Gråsida, Jul 19 2021

Summer vacation, day 1

Our route to Gråsida

Index

Peak Height PF Location
Gråsida 1513m 203m Dovre, Norway

I’m back…

I hope…

Due to an extremely intense project at work, I haven’t touched this blog since the beginning of February. As the project is on track I hope I get some more time on my hands to share pictures from my trips, I’m jumping straight to my summer vacation, which I just finished. I’ll then see what I will do with the trips and hikes between week 5 and 29. It’s a horrible backlog.

Anyway, the main goal for the summer vacation was a return to the stunning Rødøy island, which Anne, me and our buddy Bjørn Eirik visited in 2014 as part of our epic Helgeland island hopping tour. The picture I took from the top of Rødøyløva has become one of my favorite pictures and I’ve never forgotten this place. I remember thinking – how cool would it have been to come back again – with kayaks!

View from Rødøyløva, summer of 2014

And now Anne, Bjørn Eirik, Karma and I were on our way back to Rødøy. With kayaks! The only problem was that the weather in northern Norway was worse than miserable and none of us wanted to go straight up to the north. Instead, we decided to hang around in the Nord-Østerdalen region until the weather up north improved.

On Monday, July 19th – Anne and I drove from Sunnmøre and met up with Bjørn Eirik (driving from Oslo) at Sel. As it was already afternoon, we discussed where our first night should be spent. I had never been to Grimsdalen (near the Rondane massif) before and it was a practical route for getting to Nord-Østerdalen. So, we decided to drive to Grimsdalen and find a place to camp for the night.

We found a good place close to 1200m elevation, just before Vegaskilet. It was quite windy and a bit cold, but we found some shelter in the terrain and established camp.

Establishing camp-site in Grimsdalen

Afterwards, it was time for a walk and “as it happened” a top with a primary factor with 100m+ was just in the neighborhood. I could not think of a better way to start my vacation than to get a new mountain top. The others were quite happy with an afternoon walk and off we went.

Aiming for Gråsida

When we got on the mountain ridge, it didn’t exactly feel like summer. The temperature was probably around 10 deg. C. (if even that) and the wind was fierce. But – it wasn’t raining!

Norwegian summer!

After a 4,2km walk – we reached point 1511m. There was another 1511m point 1,4km to the northeast but as peakbook.org had the westernmost top as the highest, I had no interest in continuing this windy walk. Nor did the others…

Towards the Gråsida summit

This is my kind of start of a vacation! And the others seemed happy too!

On top of Gråsida above Grimsdalen

The descent route went (of course) straight off the mountain. 1,5km along the main road was better than walking the same route in a strong headwind.

Back on the Grimsdalen road

Back in the tent, Anne organized a delicious dinner and I was trying to get the vacation feeling. After working far more than I should for 8 months, I realized it would take some days to get there. In any case, I loved going to sleep in my sleeping bag after a couple of beers. I’ve not slept that good in a long time!

Camp life in Grimsdalen
Calling it a day…

Continued on day 2

Trip statistics: 8,4 km, 400 vertical meters, 2h:40m

Pictures (Canon EOS RP) from the trip:

7 thoughts on “Gråsida, Jul 19 2021

  1. Glad to see you back, I’ve missed virtually exploring Norway through your posts. I can’t believe that first photo is from Norway… if I’d seen it with no explanation I would have guessed it was somewhere more tropical. Can’t wait to read about your kayaking adventures!

    1. Hi Diana. Thanks for your comment! I agree about the picture. My first thought being up there was “Greece!” And I promised myself to come back there. Stay tuned for some great pics from Rødøy. Just have to go through the chronological order first 😉

  2. Heisann! Finally and great to read a new post again! I thought, such a long time no trips and reports, what happened? Way toooo quiet, not really Arnt-like;-) Really nice to get some reading from you again with great pics!

    1. Hi Ellen. Yes, I know…It wouldn’t have taken much to post a small update, but I kept thinking “tomorrow”, and this lasted many months. I have worked A LOT and when I log off from work after midnight, the blog isn’t my first concern… But now I am determined to get back to publishing mode…

  3. Hi Arnt, I’m glad that you are back again! I missed your stunning trip reports and I really worried that something severe happened to you. Thumbs up that the working project is on track and that you’re doing well!

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