2020 Week 44

Another week with local hikes and OK weather

On the way to Skolma, with Sula island in the background

Index

Date Peak/Place Height PF Location WCP
26.10.2020 Røddalshorn 563m 100m Sande, M&R, Norway WCP
27.10.2020 Sukkertoppen 314m 314m Ålesund, Norway WCP
28.10.2020 Øyrahornet 417m 42m Herøy, M&R, Norway WCP
28.10.2020 Sandvikhornet 352m 13m Herøy, M&R, Norway  
29.10.2020 Rjåhornet 600m 107m Herøy, M&R, Norway WCP
31.10.2020 Skolma 636m 483m Ulstein/ Hareid, Norway WCP
31.10.2020 Signalhornet 627m 83m Hareid, Norway WCP
31.10.2020 Flatfjellet 618m 29m Ulstein/ Hareid, Norway WCP
01.11.2020 Blåtind 697m 697m Ulstein, Norway WCP

Røddalshorn (563m), Oct 26 2020

Our route up and down Røddalshorn

Monday:  In a hurry after work to get up and down Røddalshorn before dark. The weather was very different from one week earlier. The temperature was mild and all of the snow on the island had melted away.

At the Røddalshorn trailhead near Leikongeidet

Also in the Sunnmøre alps, the snowline was *considerable* higher than last Monday.

The Sunnmøre alps near Ørsta

I didn’t mind though. I’m not fan of anything mid-between no snow and perfect skiing conditions.

Entering the summit ridge

I wonder if Karma was thinking “hey…?” when we reached the top…

Røddalshorn, 7 days apart…

Once back down I wanted to let Karma run as she seemed to have a lot of built-up energy. I took the bike out of the car and did a 2,9km loop along the lit trail – giving Karma a “run for her money”. She seemed very pleased.

Along the lit trail

Trip statistics: 4,7km on foot, 2,9km on bike, 500 vertical meters, 1h:15m

Sukkertoppen (314m), Oct 27 2020

Our Sukkertoppen tracks

Tuesday: Ålesund day and in the morning I discovered a nasty hot-spot on Karma’s back. It was discovered early and hadn’t been developing for long. To be on the safe side, I drove to Kjæledeggen dyreklinikk where the Vet shaved her and started the initial treatment, which I would continue by myself.

After work, I drove to Hessa to hike Sukkertoppen. I was not in a mood to drive any further for a hike – being tired after a long day (up at 5am and little sleep). We headed straight up the forest ridge above the Hessa school. I’ve never seen anyone in this part of the forest. And I’ve been to Sukkertoppen a lot!

On the forest ridge above Hessa school

The route is fun and offers a little bit of scrambling for Karma.

No problems here…

We also have a good view towards Skarbøvika from this path.

Skarbøvika

And some more scrambling

Giddy up, girl…

Eventually we reached the top. I do understand why so many love this top. I am surely one of them, but for more reasons than just the view.

On top of Sukkertoppen

As it wasn’t totally dark yet, we headed down to Trollråsa where I once again wondered when I would take the step and try to get Karma up this route that I developed back in 2006. The entire route is a piece of cake for her, except for the very last part where many humans would put grace aside just to get up.

Breidsundet view above Trollråsa

On the way down I stopped for a final picture and realized that we would have to really move on in order to avoid using the headlamp. Down in the forest, I met Olav – a former colleague and (still) mate. We chatted until it was dead dark but with such little distance left to the main road, the headlamp stayed in the backpack. Nice revisit!

Ålesund – final view

Trip statistics: 3,4km, 360 vertical meters, 1h:18m

Øyrahornet (417m), Sandvikhornet (352m), Oct 28 2020

Our route across Øyrahornet and Sandvikhornet

Wednesday: Another insanely busy working day, but was able to take a break 4pm. As I wanted to hike in as much daylight as possible, I drove to Tjørvåg (a 5 minute drive) to visit Øyrahornet and then take it from there.

On our way to Øyrahornet, for who knows which time this year…

We stopped at the bench below Øyrahornet summit for a picture. I’ve lost count of how many pictures from this place I’ve posted. I just *love* the view.

Øyrahornet bench view

When we got to the top, I decided to continue to Sandvikhornet. If I kept a good pace, there was a good chance that I could make it back to Tjørvåg without using the headlamp. Don’t ask why. It’s just a … thing.

On Øyrahornet

I am no fan of the meadow between the two tops, but we’ve got multiple requests about marking a route here. I discovered today that this route has at least one big fan, as I could clearly see a vague, vague track. Who knows, one day we’ll develop this route.

When we got to Sandvikhornet, it was pretty dark but knowing the path inside and out I was able to get down without any problems. And it was *pitch dark* when we got back to the car.

Coastal view from Sandvikhornet

Trip statistics: 6,2km, 500 vertical meters, 1h:22m

Rjåhornet (600m), Oct 29 2020

Our route across Rjåhornet

Thursday: Yet another busy working day. Between Oct 20th and Nov 20th, I worked 6 weeks worth of hours. But walking the dog and clearing my head is a sacred thing and things would simply have to wait.

Today, we hiked from Leikong – aiming for Rjåhornet. We took the path from the church, one that has becoming a favorite. At least up the mountain. I always try to make round trips, and especially on this mountain. We took a quick stop at Bakkehammaren before moving on.

At Bakkehammaren

The weather was holding up, but not guaranteed to stay that way. As long as we could get to the top without rain, I was happy enough.

So far, so good

And we did reach the top before the rain sat in! I think this was our 15th visit to this top this year…

On top of Rjåhornet

But the rain sat in just as we were leaving. I decided to descend via Sletteheidane and Bakkeelva river. Luckily, it was only light rain and the wind was not too bad.

Let’s get out of here…

Trip statistics: 6,5km, 600 vertical meters, 1h:26m

Skolma (636m), Signalhornet (627m), Flatfjellet (618m), Oct 31 2020

Our route across Skolma

Saturday: Anne came up the day before and I prioritized a nice afternoon nap over hiking. Anne took Karma for a walk, and it was all good.

Today, we drove to Brandal to hike Skolma via the Saudebønakken ridge. I looked forward to show Anne this nice route.

Saudebønakken ridge ahead

We drove up to the trailhead in Ytredalen, from where we’ve hiked many times. But instead of going up, I was leading on – down. Then we crossed through a forest that Anne immediately fell in love with.

A pretty, open forest below Saudebønakken

After a while, we hit the trail coming up from Brandal and Anne loved the route too!

On our way up Saudebønakken with Brandal below us

Once we reached the normal route from Ytredalen, the hike got a little bit more boring. But, on the good side, we were together and it wasn’t raining.

On top of Skolma

We enjoyed the views from the top for a minute before moving on towards Signalhornet.

Molladalstindane

Signalhornet has a pretty impressive cairn. No doubt about that!

On Signalhornet

The idea was to descend now, but as neither Anne nor Karma had been to Flatfjellet before, we just had to visit that top too. Karma seemed to understand that this was brand new territory

Karma, aligning her internal map with the landscape…

Then it was time to move on. We had invited a couple of good friends for dinner and wine. Lots of wine, actually. It was a really fun evening! All according to current Covid regulations.

Heading down to Brandal

Trip statistics: 9,2km 705 vertical meters, 2h:42m

Pictures (Canon EOS RP) from the hike:

Blåtind (697m), Nov 1 2020

Our route across Blåtind

Sunday: There was initially nothing good about the first day of November. I had a little headache from the night before, but it was all well worth it. I was up at 8am and felt that I would survive this. But more importantly, I had now only 3 months left before I had to deliver a huge set of software to the project that has kept me very busy for a while. And I was NOT ahead of plan, without that being my fault…

After breakfast, we decided to go to Blåtind – via the Svenskevegen route. In short, it’s 2km warm-up along the fjord, then 700m *straight up*. Just what you want “the day after”.

Initial optimism…

I think Anne thought she was in better shape than she actually was, because she was moving really slow. After a while, I knew where this were going and I realized that there would only be two of us on top.

Karma has discovered water and got hypnotized…

And sure enough, at the bottom of the “monster hill“, Anne decided to turn around. I gave her the car keys and headed up the forest with Karma.

“Monster hill” ahead

At 400m elevation, we passed Eiksundsætra. Only 300 vertical meters to go!

Passing Eiksundsætra. Blåtind above

Fortunately, the weather was OK. Otherwise, it would have been really nasty on the windy ridge we were following upwards.

View towards Kongsvollen

And then we were up!

Karma on Blåtind

I called Anne and she had just made it back to the car. I asked her to wait for us in Ringstaddalen and headed down the mountain in a pretty good pace.

I can see that Anne has arrived (parking down to the right)

When we got to the car, Karma acted like she had not seen Anne in … forever. Amazing…

Reunited! Happy days!!

Trip statistics: 6,5km, 750 vertical meters, 2h:05m

Pictures (Canon EOS RP) from the hike:

Leave a Reply