Back in Solund for hiking and kayaking
Index
| Date | Peak/Place | Height | PF | Location | |
| 10.05.21 | Vasshornet | 479m | 56m | Sande, Norway | WCP |
| 11.05.21 | Storebroren | 620m | 177m | Hareid/Ulstein, Norway | WCP |
| 11.05.21 | Sarshornet | 543m | 50m | Ulstein, Norway | WCP |
| 13.05.21 | Hammarstakken | 159m | 159m | Solund, Norway | – |
| 14.05.21 | Rånekletten | 159m | 108m | Solund, Norway | – |
| 14.05.21 | Hågøytinden | 180m | 180m | Solund, Norway | – |
| 14.05.21 | Færøytinden | 110m | 110m | Solund, Norway | – |
| 14.05.21 | Hogneskjelfjellet | 136m | 136m | Solund, Norway | – |
| 15.05.21 | Krakksnova | 277m | 265m | Solund, Norway | – |
| 15.05.21 | Hornet | 185m | 52m | Solund, Norway | – |
| 16.05.21 | Øykjefjellet | 173m | 141m | Solund, Norway | – |
| 16.05.21 | Dyrefjellet | 186m | 111m | Solund, Norway | – |
| 16.05.21 | Vardeheia (Hamnefjellet) | 226m | 147m | Solund, Norway | – |
Vasshornet (479m), May 10 2021
This was a rainy round-trip hike on Gurskøy island, from Almestad, across Vasshornet and return via lake Slokevatnet
Trip statistics: 5,9km, 460 vertical meters, 1h:38m
Pictures (Canon EOS RP) from the hike:
Storebroren (620m), May 11 2021
Finally, I got the chance to hike across Vasshaugen (385m) – a small hump below Storebroren on Hareidlandet island. More interestingly (for me) – I was able to continue from Vasshornet and up to Storebroren along a steep off-trail route. Upon descent, we returned via Sarshornet and hiked down to lake Litlevatnet via another off-trail route – albeit not so steep as the ascent route.
Trip statistics: 5,9km, 460 vertical meters, 1h:38m
Pictures (Canon EOS RP) from the hike:
Hammarstakken (159m), May 13 2021
Spring break, base-camp Steinsund, Solund. We would spend some days with our friends Anne-May and Jan, but they wouldn’t be here quite yet. After arriving on the island we went for an evening hike to Hammarstakken on Rånøya island.
Trip statistics: 2km, 185 vertical meters, 43 mins
Pictures (Canon EOS RP) from the hike:
Rånekletten (159m), May 14 2021
I was up early this morning and decided to combine the morning walk with an easy hike up to a new top – Rånekletten on Rånøyna. Which was the same island as we went to yesterday, visiting Hammarstakken.
I had noticed that there was a path to Rånekletten, which in this type of terrain is the difference between an easy and not-so-easy hike.
It was a nice walk. Fast up, fast down and then back to the cabin and breakfast with Anne.
Trip statistics: 1,4km, 140 vertical meters, 31 mins
Pictures (Canon EOS RP) from the hike:
Hågøytinden (180m), Færøytinden (110m), Hogneskjelfjellet (136m), May 14 2021
Finally, we got use of our kayaks that we had been hauling with us to Solund. The plan for today was the high points on Hågøyna, Færøyna and Hogneskjela islands. We stopped in Hardbakke and left Karma with a colleague of Anne. It was nice to know the dog was in good hands.
We then drove to Lauvvika and got our kayaks in the water. Hågøyna island was the first stop and we had an easy hike up to Hågøytinden.
Next stop was Færøyna, where the ascent up to Færøytinden was slightly more rugged than on Hågøyna.
Eventually, Anne felt for returning to the cabin to be there when our friends Anne-May and Jan came (on motorcycle), picking up Karma along the way. I decided to visit Hogneskjelfjellet before returning.
The natural thing would be to approach Hogneskjelfjellet from the south, but that meant extra kayaking and I wanted to join Anne and Karma as fast as I could. So I decided to give an ascent up from northeast a try.
It wasn’t obvious that I would a route up, but I did. The trip up and down went quite fast, and so did the kayaking back to the car. Anne was still with her colleague and Karma when I got to Hardbakke.
A bit later, our friends came and we had a nice evening at Steinsund.
Trip statistics: 4,8km on foot, 9,9km in kayak, 490 vertical meters, 5h:07m
Pictures (Canon EOS RP) from the trip:
Krakksnova (277m), Hornet (185m), May 15 2021
From the Krakhella – Hardbakke road, a hike to Krakksnova is nothing short of strenuous and cumbersome. Cumbersome as in route-finding and strenuous as in constant up-and-down terrain. As such, Krakksnova was not really on my radar during this stay. It would be time-consuming and egocentric. But when I learned that the rest of the group was not interested in hiking today, I had the opportunity!
To make this less of an effort, I decided to kayak from Sandvika to Vågen. Sandvika is a truly beautiful place…
The kayak trip went fine, but as I was about to get out of the kayak at Vågen, I lost control and fell into the water. So, I had some logistical tasks to do before I could go hiking…
Finally, I was on my way to Krakksnova. I soon passed a cabin and probably gave the woman there a good surprise. I found a route between Rodalstjørna and Storekeila before heading into up-and-down terrain on my way to the eastern end of lake Kalvedalsvatnet.
From Kalvedalsvatnet, I aimed for Hornet’s southeast ridge, but couldn’t find a way that I considered safe enough and continued towards Krakkshornet instead. I was more happy than I usually am when I reached the top!
On my way down, I ascended Hornet along the northwest ridge. I then continued across the top and stood above the point where I had turned around earlier. I concluded that my former decision was sound and started looking for another way down. I found one and was soon back on my ascent route.
The terrain looked very much different coming the other way, and it was really hard to remember all the details. I had to consult the GPS a couple of times, just to make sure I wasn’t going in the totally wrong direction. After a bumpy hike, I finally returned to the kayak – determined not to f… it up this time.
It was indeed a memorable trip! It’s amazing that a 277m top can offer this much effort!
In the evening, we invited Anne’s colleague (who looked after Karma the day before) and his wife for dinner at Hardbakke.
Trip statistics: 8km on foot, 4km in kayak, 580 vertical meters, 4,5 hours
Pictures (Canon EOS RP) from the trip:
Øykjefjellet (186m), May 16 2021
Today, it was time for a group hike. I was given the “honor” of finding a suitable top that wasn’t too difficult, too long or too strenuous. No problem, I had a candidate and I would get a new top as well.
We parked at Eidvika, followed the Strandheim road for a little while, and then headed straight up Øykjafjellet’s south ridge.
The weather wasn’t the best, but the spirit was good! After a short stay on top, we took (more or less) the same route down
Trip statistics: 2,6km, 185 vertical meters, 1h:20m
Pictures (Canon EOS RP) from the hike:
Dyrefjellet (186m), May 16 2021
After the Øykjafjellet hike, we drove to Sandvika where Anne and Anne-May had friends from the studying days. As mentioned earlier, I visited Sandvika the day before when I was kayaking to Vågen (and hiking Krakksnova)
We got a tour of the farm. Karma had other priorities…
The fact that there was a pf100 top just above us was too hard to ignore. I asked to be excused and Jan wanted to come along.
While Dyrefjellet isn’t a big top in any sense, it calls for route-finding. Especially when you don’t find the path by lake Krokvatnet.
We went up places where I for sure wouldn’t descend with Karma. So clearly, we would have to find a different route down.
Upon descent, we took a detour to the south, still in complicated terrain. But eventually we found a good route that took us back down the starting point.
Trip statistics: 2,4km, 200 vertical meters, 1 hour
Pictures (Canon EOS RP) from the hike:
Vardeheia/Hamnafjellet (226m), May 16 2021
After the Dyrefjellet hike, we returned to Sandvika. The girls were wrapping up their visit in Sandvika and wanted to return to the cabin. I wanted to hike Hamnafjellet before calling it a day and the others returned in Anne’s car.
I drove to trailhead above Krakhella and we got on the marked path. It was a nice and easy hike. Seems the high point is called Vardeheia.
We returned along the same route and I drove back to Steinsund.
After a nice dinner, Jan wanted to try my kayak and Anne kept him company. It was the perfect evening for strolling around on the water, and it was also our last evening in Solund – this time.
Trip statistics: 2,1km, 160 vertical meters, 34 mins
Pictures (Canon EOS RP) from the hike:
Have you been up the mountains of Svalbard?I think that the only island of the archipelago that you could easily get to is Spitsbergen where Longyearbyen is.Newtontoppen (1713m)is the highest point.An interesting mix of languages too Svalbard from Norwegian, Spitsbergen from Dutch (although I’d guess Norwegian would be similar for pointed mountain?) and and Longyearbyen from English as Longyear was an American.I believe that you have to carry a rifle, usually .375 Holland and Holland Magnum to go out of Longyearbyen in case of ambush by Polar Bear?Those rifles are heavy and not ideal to pack going up a mountain!My uncle had a .375 in South Africa and I fired it twice when I was a boy and not as bad a recoil as you’d think.But Polar Bear’s are tough and you’d probably be killed if one attacked you.
HI Kevan. Yes, I’ve been up there one one expedition and passing through (both ways) when we sailed to and from Jan Mayen. The Svalbard expedition is documented on peakboog.org while I was between blogs. But I created a page here containing some of the photos: https://fjordpeaks.com/2016/08/10/svalbard-2013-highlights/
And we met Polar Bears on our very last day…
Very impressive that you made it to Jan Mayen by all accounts a pretty inhospitable place and hard to land.The Norwegian armed forces use to have a weather station there.You’ll have to try for Bouvet Island at some point even colder than JM and much more remote!
Thanks. There is a detailed report from Jan Mayen on fjordpeaks.com if you’re interested. It came in as a good #2 on the memorable list, after Greenland and before Svalbard. I’m thinking Bjørnøya before Bouvet 😉 I like it in the Atlantic region. We’re planning on Cap Verde later this year. That’s altogether different from the Arctic…