A fun week!
| Date | Peak/Place | Height | PF | Location | WCP |
| 12.10.2020 | Hesteggi | 907m | 149m | Sogndal, Norway | |
| 13.10.2020 | Djupvikhaugen | 98m | 29m | Herøy, M&R, Norway | |
| 14.10.2020 | Høgkubben | 450m | 62m | Ålesund, Norway | WCP |
| 15.10.2020 | Øyrahornet | 417m | 42m | Herøy, M&R, Norway | WCP |
| 15.10.2020 | Selsteinen | 598m | 90m | Herøy, M&R, Norway | WCP |
| 15.10.2020 | Slettheia | 553m | 49m | Herøy, M&R, Norway | WCP |
| 15.10.2020 | Sandvikshornet | 352m | 13m | Herøy, M&R, Norway | |
| 16.10.2020 | Skolma | 636m | 483m | Hareid/ Ulstein, Norway | WCP |
| 17.10.2020 | Haddalshornet | 611m | 103m | Ulstein, Norway | WCP |
| 18.10.2020 | Remøykammen | 184m | 41m | Herøy, Norway | WCP |
| 18.10.2020 | Vardane | 188m | 188m | Herøy, Norway | WCP |
Hesteggi (907m), Oct 12 2020
Monday: Still in Sogndal and still under a gorgeous blue sky.
After a very nice weekend with combined bike trips and hikes with Anne, I decided to go to Hesteggi after work. Anne decided to join in and we went to Kjørnes to hike the normal route to the top.
I truly love the Kaupanger forest. Open and friendly for off-trail hiking – except for an occasional cliff here and there.
After a while we passed the first viewpoint towards Sogndal.
Once out of the forest, we had much better views.
Eventually, we reached the top and could sign the visitor’s register.
I noticed that winter had come to the Hurrungane mountain range and realized I wasn’t quite ready for winter yet.
Having control of the amount of daylight left, we could spend a little time in the forest – just hanging around…
Trip statistics: 8,1km, 750 vertical meters, 2h:25m
Pictures (Canon EOS RP) from the hike:
Djupvikhaugen (98m), Oct 13 2020
Tuesday: Transport day, from Sogndal and back home to Sunnmøre. The weather was beautiful and I stopped below Bøyabreen glacier in Sogndalsdalen to let the dog do its thing…
This is not the worst place to spend 5 minutes…
By the time I got home, it was all dark.
The dog had to be walked, but all I had energy for was a hike across Djupvikhaugen…
Trip statistics: 2km, 80 vertical meters, 27mins
Høgkubben (450m), Oct 14 2020
Wednesday: Working day in Ålesund (Karma getting hot spot treatment at the Vet – again) and after work I drove to Blindheim to hike across Høgkubben.
The weather was just superb and due to limited daylight, I stuck to one of my regular loops.
From Blindheim, I have two possible ways to get to the mountain – a) via the gravel road or b) via the forest trail. Karma plain refuses to walk the gravel road and so I nowadays always hike up the forest trail and come down the gravel road. I am trying to think back if I used to run this route. I know that she hates all routes I had to run. I sort of have sympathy for that…
It was altogether a nice round trip walk, although not a very long one. But the important thing is to just get outdoors!
After the hike, we sat course for Sulesund and waited for the ferry. Oh, how I dream about a bridge or a tunnel to get across this fjord.
Even with a road instead of a ferry, I would still take the time to take pictures, on days like these…
Trip statistics: 5,3km, 400 vertical meters, 1h:20m
Øyrahornet (417m), Slettheia (552m), Selsteinen (598m), Sandvikhornet (352m), Oct 18 2020
Thursday: Today I would hike the new trail I’ve marked – between Øyrahornet and Selsteinen. But instead of carrying a backpack full of sticks, I only had the GPS (and a small backpack for survival – like always) so that I could measure the accurate distances. My previous tracks had too much “back and forth” to be trusted.
We started out at Tjørvåg and aimed for Øyrahornet.
The weather was not as good as the day before. Actually, there was fog on the local mountains – which was a “bonus” as I could test if my sticks still worked in foggy conditions.
Even with fog, there were nice views…
I could almost touch the sky…
After a while, I concluded that the sticks were “fog proof“. I could always see the next one ahead. That got me thinking … if a person doesn’t see the next stick, would that person conclude that the density of sticks so far would probably continue (i.e. per 50m) and continue walking in the logical direction until the previous stick could barely be seen – and THEN discover the next one? Or would that person just stand still and conclude that it’s not safe to continue? I guess the answer is “yes – all of the above“…
It was nice to descend from Selsteinen and get below the fog.
From the meadow below Selsteinen, I took a route towards Sandvikhornet that I’ve never done before. Off-trail of course, and not very pleasant either…
But all in all – a nice hike!
Trip statistics: 10,9km, 810 vertical meters, 2h:14m
Pictures (Canon EOS RP) from the hike:
WWF Fundraising Campaign, Oct 15 2020
Thursday: On the upcoming Sunday, there would be a giant charity campaign for raising money a worthy cause. This year, it was for WWF’s plastic pollution awareness campaign and given the current Covid-19 situation, the traditional door-to-door approach was not an option.
So, people think in new ways. Like creating a virtual “money bucket” on an internet web site and donating money that way. Everyone can create such a bucket, and Anne created one on behalf of Karma.
There were of course thousands of buckets, and people would normally donate to their own buckets, or to close friends. As such, there is a limit to what a single person can achieve. But, Anne said that if we reached NOK 4000,- she would take a swim in the Sognefjord.
And the money started to come in… (continued below)
Skolma (636m), Oct 16 2020
Friday: After work, I sat course towards Flø to hike Skolma. In addition, I would take a picture of Karma for the plastic pollution campaign…
And then we continued towards the trailhead…
I took the bike along the gravel road, as it’s quite boring to walk along it. And a little bit later, we reached the gate that marks the beginning of the Skolma route (from the Flø side)
The fog in the mountains still lingered on…
But the fog ain’t all bad. One can get some nice pictures too…
On the way up the mountain, I studied a rock formation that I had this weird interest in scaling. But it wasn’t apparent how I a) would get down to it and b) get on top of it. I like these small challenges. One day…
Karma was busy with her stuff…
Eventually, the fog was all around us.
The short stay on top wasn’t very memorable…
It was really nice to get below the fog again…
On the way back to the trailhead, I stopped by Hoksteinen – a huge rock that is popular for its bouldering routes on the back side. It’s not a difficult climb from the front side, but tricky enough for common people to produce some adrenaline. It’s been quite a number of years since I were up here the last time.
Getting UP is one thing…
Trip statistics: 10km, 630 vertical meters, 2h:09m
Pictures (Canon EOS RP) from the hike:
Haddalshornet (611m), Oct 17 2020
Saturday: There had been a sudden change in the weather, and hail showers made hiking to the higher mountains a risky business. At least for dogs…
I took the challenge and decided to pay Haddalshornet a visit. This time from Eiksund – a route I hadn’t done in a long time.
The hail had produced a tiny layer of white in the Sunnmøre alps.
The hike through the forest was sheltered and nice, but when we got above the forest we had to be ready for nothing and everything..
Some hail showers were just conveniently passing…
And after hail, there’s that light!
We made our way up to Haddalshornet without much drama, although a shower passed *close* by.
On top, we were in the clear, but I figured we should not stay here for long. We took the Havåg route down and got 0,7km along the Eiksund road – back to the car.
Darkness came quickly and there was this astonishing light behind Rjåhornet.
Trip statistics: 6,9km, 680 vertical meters, 1h:50m
Pictures (Canon EOS RP/Iphone8) from the hike:
WWF Fundraising Campaign, Oct 17 2020
Saturday: The “bucket” had reached NOK 4000,- and Anne had to take a dive into the Sognefjord – along with friends.
So, I figured I couldn’t be sitting still on this and announced that if we reached NOK 8000,- I would hit the fjord too… (continued below)
Remøykammen (184m), Vardane (188m), Oct 18 2020
Sunday: In short – big weather day. Had to head straight to the coastline to take on the beating and the reward – as in pictures.
First, we went to Kvianeset to check out the waves.
Then we headed up Remøykammen, wondering WHEN and not IF we would be hit by one of the showers.
We reached Remøykammen dry and witnessed a “surfing rainbow“.
But as we began the walk over to the island high point, a big rain shower came along. I was just happy that it was rain and not hail.
We reached Vardane dripping wet and found shelter behind the building. We waited until the shower passed before setting the course back to Remøykammen.
It’s fascinating to observe the weather from the coastline. But it also means exposing yourself to it.
Back home, the weather was more stabile and I could see that fresh snow had fallen on the Hareidlandet tops. That snow was not there yesterday!
Trip statistics: 5,8km, 375 vertical meters, 1h:48m
Pictures (Canon EOS RP) from the hike:
WWF Fundraising Campaign, Oct 18 2020
Sunday: It was the last day of the fundraising campaign, and … well, it wasn’t really, but today NRK had a Telethon covering it. I think the virtual buckets were open throughout the month, but *today* was what mattered.
When I got home after the hike on Remøy, there didn’t seem to be an immediate risk that Anne’s bucket would reach NOK 8000,- which meant that I would have to take a swim if we reached that number.
But then my colleague Vidar got engaged and I could see where this would be heading. So, I decided to take the swim while there was still daylight. I didn’t tell anyone though.
This was a smart move, because once it had gone dark, the bucket reached 8000,- and ended up on 8300,- when the day was over. It wasn’t a huge amount, but it was a contribution. And when you add all of the contributions, they had passed 220 million Norwegian Kroner. Hopefully, that money will come into good use for our planet.
which meant…
The water was cold. I don’t know the temperature, but the air temperature was 4 deg. C. But, I think I did it with grace…
