A lovely alpine top in the Sunnmøre alps
Index
| Date | Peak/Place | Height | PF | Location |
| 11.09.22 | Kjerringa | 1130m | 80m | Ørsta, Norway |
Sunday: The weekend was already “above standard” with memorable hikes to Sætrehyrna on Friday and Saksa on Saturday. But as the weather was still great, we just had to go hiking on Sunday as well.
I proposed Kjerringa from Mossetra. I had been to Kjerringa back in 2010, but then from Romedalen and I never wrote a trip report. As I had been thinking about the route from Mossetra for a while, this was the perfect day to check it out.
Kjerringa is an easy hike until the final 40-50 meters. Then scrambling is needed to get to the top of this alpine top. It should also be noted that once you’re on the high ridge, care and focus is needed so you don’t stumble and fall. It’s not so long since there was a fatal accident on this mountain. That’s one too many!
From Mossetra, we followed the path upwards. After 0,5km, the path forked. Here you turn right if you want to hike Sandhornet or go straight ahead for Kjerringa.
The path curves around Rotbergshornet (850m) on the east side and then you get to lake Ljøsådalsvatnet (575m). I had plenty of time to try to remember something from my 2010 hike across Rotbergshornet and up to Årsæterhornet (1047m) But I couldn’t remember much, other than that the hillside up to Årsæterhornet was steep.
From Ljøsådalsvatnet, the path continued up to the Rotbergshornet – Kjerringa pass, where I surely crossed back in 2010. I’m not even sure if I was aware of the path to Kjerringa then. My log shows that I hiked Kjerringa from Romedalen and Årsæterhornet from Mossetra within a 14-day period.
Anne was a bit “neutral”, like “OK…” when I suggested Kjerringa. When I pointed out the peak from Mossetra, she went “wow!” but it wasn’t until we were in Ljosådalen that it seemed like the surroundings “dawned” on her. It was rugged, wild and beautiful…
The hike from the pass and (almost) up to the ridge was steep, but easy. But before we could cross the watershed ridge, we followed a path “carved” out in the mountainside. Any fall here would be bad!
Once across the watershed ridge, we could see Kjerringa tower above us. I didn’t have any hopes that I would get Karma all the way up, so she would have to wait for us.
To our right was “Mannen“, aka Høgehornet. This is also a steep bugger which I climbed with buddy Terje back in 2016…
The route was well marked and easy to follow and soon it got steep. We parked Karma and began scrambling.
The scrambling was super-easy until the very last pitch before the top. Here, you might have to spend a few seconds coordinating your moves.
There are two pinnacles on top. I’m confident that the one to the north is the highest. The other one is more a climb than a scramble and I didn’t feel like pushing my luck.
If you feel a direct approach on the highest pinnacle is too airy, you can also get up on the left-hand side. But be careful because it’s airy regardless how you do it…
After a few minutes on top, it was time to get back to Karma, who could see us all the way, except for when we were on top, not looking down at her.
We had noticed that there were two paths along the ridge, and this time we followed the highest one.
Once back on the Mossetra side of the ridge, it was time to focus again. I don’t particularly enjoy myself when there is potential for a fall and nothing to hold on to…
But shortly after, we were back in safe terrain and could enjoy our hike down the mountain along the same way we came up.
Thanks to Anne for a hiking weekend out of the ordinary. This was big fun!
Trip statistics: 10km, 900 vertical meters, 4h:42m
Pictures (Canon EOS RP/Iphone 13 Pro Max) from the hike:
