2020 Week 19

Sick Week #2 – shore week

Places visited:

Peak	Height	PF	Location
Fløstranda	–	–	Ulstein, Norway
Teigehaugen, Ytre Dimna	27m	21m	Ulstein, Norway
Småneset, Point 73m	73m	28m	Herøy, M&R, Norway
Osnessanden	–	–	Ulstein, Norway
Langeneset, Bergsøya	–	–	Herøy, M&R, Norway

Fløstranda, May 4 2020

Monday: Last week’s “toning it down“, combined with strenuous trail maintenance didn’t help on my condition. There was still some kind of virus or inflammation in my chest and I was easily fatigued. Other than that, I was just OK (no fever, no coughs, no running nose) and was able to work full days. But, as an effort to get back to my usual self, I decided that this week – I would only do shore walks.

And why not begin at Flø – the beautiful coastline outside Ulsteinvik. Today, I would bike from Gåsneset to Flø and then wander around along the shore. With no particular plan.

I quickly discovered that I really like the shore. I hate the sea, but the shore is just fine. And Karma seemed to enjoy herself too.

When we had a pair of Eurasian Oystercatchers ahead of us, it struck me that I should check the map. And yup – this was a bird sanctuary and the birds were nesting at this time of the year. I decided to make sure we were no distress to any birds along the beach.

And what a nice beach…

I made a mental note about doing more shore walks, also when not sick…

I especially enjoyed the ponds where the water was so clear that you couldn’t really see the water.

I decided that the molo would be our target for today.

Crossing the creek wasn’t easy, but we made it across without getting wet.

The plan was to return along the beach, but as I didn’t want to disturb the birds, we walked the main road back to the bike.

Trip statistics: 8,5km, 100 vertical meters, 1h:34m

Pictures (Canon EOS RP) from the trip:

Teigehaugen, Ytre Dimna, May 5 2020

Tuesday: Yet another red day in my “health log spreadsheet”. I wish I didn’t have to walk the dog, and just sleep. I mean, I *could*, but I would probably just think about the dog – boring itself to death. But, beach week it is…

So we took the trip to Ytre Dimna to check out some terrain where I’ve never been before.

The plan was to go to Kyrkjeneset and see “what’s up”. I wondered about the name, because there was definitely no church there.

I have to admit – it wasn’t a particularly nice shore walk…

But the forest ridge leading out to Kyrkjeneset was OK. And on the very tip was a place I could easily have spent a night in a sleeping bag.

We did some more wandering, and although Karma was busy with water moving, I got a bit bored. Besides, it was windy and it started to rain.

On the way back to the car, along a different route, we went across Teigehaugen – a screaming 27m above sea level, and felt like Mt. Everest at the time. But – it’s a hump and now I’ve been there!

Trip statistics: 3,5km, 150 vertical meters, 1h:08m

Småneset, Leinøya, May 6 2020

Wednesday: I don’t mind being sick, as long as I understand what the problem is. Give me a cold, a flu or something familiar. Even an inflammation in the foot will do just fine. But not THIS! What is it and how long will it last?

Today, I decided to walk the northwest shore on Leinøya. I had walked part of it before, but not all the way to Småneset.

It’s a nice walk. Not overwhelmingly exciting, but nice.

I wished that I could just go straight up to Grønelia, like the last time I was here…

But instead, I settled for this 73m high, unnamed hump. My 2nd Mt. Everest this week…

The terrain I had to cross to get to that hump was really obnoxious. And it was tempting to just continue to Sande, then follow the path up to Leinehornet, descend the west ridge and walk the remaining 1,1km back to the car. But that would just not be smart (given my health status), so I abandoned the idea and headed for Småneset instead.

It was nice to reach the tip, but now I had 2,2km along the shore, back to the car. That seemed like a really long walk, but I didn’t really have any other option. I decided to be thankful for the opportunity to “discover the shore” and go places I would normally never visit…

Trip statistics: 4,8km, 170 vertical meters, 1h:37m

Pictures (Canon EOS RP) from the hike:

Osnessanden, Ulsteinvik, May 9 2020

Saturday: Earlier in the week, I had to call Anne and ask her to help out with walking the dog. She came up on Thursday and relieved me from having to do after work hikes. I really appreciated that.

On Saturday, we took a trip into town to buy some things and stopped by Osnessanden – a place all 3 of us really enjoy.

Pictures (Canon EOS RP) from the beach walk:

Langeneset, Bergsøya, May 10 2020

Sunday: My “health log” cells changed from red to amber. Perhaps my 3 days of rest paid off. Time would show.

And then came the snow! Not for a day or two, which the month of May sometimes can offer, but for 8-9 days in a row! And the amount was staggering. Between Ålesund and Molde, up to 40cm of fresh snow was measured!

But the coastline on Sunnmøre is somewhat “spared” – as the snow melted as it hit the ground. At least at sea level. And at least in the beginning. But higher up, like Eidet between Ulsteinvik and Hareid – driving with summer tires felt like a game of Russian roulette.

The final beach walk this week would take place on Bergsøya island, with Langeneset as the goal. Another place in my local region where I’ve never been before. And the hike started out really nice.

Anne found the geology quite interesting…

But, something was building up at sea…

In the meantime, we enjoyed the details that the landscape had to offer…

And then we got hit by a proper hail shower…

The shower lasted for 10 minutes or so, and then it cleared up again.

Always have the camera ready when it’s clearing up…

We were in no hurry on our way back. The next hail shower was certainly not  around the corner.

We finished the walk with a nice view towards Runde…

Trip statistics: 3,2km, 90 vertical meters, 1h:22m

Pictures (Canon EOS RP) from the hike: