The blessed weekends (with daylight)
| Date | Peak/Place | Height | PF | Location | WCP |
| 07.12.2020 | Hasundhornet | 533m | 93m | Ulstein, Norway | WCP |
| 08.12.2020 | Mosvarden | 553m | 50m | Ulstein, M&R, Norway | |
| 09.12.2020 | Breidfjellet | 424m | 56m | Ulstein, Norway | |
| 10.12.2020 | Garnestua | 653m | 415m | Ulstein, Norway | WCP |
| 11.12.2020 | Sollia | 661m | 661m | Herøy/Sande, M&R, Norway | WCP |
| 12.12.2020 | Melshornet | 807m | 564m | Ørsta, Norway | WCP |
| 13.12.2020 | Nørdbergsheida | 509m | 75m | Herøy, M&R, Norway | WCP |
| 13.12.2020 | Storetua | 592m | 249m | Sande, Norway | WCP |
Hasundhornet (533m), Dec 7 2020
Monday: Another incredibly busy working day. I wasn’t able to log off until 17:15 (and I don’t start 9am!) and by then all my creativity (in terms of finding a fun hike) was all gone.
The easy way out of the problem was to hike Hasundhornet. The idea of seeing the city lights was somehow comforting.
I tried to take a picture of Ulsteinvik on top, but it didn’t came out as I wanted it to. I am not a photographer, and I like to blame it on the wind.
We took the same round as when Anne was here. Nothing exciting to report…
Trip statistics: 3,6km, 250 vertical meters, 0h:50m
Mosvarden (553m), Dec 8 2020
Tuesday: Once again I returned to the hills around Ulsteinvik, this time aiming for Mosvarden. I had brought the bike and we started out at Varleitet. There was a fantastic red glow out in the ocean, but it was almost impossible to capture it handheld.
I biked 4,2km to lake Litlevatnet where I left the bike. The uphill from Varleitet was torture but I refused to get off the bike.
Next followed a 2,1km hike across Skeidsnakken and up to Mosvarden. Karma was clearly having a ball, being all over the place within the allowed perimeter.
On our way down, I decided to jog, didn’t pay attention and was on my way down a different route that also would take us back to Varleitet. Which was fine, except that I had to get my bike.
Getting back on track was quite cumbersome, but costed me only 100 extra distance meters. Back at the bike, I was quite ready for a 4,2km bike-trip back to Varleitet (and another evil uphill)
Trip statistics: 4,2km on foot, 8,4km on bike, 500 vertical meters, 2h:02m
Breidfjellet (424m), Dec 9 2020
Wednesday: Back once again in the Ulsteinvik hills. Perhaps I was in need of being close to lights? That was however just an illusion as it was dead dark once I left the trailhead at Bugarden.
I ended up on a different path than I had planned, and I was wondering if I actually had hiked this path earlier?
As I was passing Høgskjerva, I finally found a rock that I could put the camera on. But the wind came straight against us, and the result was disappointing. You can blame a whole lot on the wind…
The horizon was golden and I really enjoyed this hike.
We crossed the gravel road I had biked the day before and continued up to Breidfjellet.
From Breidfjellet, we aimed for the gravel road from Mosvatnet and the descent was surprisingly steep. Then we got on a path towards Nibben that I had never followed before. I really enjoy new paths!
Eventually, I was back in familiar terrain, and we hiked from Nibben back to Bugarden. Another enjoyable walk where Karma once again all over the place – within the limits of the path +/- 2 meters. I want to see her all the time, and she knows that.
Trip statistics: 7,6km, 430 vertical meters, 1h:57m
Garnestua (654m), Dec 10 2020
Thursday: Still addicted to some light (at least in the beginning), I chose to hike Flåna from Garneskrysset (Hareidlandet island). I would NOT be surprised if I ended up on Garnestua – a short hike from Flåna.
I really like this route. The only problem is that it’s TOO familiar. But everytime we get above the forest it gets all the more interesting.
Once we reached Flåna, we kept on going. Flåna is just a hump. Garnestua is a proper coastal top!
For descent, we followed the ridge to Ringstadhornet. If we continued, we would end up in Haddal and the 1,2km along the busy RV653 is NO FUN. So, I would had to figure out a different route.
As it turned out, it had just been so long since I hiked the forest between Garneskrysset and Haddal that I had completely forgotten how EVIL this forest is. I wasn’t sure if I’ve ever hiked here outside winter. I know I have hiked up Garneselva river a couple of times, on ice. But this descent was just terrible. Juniper bush ALL over the place. I SWORE I would never return to this place and was overjoyed when we finally returned to Garneskrysset…
Trip statistics: 7,1km, 700 vertical meters, 2h:19m
Sollia (661m), Dec 11 2020
Friday: I was able to log off work early this Friday afternoon, and at 3:09pm, Karma and I were ready to hike Sollia from Leikongeidet. We kept a really good pace, as I wanted to reach the top without using the headlamp.
The weather had been nice all week and today was no exception.
When we reached the fork by lake Holmevatnet, I asked Karma where she wanted to go. She wanted to take the longest route around the lake and I was all for that, hoping the lake was frozen. It was…
I did stay along the shore, not quite knowing how safe the ice was.
It was quite dark when we were approaching the top, but there was no problem doing the remaining distance with the headlamp in the backpack.
It was nice to turn it on – on the summit, though.
From the top, we descended the shortest route – via point 598m, before I chose an off-trail route that wasn’t any fun at all. But all in all – very enjoyable! And Friday evening was ahead of us. Pizza and beer. Yeah!
Trip statistics: 9,7km, 625 vertical meters, 2h:17m
Melshornet (807m), Dec 12 2020
Saturday: I gave myself a big treat and slept until 9am. That doesn’t happen often! After breakfast, I worked 3 hours before realizing it was December and sunset begins the minute you get out of bed…
I wanted to walk the dog somewhere else than my neighborhood and drove to Ørsta to hike Melshornet. There should be enough daylight left to get up and back down before dark.
But today, Melshornet was the target and we headed out from the parking above Rystefeltet. It’s a nice trail into Osdalen valley.
Normally, I would have gone left in the fork on the picture, but that meant a quite steep finish on snow hard as ice. Hence, we had to go for the safe route, which meant that we had to set course for lake Dinglavatnet instead.
From Dinglavatnet, we took the normal route to the top.
It’s ALWAYS nice to be up here…
And then we reached the top. There was quite a lot of snow in the gap between the two summit points. Just too bad that it was rock hard and no fun to ski. If – one bothered to carry the skis for as high as it would take…
I was just as happy on foot today and even if it was cold and windy up there, I was in no rush.
Melshornet is a superb viewpoint…
After a little while, enjoying the magnificent peaks, we were ready to go.
I chose to descend the valley between Melshornet and Grøthornet. The snow carried my weight and it was not icy enough to call for crampons. In other words, perfect snow when out hiking…
The sky was turning golden as we headed down the mountain.
It was fun to descend that valley, as I had never gone down that way before.
We continued up to Vardehornet and Saudehornet had now red. Too bad my camera (or more likely – the photographer) wasn’t able to capture the true color.
We had a nice descent into Osdalen on firm snow and later followed our ascent route to Osdalen. Big fun!
Trip statistics: 9,7km, 780 vertical meters, 2h:32m
Pictures (Canon EOS RP) from the hike:
Storetua (592m), Nørdbergsheida (509m), Dec 13 2020
Sunday: I was working from 9am to 1pm and felt daylight slip through my fingers. The upside was that I had done massive good work and gotten rid of several tasks that put a weight on my shoulders. Now, I could focus on walking the dog and having a good time myself for the rest of the afternoon.
Even if it costed me almost 30 minutes of driving, I chose to drive to Gjerdsvika to hike up Botnen and take it from there. The time was 1:24pm and it would get dark 4pm. Perhaps I could reach Storetua, and if I did I was sure to get darkness either on the way up or down. But, so what…
On our way up Botnen, I kept a fast pace. But no matter how fast I walk, I am not able to keep up Karma’s strolling pace…
Above the “Gapahuk”, Nørdbergsheida – aka Kloven – came into view. I really enjoyed myself. The sun was shining and the ground was frozen.
I realized that the sun wouldn’t stay up there for very long, so we kept on going – trying to maximize it…
On our way up Kloven, I considered a round trip hike which meant getting down to lake Storevatnet (crossing the river could be an issue) and hike 2km along the north shore. But as there was plenty of water in the lake, there wasn’t much shore left and I had to switch plans.
But first, treats on Kloven. Technically, the signpost is not the high point. But, we would pass the high point upon our descent.
After a short stop, we moved on. Karma was clearly having a good time. So much to check out!
Storetua kept coming closer and closer and we still had a good pace. I had no idea about what time it was and had as goal to get up there before dark.
When we reached the top of Storetua, it was still not dark – which I considered a bonus!
I decided to hike the northwest ridge down – where I had never been before. Another bonus!
The ascent back up to Kloven was not the highlight of the trip, but eventually we reached the top and passed without stopping.
Just below Kloven, we followed the path leading to Sædalen (via Vatthornet).
Down in Sædalen, we took my newly discovered short-cut – along the pipeline. It was getting quite dark by now but I realized that we would be back at the car without having to switch the headlamp on.
As we got in the car, darkness came in – FAST! I was very uplifted. This was a most excellent hike! And – a most excellent week!
Trip statistics: 12,3km, 840 vertical meters, 2h:37m
Pictures (Canon EOS RP) from the hike:
