I speak for all of us on the coast; ENOUGH bad weather!
Peaks visited:
| Peak | Height | PF | Location | WCP |
| Øyrahornet | 417m | 42m | Herøy, M&R, Norway | WCP |
| Sandvikshornet | 352m | 13m | Herøy, M&R, Norway | |
| Skåla | 184m | 497m | Herøy, M&R, Norway | |
| Nihusen | 438m | 340m | Skodje, Norway | WCP |
| Huldrehornet | 271m | 113m | Herøy, M&R, Norway | WCP |
| Lidafjellet | 200m | 47 | Herøy, M&R, Norway | WCP |
| Rjåhornet | 600m | 107m | Herøy, M&R, Norway | WCP |
| Leinebjørnen | 271m | 108m | Herøy, Norway | WCP |
| Rjåhornet | 600m | 107m | Herøy, M&R, Norway | WCP |
| Huldrehornet | 271m | 113m | Herøy, M&R, Norway | WCP |
| Storevarden | 430m | 430m | Herøy, M&R, Norway | WCP |
| Rjåhornet | 421m | 68m | Herøy, M&R, Norway | WCP |
| Skagetåa | 315m | 107m | Herøy, M&R, Norway | WCP |
Øyrahornet (417m), Sandvikhornet (352m), Skåla (184m), Feb 10 2020
Monday: I was tired after work and had no creativity in terms of hiking. So, I decided to push myself along a route that I’ve done several times before. Unfortunately, the 3-top route doesn’t include any pf100 tops but that was OK. This was all about getting a good start to a new week.
I drove to Tjørvåg with the intention to hike across Øyrahornet, Sandvikhornet and Skåla.
As we took the gravel road to Sandvikskaret, we would have to cross the river. And I wasn’t exactly looking forward to it when I heard the roar.
The jump isn’t very long, but you land on a slanted rock and you will fall into the river unless you a) don’t grab the tree or b) are a dog and continue moving when you land.
This Monday offered both rain and hail showers, but so far we had been spared. And it seemed that we would get to the top before anything nasty came our way.
We even had time to enjoy the views from the bench.
When we reached the top of Øyrahornet, it was very motivating to know that we would not go any higher. Because it was really windy up there…
We descended off-trail into Øyradalen and got our first shower before we got to the river.
The river crossing was slightly challenging here as well, as again – we would land on a slanted rock and a) hold on to the top of it or b) keep moving after landing. The crossing went well, and after a little while we stood on top of Sandvikhornet.
It was getting darker, but I knew that we could get across Skåla and back to the car without using the headlamp.
That sensation – when you’re on the last top, knowing the rest is downhill, there’s a car waiting at the trailhead and a warm shower back home – is impossible to get without getting “out there”. And while it’s not that sensation I’m doing all this hiking for, it feel SO GOOD every single time…
Trip statistics: 7,3km, 700 vertical meters, 2h:03m
Nihusen (438m), Feb 11 2020
Tuesday: After work in Ålesund, I drove to Skodje to hike Nihusen with my good friend Torill. I really looked forward to see her again, and have a long and good talk. The kind of talk you don’t get through texts or Messenger.
We started out with hardly any snow at all and got to “full winter” before we even reached the top.
It was nice to be back on Nihusen. I enjoy this top and the forest. And more importantly – Torill’s company. We’ve had some fun projects together in the past, including climbs to Romsdalshorn and Stetind.
We had so much to talk about that the hike was over “before I knew it”. Looking forward to our next hike together!
Trip statistics: 5km, 400 vertical meters, 1h:30m
Pictures (Canon EOS RP) from the hike:
Huldrehornet (271m), Lidafjellet (200m), Feb 12 2020
Wednesday: As Lo and behold! There was rain showers roaming the region, but my local area was in the clear. I decided to visit my local top Huldrehornet and see how much vertical gain I could squeeze out of a 271m high top.
Karma and I took the normal route from lake Djupvikvatnet and stopped a couple of times to make sure we still were “in the clear”. So far, so good.
Karma loved the fresh snow, which was only found on the upper part of the mountain.
Then, we did a steep, off-trail descent directly from the top and joined the path to lake Stemmedalsvatnet.
We continued down the service road until we reached the “Lidafjellet” signpost and headed across Lidafjellet. On Lidafjellet, I decided to head back up to Huldrehornet.
And a bit later, we were back again on the top. Karma seemed a bit confused. This was quite unusual.
For descent, we took a different route down to lake Djupvikvatnet and when we returned back to the car (via Djupvikhaugen), I had 600 vertical meters added to my “savings account”. But it took 9km of hiking to get it.
Trip statistics: 9km, 600 vertical meters, 2h:20m
Pictures (Canon EOS RP) from the hike:
Rjåhornet (600m), Feb 13 2020
Thursday: The snow just kept coming and by the time I was ready for my afternoon hike, I actually considered bringing the skis. However, it was just fresh snow right on top of the grass and rock. OK for ascent, hopeless for descent, and I decided to give Rjåhornet a try – on foot.
We started out in Djupvika, and the hike across the meadows was easy. Not a lot of snow.
But when we reached the long hillside leading to the top, it was a different ballgame. Karma was NOT happy.
So, I decided to plough for her. That was appreciated until we reached terrain where there was little snow here and deep, deep snow there. She tried to be clever and follow the “little snow” route, but didn’t quite understand how to read the terrain.
Higher up, the packed snow carried her weight…
… but not mine.
And eventually – and I have to say – this was one of the hardest hikes I’ve done to this top – we reached the summit.
At least, I could enjoy my own tracks down the mountain…
Trip statistics: 6km, 580 vertical meters, 2 hours
Pictures (Canon EOS RP) from the hike:
Leinebjørnen (271m), Feb 15 2020
Saturday: I skipped hiking on Friday. After working in Ålesund, I had to pick up Anne at the Vigra airport and I struggled with a tension headache that just didn’t let go. Besides, more snow had fallen and any hiking – even to the lowest of hills – would be a struggle.
But on Saturday, the weather was brilliant and the headache took a pause during my 3-hour work session early morning. Computer maintenance weekend, etc. And I had a couple of hours off before I had to be back on-line again.
Anne and I decided to drive to Leinøya to hike Leinebjørnen. It’s a short and easy hike and we started out from Frøystadskaret.
The path led us up to Vardeheida, which has the cairn, but not the high point.
It was a pure delight to see blue sky again…
We continued over to the high point on Leinebjørnen before we returned to Vardeheida.
At Vardeheida, we took a route down that I had not done before. We followed a vague path, but when the path seemed to go in the wrong direction, we got onto the ridge that would take us back to lake Svartevatnet – and eventually Frøystadskaret. A good start to the day!
Trip statistics: 3,7km, 290 vertical meters, 1h:14m
Pictures (Canon EOS RP) from the hike:
Rjåhornet (600m), Feb 15 2020
Still Saturday: After I had done what needed to be done at work, I decided to go on a solo hike to Rjåhornet. As I had skipped the Friday hike, I felt I “needed to make up for it”. As I didn’t know how much snow there was left on the mountain, I let Karma stay back home.
I took the route from Leikong, and it turned out that there wasn’t a whole lot of snow left. Karma could easily have come with me.
But this was Rjåhornet. Looking at nearby tops, it still seemed that skis was the best option.
Eventually, I reached the top of Rjåhornet for the 2nd time this week. Which is not a bad thing, as this is definitely one of my favorite mountains.
And the views are never disappointing…
Trip statistics: 6,2km, 620 vertical meters, 1h:32m
Huldrehornet (271m), Feb 15 2020
Still Saturday: After returning back home from Rjåhornet, I informed Anne that I would be doing one more hike – to Rjåhornet – with Karma. Anne was busy with watching some skiing competition on TV and probably didn’t hear a word I said.
Anyway, I took Karma with me and we went up the normal route from lake Djupvikvatnet.
From the top, I had a good view towards Rjåhornet – which I had just come down from. NOW, I decided to call it a day. I had 1160 vertical meters “in the bag” from today’s hiking, and given that my February goal is 550 vertical meters per day (average), I was “en route” again after skipping Friday hiking.
Trip statistics: 2,2km, 250 vertical meters, 35mins
Storevarden (430m), Rjåhornet (421m), Skagetåa (315m), Feb 16 2020
Sunday: The weather forecast for this Sunday was not good, but the start of the day wasn’t so bad. As Anne was returning to Sogndal, I quickly decided to drive to Nerlandsøya island and hike until it started to rain.
I decided to take the normal route from Kvalsund to Storevarden – via the service road leading to Teigetua. After a while it was time to leave the service road and follow the path up the mountain.
The summit was windy and after the summit picture, we took shelter behind the cairn.
As the incoming bad weather was still far out at sea, we continued towards Rjåhornet. note: This is not the same Rjåhornet top I normally go to…
From Rjåhornet, one has a grand view towards Skorpa island with the Keipen top.
Still no rain, and I decided to head over to Skagetåa. We took a short-cut which was both very steep and cumbersome. But still faster than following the normal path.
We followed the northwest ridge up to the top.
Again, we had a very nice view towards the uninhabited Skorpa island. I’ve been there 3 times, thanks to my colleague Vidar and his boat.
It was time to head back, and I planned to return to the trailhead via Hestinghornet.
After a while, I looked behind me, and here it came…
The rain – preceded by a hail shower – caught up with us before we reached Hestinghornet. Not pleasant, but from Hestinghornet it was only downhill and we increased our pace. It was very nice to get back to the car and turn the heater on.
I could only hope there will be better weather next week, although I have my doubts…
Trip statistics: 11,7km, 800 vertical meters, 2h:54m
Pictures (Canon EOS RP/Iphone8) from the hike:
