2021 Week 1

A good beginning…

Index

Date	Peak/Place	Height	PF	Location	WCP
04.01.2021	Rjåhornet	421m	68m	Herøy, M&R, Norway	WCP
05.01.2021	Hasundhornet	533m	93m	Ulstein, Norway	WCP
06.01.2021	Blåtind	697m	697m	Ulstein, Norway	WCP
07.01.2021	Huldrehornet	271m	113m	Herøy, M&R, Norway	WCP
07.01.2021	Djupvikhaugen	98m	29m	Herøy, M&R, Norway
08.01.2021	Melshornet	668m	560m	Hareid, Norway	WCP
09.01.2021	Haddalshornet	611m	103m	Ulstein, Norway	WCP
10.01.2021	Sandvikshornet	352m	13m	Herøy, M&R, Norway
10.01.2021	Skåla	184m	497m	Herøy, M&R, Norway
10.01.2021	Rambjøra	132m	109m	Herøy, M&R, Norway	WCP

Rjåhornet (600m), Jan 4 2021

Monday:  Another stunning weather day and I was able to leave work (at home) at 3:30pm (having started at 7am) and enjoy some daylight on our afternoon hike up to Rjåhornet on Gurskøya.

It would get dead dark by 4:30pm, so we had just 45 minutes to get to the top if I were to avoid using the headlamp.

I hiked as fast as I could, knowing that we I would stop many times on the way up just to take pictures.

Halfway up the mountain, I was fairly confident that we would get up before total darkness came along.

There was a pink shine to the north and a red shine to the south. It was just gorgeous.

Only the final hill left, and it had gotten considerable darker…

But, we made it to the top without switching on the headlamp!

The Sunnmøre alps – finer than ever!

Oh, I almost forgot the little lady. Treats coming up!

Trip statistics: 7km, 600 vertical meters, 2h:11m

Pictures (Canon EOS RP) from the hike:

Hasundhornet (533m), Jan 5 2021

Tuesday:  After work, off to Ulsteinvik to buy a new washing machine after the centrifuge suddenly died at a way too young age. Instead of getting a techie to look at it, I decided to get a new one as I didn’t like the machine one bit.

It was a quick purchase (my MO when shopping…) and I was just able to capture the final light on the sky from “Utsikten” (the view) above Ulsteinvik – on our way to Hasundhornet.

It is indeed a fine viewpoint. I should go here more often!

After a few minutes, I assumed that Karma got restless and decided to wrap up. She’s well behaved though, and doesn’t do anything but sit and look at me. But I know she’d prefer to be on the move…

I have only gone UP this route once before, and it’s much longer than the other routes I usually do. Not too exciting though, other than the view. It’ll probably be a while until next time. But, it was nice to hike on snow. And then we eventually reached the top.

I concluded that taking pictures is much more fun in the “blue hour“…

I took the same route back to Alvehaugen, just above “Utsikten”. I then followed a path that I didn’t know where it would lead. I assumed it would take us to Saunesmarka and then I was determined to hike back up again. But, in case it curved around and joined my ascent route somewhere, I decided to follow it.

It did curve around, but then I followed footprints on what appeared to be a path. But then I lost the footprints and ended up in a terribly thick forest. It was impossible to find a way out, so we had to go back up again. Eventually, we found a path that eventually led us to our ascent route.

Nice hike, except for the forest part…

Trip statistics: 7,8km, 550 vertical meters, 2h:12m

Pictures (Canon EOS RP) from the hike:

Blåtind (697m), Jan 6 2021

Wednesday:  Had a slight panic when I woke up this morning. My nose felt a bit blocked, and under normal circumstances I would have just blamed it on the cold weather and open window. I did a quick smelling test, and didn’t smell anything. A natural, although not very scientific test. Have I got Covid? I took some nosespray and smelling was back to normal. I didn’t feel sick either, albeit the energy wasn’t at the usual level.

Still, my working day (from home) proceeded as normal. Extremely intense, feeling washed-out when it ended. More precisely – after the first part ended. For the foreseeable future, I will also have to work in the evenings – given a high priority project where I have not been dealt a good hand of cards…

But there is always time to walk the dog and preferably across a mountain top. Today, Blåtind – the highest top on Hareidlandet island was on my agenda and we headed out along the normal route from Ringstaddalen with an incredible sunset in our back.

I considered taking the “monster hill” up the mountain but due to the lack of energy, I chose to follow the normal path up to lake Hundelaupsvatnet.

This was at the end of the “blue hour” and I took great pleasure in taking pictures. You might think these pictures come for free, but they don’t. First of all, I can’t take handheld pictures this late in the day, and secondly, I don’t know what the hell I’m doing. Sometimes, I’m happy with the outcome but for the most part I’m not. I can only hope I am learning through mistakes…

It was indeed a nice afternoon, like it’s been most of the week. Even if clouds had come in, it was still nice weather.

Eventually we reached the top, just before total darkness and I was in a hurry to get one last picture where the horizon wasn’t totally black.

And then the lights went out. Snap!

We took a different route down the mountain, and this route has a section which is a little hairy when filled with hard snow. I tried to take it nice and easy but ended up slipping, rotating, kicking myself in the back of my leg in the fall, falling backwards and sliding down. Fortunately, I didn’t hit anything in the process… One month later, I was thinking back on this episode, wondering if this was the reason for getting a “green card” straight into the hospital. But more about that later…

Back at the trailhead, I decided to take a picture of the blue light under the adjacent bridge. I just couldn’t figure out what the purpose of the light was, but have understood that blue lights under bridges are “trending”.

The rest of the evening – and well into the night – was spent watching CNN bringing incredible footage of thugs storming the US Capitol. Unbelievable scenes. If this could happen in the US, it will surely happen in Norway at some point in time. We adopt *everything* from US. I do understand the anger. If a large group of citizens don’t think they have a meaningful future, this is bound to happen sooner or later. It’s a wake-up call…

Trip statistics: 7,2km, 660 vertical meters, 2h:14m

Pictures (Canon EOS RP) from the hike:

Huldrehornet (271m), Djupvikhaugen (98m), Jan 7 2021

Thursday:  Dead tired after watching TV well into the night, I had a productive working day, and took the lunch break in Ulsteinvik.

After work, I had to take a nap after work. Hence, it was dead dark when I finally got around to walk the dog at 5:30pm.

Totally uninspired I decided to take a round trip hike across Huldrehornet, from my house.

Once I get going, things got betters and we had a nice hike up the forest.

When we reached the top, it was way too windy to even consider taking a picture with the shutter open for seconds, and I settled for a handheld picture and the option to get off the top as quickly as possible.

We descended down on the south side and stopped by Djupvikhaugen on the way back home. Two women were chatting on top. It was nice to see that people are more and more finding their way out after dark. The reflex on the sticks are probably not the make or break feature, but I’d like to think it helps.

 Trip statistics: 7,1km, 350 vertical meters, 1h:50m

Melshornet (668m), Jan 8 2021

Friday:  In the afternoon, I had to stop by the office I report to (but have seldom visited) in Hjørungavåg to pick up a monitor. Once there, I decided to hike Melshornet.

It was yet another stunning afternoon and I looked forward to take pictures on the mountain.

But first, we had to get ONTO the mountain…

I normally don’t like snow where I hike. I want the snow to be above the timberline so that I can choose if I want to ski on snow or walk on ground free of snow. But with this little snow, it’s alright.

Every time I hike from the Ulset trailhead, I end up taking the same route back down. Today, I decided that I would do some kind of variation to the route.

We reached the top just before it got dead dark and I managed to get some pictures where I could see something in the horizon. While it doesn’t seem like we’re minutes away from total darkness on these pictures, we were. There’s light until there’s no light left, and that’s when I tend to reach the tops during winter.

Example: Seconds before total darkness…

Then, total darkness…

Fascinating…

Trip statistics: 7,2km, 570 vertical meters, 1h:56m

Haddalshornet (611m), Jan 9 2021

Saturday:  I allowed myself a long and good sleep, didn’t get out of bed before 9:30am, which kind of ruined the plans I had made for myself. After breakfast, I was able to do a couple of hours of project work before I had to start thinking about giving the dog a proper walk. I decided to go to Haddalshornet.

I knew it was windy, but I didn’t know where the wind came from. I decided to hike from Eiksund – the east side of the mountain, which was a mistake as the wind came from the southeast.

The hike up the forest was alright. We were in shelter and there were no issues.

Above the forest, it was just windy and still OK. Karma had her priorities…

But then it started to get a bit nasty…

As we approached the foot of the mountain, it was borderline turn around but I decided to reach the top and get the hell off the mountain on the other side. I had poles, but had problems making them touch the ground. Karma tried to seek shelter behind my legs. The strong was whipping up the snow, and it was quite painful. More so for the dog than me – protected by solid clothes.

It was really nice to reach the summit cairn, find shelter and know that we would descend on the lee side (which wasn’t the original plan).

We descended on the west side of the mountain. We weren’t whipped as on the other side, but there was enormous turbulence – making it difficult to see the route ahead. I didn’t fancy taking on the steepest part, which I know were icy. So we followed the route towards Haddal, then climbed back up again to gain the ridge and eventually get on the marked path from Aursnes.

We were now back in the wind, fighting for every meter. I decided to leave the path and head off-trail to get into Havågsdalen where there would be less wind.

Then we got onto the path that connects to the route from Havåg, but we would still have to do close to 1km along the old road before we could return to the car. If I had known what whether we could expect on top, I would never have gone on this hike.

Trip statistics: 7,7km, 700 vertical meters, 2h:05m

Pictures (Canon EOS RP) from the hike:

Sandvikhornet (352m), Skåka (184m), Jan 10 2021

Sunday:  When I woke up this morning, I was geared up to publish the week report in the afternoon. But a couple of things happened and today it’s Feb 28 when I’m picking up the “pen” again. The first thing that happened was an acceleration in the project I was working on. And with 65-70 hour weeks to come, I didn’t have the energy. The “other things” will be mentioned once I get to February reports.

I also woke up to fresh snow this morning. But having a 7,5 hour working day ahead of me (on a Sunday…) the outdoors would just have to wait.

In the afternoon, I was tired and settled for a hike in the local region and aimed for Sandvikhornet and Skåla.

Karma was overjoyed about the fresh snow. She would have a couple of nice months ahead of her…

I was “mindful” about the snow/hail showers roaming around us. We don’t mind a good dump of snow but hail in combination with wind isn’t something Karma fancies.

But so far, so good…

We stopped by Skåla before going home for dinner.

Trip statistics: 6,2km, 465 vertical meters, 1h:40m

Pictures (Canon EOS RP) from the hike:

Rambjøra (132m), Jan 10 201

Sunday:  It kept on snowing and as Karma had been staring out the window all evening I figured that a late walk up to Rambjøra would be appreciated. It was!

Trip statistics: 3,3km, 120 vertical meters, 0h:47m