A complete trip around lake Myrkevatnet in Vanylven
| Peak/Place | Height | PF | Location | WCP |
| Skoratinden | 1002m | 334m | Vanylven, Norway | WCP |
| Fossanipa | 906m | 108m | Vanylven, Norway | WCP |
| Myrkevassegga | 881m | 135m | Vanylven, Norway | WCP |
| Storhornet | 867m | 144m | Vanylven, Norway | WCP |
Sunday (week 36): Today, I surprised myself by planning a round trip hike in Vanylven with a not-so-good weather forecast and lots of fog. But, I was feeling fine after 3 “orange” days with fatigue, chest pressure and “stress“, in lack of a better word.
The plan was of the kind where I could abort the hike after each top. As such, no pressure. That’s what was I thinking on the Årvik – Koparnes ferry. looking towards the foggy Skoratinden.
The drive around Syvdsfjorden was nice, as the fog added more drama to an already dramatic mountain. Which – was NOT the mountain I would be hiking today. That would be neighbor tops.
There were signs of blue sky, and I had good reasons to be optimistic about the weather turning to the better.
But, when I drove up the Årskogdalen valley, Skoratinden – the first top – was still covered by fog.
I didn’t want to drive all the way up the upper parking (455m), finding the road a little too rough for my taste. I was surprised when I found 3 cars up there.
Then we were ready for a – hopefully – long and good round trip hike!
Next, we headed up the valley and I wondered where the path up the slabs would be. As there was a path, I had no doubts that the ascent would be easy, although it looked steep ahead of us!
The slabs didn’t turn out to be a problem and soon we were up by lake Myrkevatnet (665m) – also known as Skåravatnet/Skoravatnet.
From the lake, it was a less exciting transport leg up to the top of Skoratinden – also known was Rovdehornet.
But when the first top was “in the bag” and no rain had fallen, my mood was excellent. I didn’t care about the fog that didn’t seem to let go.
The next goal was Fossanipa, which is almost a “bonus top” if you’re already hiking Skoratinden. And now, the fog seemed to let go!
However, when we reached the top, the fog was back again and we just carried on down on the other side, where I had never been before.
The plan was now to get to Myrkevassegga, and this meant crossing two rivers. The first one (the river from lake Litledalsvatnet) was easily crossed on a bridge. The second (creeks from Myrkevassegga) was not really a river although the waterfall looked semi-decent. In any case, the crossing was super-easy and soon I was on my way up Myrkevassegga.
And finally, the fog was letting go.
It was nice to be back on Myrkevassegga – by choice! The last time I was here (on skis), I made a navigational error and had course for this top instead of Høgenipa.
So far, everything had gone according to plan. Only one top to go – Storhornet. But first, I had to find a way to get off Myrkevassegga. I had to follow the ridge 1,3km SW before I found a place to descend.
Next followed a 2,7km off-trail ascent up to Storhornet, and up there, the fog was back.
I knew there was a second route that would take me down to the upper parking, but it was not on the map and I didn’t remember where it went. I just sat the course directly towards lake Myrkevatnet (in thick fog) and found the second route down by Riddarbu.
When I returned to the car I felt I had done a really long walk. After all, I had been to 4 pf100 tops! But looking at the numbers, they were the same as if I had hiked a regular peak in the Sunnmøre alps. In any case, what is important is that I had a fun hike all the way, and so did Karma by the looks of it.
Trip statistics: 12,2km, 1200 vertical meters, 3,5 hours
Pictures (Canon EOS RP/Iphone8) from the hike:
