A proper afternoon hike!
| Peak/Place | Height | PF | Location | WCP |
| Snøhornet | 1309m | 716m | Ørsta, Norway | WCP |
Monday: The weather was gorgeous, and I had one of my best days in a long time. I wanted to celebrate both by a *proper* post-work hike. The choice fell on Snøhornet in Volda.
A 10,5km and 1150 vertical meter hike, starting just before 5pm this late in the season, requires a good pace. My overall plan was to get to be back at the car, 3 hours later. In case that was a bit too ambitious, I had some leeway. It wouldn’t start to get dark until 9pm.
I started out from Aldalsvegen and followed the gravel road past Hanebakken. I could see the top some 4km in the distance.
I found the stick that marks the forest path up Koppane. This path took us up to the forest ridge, where we turned right, followed a ledge upwards and passed point 490m on the south side. The next thing to do was to get on the proper southwest ridge by curving around a steep cliff.
For humans, this part of the route is trivial. Dogs have to put in some extra energy…
Eventually, we were on the ridge proper and could focus on picking the best route upwards. The path is easy enough to follow, but there is room for short-cuts. There is one cliff that can be a little tricky for the dog because its normally wet, but I remembered from my last visit that it is easier further left, up the steep grass.
After this section, I got the upper part of the ridge in view. I thought that the summit would be just a short hike from the top of the ridge, but I remembered incorrectly.
The upper part of the ridge is slightly steep and Karma had to put in some extra effort here and there.
Pace is good, but not if you don’t have time to take in the views…
When we reached the top of the ridge, the summit was not as close as I hoped for. But, oh well…
While I jumped from rock to rock, Karma didn’t find my route optimal, so she just took the shortest route between herself and daddy…
Eventually, we reached the summit at 6:32pm – 1h:42m after heading out. I had hoped a time closer to 1,5 hours, but that would not have been possible without some jogging here and there.
In any case, I would spend at least 5 minutes (which is a LOT to me) up here, enjoying the views.
Peaks I know well, in all directions…
I do recommend this route and this top. I’ve been here 3 times before – once along the same route and twice on skis via Litlesætra.
At 6:40pm, we were on our way down the mountain.
Downhill and few stops for pictures makes for a faster descent time and we returned to the car 7:46pm – 4 minutes ahead of schedule. I was mighty pleased with that – as well as the entire experience. It was a really, really nice afternoon hike!
Trip statistics: 10,5km, 1150 vertical meters, 2h:56m
Pictures (Canon EOS RP/Iphone8) from the hike:
