Sick Week #1 – spiraling downward
Tops and places visited:
| Peak | Height | PF | Location | WCP |
| Ulsettua | 389m | 261m | Ulstein, Norway | WCP |
| Huldrehornet | 271m | 113m | Herøy, M&R, Norway | WCP |
| Rambjøra | 132m | 109m | Herøy, M&R, Norway | WCP |
| Huldrehornet | 271m | 113m | Herøy, M&R, Norway | WCP |
| Myrvågneset | – | – | Herøy, M&R, Norway | |
| Hasundhornet | 533m | 93m | Ulstein, Norway | WCP |
| Vasseidet | 162m | 69m | Herøy, Norway | WCP |
| Remøyfjellet | 188m | 188m | Herøy, Norway | WCP |
| Remøykammen | 184m | 41m | Herøy, Norway | WCP |
Ulsettua (389m), Apr 27 2020
Monday: As mentioned in last week’s trip report – I was on a downward spiral after some very nice ski-trips in Sogndal. It was clearly a “too much, too soon” issue, after being sick during Easter. Even in these Corona times, I had still no idea what was wrong with me, but decided that this week – I would only do minor walks. A couple of easy days and voila – back to normal. It sounded like a good idea at the time…
So, today I would do a mixed hike and bike trip, by hiking from Kvammen to Engjaskaret via Ulsettua (which I hadn’t been to this year) and then bike the road back to Kvammen via Alme and Almeskaret. Hence, I had to drive to Engjaskaret first and leave the bike there.
Then I drove to Kvammen and we headed up the forest road to Almeskaret.
The walk up the birch forest was nice. I made sure to take it nice and easy.
When I got the Vartdal mountains in view, I noticed a route to Liahornet that I hadn’t thought about before. I’ll make sure to check it out come summer!
Then we reached the upper ridge and could set course towards the Ulsettua high point.
Nice as it was here, I’d rather be hiking a higher top – like Kongsvollen. But, one step at a time. Need to get well again first.
And then we stopped by the high point (which is a little away from the path)
There is plenty to rest your eyes on from here.
And the Sunnmøre alps are not only calling my name. They are screaming…
We moved on, first aiming for the unnamed 276m top northeast of Ulsettua.
I also considered hiking Melshornet today, but as I wanted a round trip it became Ulsettua instead.
The last hump before Engjaskaret was Ramnfloget (206m).
Given the 5,7km back to the car, I was SO GLAD I had brought the bike. It’s a nice trip along Vartdalsfjorden, but it quickly gets a bit boring on foot. I know from experience.
The views makes this road less boring –
Eventually we reached Alme –
– and could begin the final 140 vertical meters up to Almeskaret, from where there would only be downhill to the car.
Trip statistics: 5,4km, 600 vertical meters, 2h:07m
Huldrehornet (271m), Apr 28 2020
Tuesday: The trip across Ulsettua the day before was nice, but probably not what the Doctor would have recommended. So, I decided to spend the next days in the forest, relaxing myself with some trail maintenance. It sounded like a good idea at the time…
I went to one of the Huldrehornet paths which is in most need of maintenance and continued where I left off last year. The clue is to rip the bush out with the roots and all, otherwise they’re just back next year.
It’s quite hard work. These tangled juniper roots can be quite stubborn. But little by little, we get there…
I was quite tired when I decided to call it a day and return to the car via Huldrehornet. Rjåhornet – one of my regular hikes seemed like a distant dream, given my current condition.
But I could still allow myself some fun on the back side of Huldrehornet. Lots of nice scrambling here, and Karma is bright enough to find her own way.
This is NOT how I wanted to spend such a nice day, but OK…
Trip statistics: 3,4km, 260 vertical meters, 1h:50m
Rambjøra (132m), Apr 29 2020
Wednesday: Odd enough, I felt better last evening after the trail maintenance. If this is what it takes, then fine by me. At least, I sounded like a good idea at the time…
The path up to Rambjøra is also in serious need for maintenance, as parts of the path is hardly visible due to bush on steroids. I aim to do something about that…
Autostrada in spe…
When we got to the top I was too tired for a round trip hike and so we went back the same way.
Trip statistics: 2,6km, 140 vertical meters, 2h:15m
Huldrehornet (271m), Apr 30 2020
Thursday: I was no longer so sure that the trail maintenance was helpful in getting well again. But OK – one last time this week…
After spending a couple by the house, seeding my small lawn, I went back to the Huldrehornet forest to continue on the trail maintenance work. I don’t do many meters at a time – perhaps 50, but the most important things is that the bush isn’t coming back – for a long time.
Afterwards, we went up to Huldrehornet and took the steep route.
Back again…
This was the last of the sunny days this week. I wondered what the rest of the week had in store for me – both in terms of weather and activity – alternately lack of…
Trip statistics: 3,3km, 260 vertical meters, 1h:26m
Myrvågneset, May 1 2020
Friday: And then came the rain. A perfect opportunity to take it down a notch. Ideally, I should be spending as much time in bed as possible, but with full time job, a dog and a blog (hey – that rhymed!) it’s pretty much non-stop from 7am until 22-23pm. I’m starting to realize that it can take a bit of time before I’m back to my usual self again.
As I wasn’t going to any top or maintaining any trail today, I might as well walk the dog in a part of my neighborhood where I haven’t been before.
First, I walked from home to Skyttenesvågen, where I wanted to check if I was able to get over to a small islet, now that the tide was low. That wasn’t possible.
I then realized that I’ve actually spent quite some time in these waters, back in 2011 when I was kayaking all over the place. I haven’t been in my kayak since I got Karma in 2013 and I made a mental note to do something about it.
Then we walked towards Risnesholmane and here ended the vague path that I had been following so far.
Clearly, this is where I should have turned around. Instead, we ended up in very cumbersome, wet and boggy terrain at Rissneset. Surely a place I won’t be returning to…
But Karma got her walk, which was the most important thing…
Trip statistics: 4,3km, 80 vertical meters, 1h:04m
Hasundhornet (533m), May 2 2020
Saturday: As of yesterday, my “health sheet” (Excel) rows had changed from amber to red. My last green row (feeling fine) was April 23 and by the looks of it, it would be some time before I could pick that color from the palette again. No sense in pondering what’s the cause. The symptoms are just weird.
Hasundhornet is a top I typically walk when I shouldn’t be doing any hiking at all. It is a very gentle round trip hike, which I even think I could do with a broken leg…
The weather wasn’t too bad, although the higher tops were fogged in. At least, the town Ulsteinvik offers a nice view.
And Dimnøya too. Lot of nice walks on that island.
It was altogether quite an uneventful walk, but the most important thing was to walk the dog. Before I hit the bed again…
Trip statistics: 5,6km, 270 vertical meters, 1h:20m
Pictures (Canon EOS RP) from the hike:
Remøyfjellet (188m), May 3 2020
Sunday: The new plan was simple: rest, sleep, eat and walk the dog.”Downward spiral” was no longer the right term. There was no spiral any longer and I had reached rock bottom. Relatively to myself. I don’t mean any disrespect to those who does not have the privilege of taking a walk. The body screamed for rest and so I decided to walk the dog along some shore. That was the plan. It sounded like a good idea at the time.
I drove to Remøy island, parked the car down by the main road at Sævik and followed the path towards lake Storevatnet. The goal was to get down to Terneneset, which doesn’t quite qualify as a “shore walk” as I had to ascend at least 100 vertical meters before I could begin my descent to the shore.
But it was fun terrain, and I found an easy route down in the steep terrain.
Now what? I enjoyed being outdoors and decided that there was plenty of time in my life to rest and continued up to Vasseidet (163m) where we had a decent view towards Runde island.
Happy dog, happy dad…
Now that we were here, we couldn’t leave without visiting the high point – Vardane (188m).
Once there, I decided to walk over to Remøykammen (184m) and see if I could find a new route down to the main road. I could always descend the east ridge, but that would mean a longer walk along the road than I cared for.
0,4km before the top of Remøykammen, I noticed a distinct path down the forest. I decided to come back here after visiting the top.
Runde island is pretty cool from up here…
Then we went back to the forest path I had discovered, and it took us down to close to the bridge. With only 1,6km back to the car. Tolerable!
470 vertical meters was definitely not a “shore walk” and I had a feeling I would pay the price for this hike. That turned out to be a correct presumption, but more about that next week…
Trip statistics: 9,3km, 470 vertical meters, 2h:50m
Pictures (Canon EOS RP) from the hike:
