneset ferry to hike Storehornet in Vanylven. As I hadn’t been there since 2009, it was high time that I revisited this top.
I decided to start out from Ytre Strand, which was also where I headed out Oct 17 2009. Back then, I went across Nykelen, Storehornet, Trollevasshornet and Slettejora before descending via Kvitefjellet and down to Myklebust. Today, I planned to descend via Vardehornet (which I hadn’t been to before) and down to Tørla. That would give me more than 3km along the main road, but that was not to be helped. Unless I discovered a route through the forest?
The hike up the forest was nice. I like a steep ascent – straight on!
When we got on the ridge to Nykelen, it got really windy. Water from the river went straight up in the air!
And then rain started moving in. That was a bit early, if I remembered the forecast correctly. I assumed that it would get much rougher on top. I don’t like being “under attack”, but prefer that over “under siege” any day. As in – being stuck behind a cairn…
When we got to Nykelen, it was really windy, but I had the wind from behind and it didn’t bother me at all. And Karma seemed to be OK too.
The Storehornet summit was as expected – very windy and I looked forward to get off.
The rain seemed to move in from all directions.
Next stop was Vardehornet…
I had hoped the prominence of Vardehornet exceeded 50 meters, as I could then “check” another list on this new list that I’m following. But the vertical drop from the saddle to the top was only 34 meters. Nevertheless, it’s always nice to be on a new top or hump – whatever it is.
We took an off-trail course towards the top of the “recreation road” leading to Tørla. It’s originally an extended tractor road, but well above the forest – it serves no other purpose than to get people easier on the mountain.
I did NOT look forward to 3km along the road, but the dense forest was non-negotiable. BUT – in the last curve – before the road descends east towards Tørla, I noticed some orange paint on a tree inside the forest. And wouldn’t you know – there was a very, very neat path along the river (or creek).
Before we reached Indre Strand, I decided to follow the power line for a while. But that got way too cumbersome and I descended to the outskirts of the farms and found a vague path.
Then we reached fences, but fortunately – I didn’t have to lift Karma across.
Eventually, we reached the tractor road that I joined during my ascent, and followed it back to the car. The rain had now (almost) stopped, and that was very surprising. But when we got to the ferry at Koparneset, 15-20 minutes later – it started pouring down. For real! So happy to be inside the car!
Trip statistics: 9km, 815 vertical meters, 2h:22m
Årvikveten (458m), Fyre (389m), Feb 9 2020
Sunday: Another miserable weather day, but it was only raining and windy. Hail and wind is much worse. For the dog. I’m good in most weather, thanks to good clothes.
I noticed that the recent snowfall had hit the mountains on the north side, and so I decided to look for a route from the south. I ended up with the route to Årvikveten from Skredestranda, with an optional round trip hike if the weather didn’t turn for the worse.
There was quite a bit of snow on the road across Drageskaret, so I was very curious about how much snow I would find on the mountain.
It started nice and easy, with a vague but OK route up the forest.
Above the forest, Veten came into view and I found that there wasn’t a whole lot of snow up here. Hardly anything to mention.
We reached the windy Årvikveten and I had to figure out where to go next.
My first thought was going to Svedehornet, descend to the lake and hike back on the far side of the lakes.
But I changed my mind and decided to descend to Oksavik via Torsethornet and Fyre. This route would give us 2,5km along the main road at Skredestranda, but I was OK with that.
We had quite a nice hike along Rovdefjorden.
We stopped by Keipen before setting the course towards Fyre.
Fyre was actually a detour, given that we were heading for Oksavik, but Karma hadn’t been there and I welcomed the extra vertical meters. Actually, I wanted to go all the way to Laupsnipa and descend to Voldnes, but what would I do then? The beach was a possibility, but that would take many hours.
We reached the top of Fyre (weird name) and could take a look back at the tops we’d been to earlier on the hike.
Then we sat course for Oksavik and knowing that the “payment” was 650 vertical meters on this hike, made the walk along the road back to the trailhead quite enjoyable.
Trip statistics: 10,7km, 650 vertical meters, 2h:36m
