Not quite spring just yet…
| Date | Peak/Place | Height | PF | Location | WCP |
| 25.04.22 | Rambjøra | 132m | 109m | Herøy, M&R, Norway | WCP |
| 26.04.22 | Melshornet | 668m | 560m | Hareid, Norway | WCP |
| 27.04.22 | Storehanen | 493m | 67m | Herøy, M&R, Norway | WCP |
| 27.04.22 | Moltusteinen | 70m | 52m | Herøy, M&R, Norway | – |
| 28.04.22 | Leirvågfjellet | 254m | 231m | Sula, Norway | WCP |
| 29.04.22 | Løkeberget | 579m | 300m | Hareid, Norway | WCP |
| 30.04.22 | Roppehornet | 412m | 45m | Ulstein, Norway | WCP |
| 30.04.22 | Breidfjellet | 535m | 72m | Ulstein, Norway | WCP |
| 01.05.22 | Bjørlykkjehornet | 707m | 264m | Vanylven, Norway | – |
| 01.05.22 | Kofthornet | 703m | 41m | Vanylven, Norway | – |
Rambjøra (132m), Apr 25 2022
Monday: After work, I was totally out of energy. I’ve had some busy weeks of hiking and skiing behind me and just didn’t find inspiration to go hiking today. Besides, there was fog in the mountains, and it was raining light. So, I grabbed my lopper and went up the Rambjøra trail to do some honest trail maintenance.
The actual work was waiting on the other side of the top. I only stopped on top for pictures and to give Karma her usual treats before moving on.
I don’t care what y’all say! An hour in the gym doesn’t have s..t on ripping bush with the roots. It’s hard and honest labor!
I’m happy to see the result, but sad to see how fast it grows again.
Trip statistics: 2,8km, 135 vertical meters, 2h:15m
Pictures (Iphone 13 Pro Max) from the hike:
Melshornet (668m), Apr 26 2022
Tuesday: Today, I would visit Melshornet above Hareid for the 1st time in 2022. I decided to head out from Ulset and as my energy wasn’t at full strength, we followed the normal route to the top.
Like always, it was windy at the top, but the huge summit cairn provides the necessary shelter.
We stayed on top for a couple of minutes for the regular treats and photos.
Upon descent, I gave descending straight south another try, but the amount of bush discouraged me. Instead, we followed the edge above the Hjørungdalen valley – just like we did last year. But this time, we explored the birch forest a bit more and I got some new tracks to add my Hareidlandet GPS track log…
All in all, a nice hike, especially after I got the energy back…
Trip statistics: 6,7km, 565 vertical meters, 1h:48m
Pictures (Canon EOS RP) from the hike:
Storehanen (493m), Apr 27 2022
Wednesday: Low on energy for the 3rd day in a row! Not good! But I managed to pull myself together and drove to Moltudalen to hike across Storehanen – with the option to hike across Selsteinen (598m) also.
We started out along the Blåfjellstien path, and then it started to snow! Very light, but it was still snowing. Which I kind of had expected, as I had switched to summer tyres the day before. I lost the “mojo” a bit and tried to figure out how I could recover it.
Rescue was found through a steep, off-trail route leading directly to the top.
I wasn’t sure if would get too steep, but there was only one way to find out.
The route turned out to be quite OK and wasn’t even aggravating. We reached the top without too much hassle, but my plans for Selsteinen got cancelled. Instead, we took the normal route down on the other side.
Trip statistics: 2,9km, 285 vertical meters, 57 mins
Pictures (Canon EOS RP) from the hike:
Moltusteinen (70m), Apr 27 2022
Wednesday: While driving down from the Moltudalen trailhead, the Moltusteinen rock came into view. I realized that Karma had never been on that “top” and as the real shitty weather hadn’t arrived yet (it was definitely on its way in) we could do a hike across this rock.
I drove to the graveyard and tried to open the gate leading into the forest. It was locked by a rope, and I decided to find another way. So, we hiked down to the shore and could get around the sheep fence thanks to low tide. I didn’t see a path on this side of the mountain, but it was straightforward to reach the top.
I found a path on the other (west) side, and decided to follow it, to see where it would take us.
The path took us back to the graveyard, and this time I took the time to untie the knot that locked the gate…
Trip statistics: 1km, 105 vertical meters, 22 mins
Leirvågfjellet (254m), Apr 28 2022
Thursday: Working day in Ålesund, and after being stuck in the usual traffic I headed for Solavågen to hike across Leirvågfjellet. I decided to base this trip on the route I did in 2019 – from Sundsmyra, across the top, via Kvasneset and making it back to Sundsmyra – if possible – along a new route.
The route from Sundsmyra to the top is short, and we arrived on the high point after 20 minutes.
From the top, we followed the path eastbound, including a visit to the northernmost of the Sætrenakkane humps.
After a while, we reached the road near Kvasneset and aimed for the forest trail that runs across the south side of the island.
This time, I found a path that took us across Svenakken and eventually we joined the path from Leirvågfjellet, coming down the south ridge. I think this round-trip hike is the optimal use of the paths on this island.
The big bonus was when I drove onto the Sulesund ferry, and the gate closed behind me…
Trip statistics: 6,1km, 420 vertical meters, 1h:42m
Pictures (Canon EOS RP) from the hike:
Løkeberget (579m), Apr 29 2022
Friday: This week won’t be remembered as “energy week”, but again I defeated the doorstep and sat course for Ringstaddalen and the Løset trailhead. I had several tops on my radar but in the end chose Løkeberget, because a) I hadn’t been there in 2022 and b) it was a short hike, and I could get back home roughly at the same time as Anne would be arriving from Sogndal.
Just to get my mind on something else than low energy, I decided to go off-trail soon after heading out on the normal trail. Karma – who got a haircut this morning – and in general seem OK after months of stomach issues was literally all over the place. It’s a balance of course. She’s supposed to be on a leash at this time of the year, but I can read her, and I can control her. I can spot her interest in something long before any damage is done, and I can call her in. I don’t want any bird or animal killed on my watch!
Lemmings excluded. That’s just unavoidable collateral damage and they get killed on the trail, even if the dog is on leash…
Out of the forest, it started to snow again (!) Lightly, but still…
I had a longer route in mind, but when we reached the top, I just wanted to take the shortest route down.
And so, it was off-trail to the top, and off-trail from the top. As it happened, Anne and I got back at the house just minutes apart and we had a nice Taco-evening…
Trip statistics: 3,6km, 355 vertical meters, 1h:04m
Roppehornet (412m), Breidfjellet (535m), Apr 30 2022
Saturday: As we had errands in Ulsteinvik, I figured it would make sense to walk the dog in the Ulsteinvik backyard and I had several routes in mind. Plan A was to hike Roppehornet from Gåsneset and descend on the other side to Flø – and follow “Larsstien” back to Gåsneset. I was hoping for a longer route, but I would just wait and see what kind of day Anne was having. We’re not youngsters anymore…
Anne had a good day, and when we reached Roppehornet, she was up for a longer walk.
We then sat course for Breidfjellet, but I didn’t quite know where we would descend yet. Time would just show…
When we got to Breidfjellet I told Anne that it was possible to descend via Sarshornet and Breidfjellet, but I didn’t know if the snow would make it tricky. Anne liked the idea of returning via lake Litlevatnet below us and the only way to find out about the descent was to go and see for ourselves…
The descent went OK, and even if the snow had been hard, we would have been able to make it down – without touching snow.
The final descent to the valley floor was easy and we could now set course for the lake.
From above, we had seen a path going from the lake and in the direction of Roppemarka. Once past the lake, and after a little while, we found it.
This path led us to the forest road at Roppemarka. We followed this road (towards Roppehornet) for 0,4km until we found the tractor road that took us all the way down to the main road at Flø. It’s best noting that the cows were already out grassing, and we decided to climb a fence to get some distance between them and the dog.
We entered the road at Roppane and headed down to the sandy beach. It’s always nice to be here!
Once back on the Flø road, we now only had 2,1km back to the car but then Anne suddenly got excruciating pain in her hips, and so Karma and I went to Gåsneset by ourselves. By the time we picked Anne up, she had been stretching out and was no longer in pain.
A very, very nice round-trip hike!
Trip statistics: 13,3km, 679 vertical meters, 4h:22m
Pictures (Canon EOS RP/Iphone 13 Pro Max) from the hike:
Bjørlykkjehornet (707m), Kofthornet (404m), May 1 2022
Sunday: May was here, and Anne and I decided to go to Vanylven for some nice hiking. The choice was between Nystøylhornet and Bjørlykkjehornet. My arguments for going to Sørbrandal and hike Bjørlykkjehornet came through in the end.
Anne and I had hiked Bjørlykkjehornet in Oct 2010, but none of us remembered anything from the hike. It’s not that the hike itself isn’t worth remembering, it’s just that we did a LOT of hiking back then.
We drove up the trailhead at Børevatnet (~380m) and followed the Litlehornet path. I wondered why the signpost didn’t say Bjørlykkjehornet, but at the end of the hike, we learned that there was now a higher parking. So, when you arrive at Børevatnet, just keep driving up the road and you will find the new trailhead at ~450m.
After hiking across Litlehornet, we didn’t understand why we would follow the path as it was taking a detour on the Heida ridge and so we sat direct course for the ridge leading to the top.
We *felt* the route up the mountain looked steep, but once we got there, it was easy enough. I found it weird that I (we) didn’t remember anything from 12 years ago.
But the views were quite familiar. Even if my island is across the fjord, I still consider the Vanylven tops my backyard…
When we reached the top, it was time for pictures and posing!
After lunch break, the question was – now what? Heading back the same way we came was not an option. I suggested that we should visit Kofthornet (or is it Koftehornet?) and then decide on what to do next.
There was quite a lot of snow left on the mountain plateau and when we reached Kofthornet, I was just keen on finding a route down.
Based on the map, the best route down seemed to be down Måsdalen – and so we sat course for this valley.
Overlooking the valley, Anne suggested that we just head straight down. That went OK. No unexpected drops that would force us to look for alternative routes.
Eventually, we reached lake 381m and we didn’t find any path leading to lake 402m (Måsevatna). Once we reached the cabins between the lakes, we also found the path that took us up to the new road – which would take us directly back to the car.
We had taken the Larsnes – Åram ferry in the morning. This time we took the Koparneset – Årvika ferry and when we passed Larsnes, we stopped at the YX gas station for “dinner. Anne was supposed to be working today, but the boat she was supposed to be on had technical problems, and so a) she was free to hike with me, b) switch plans and go to Runde island to observe puffins and c) we had to eat out.
With the “diner” full of 13–14 year-old kids, the “dinner” was a surreal experience, but at least our hunger got satisfied.
Trip statistics: 8,2km, 500 vertical meters, 3h:23m
Pictures (Canon EOS RP) from the hike:
