Still taking it easy…

On Nupatinden, Gurskøy

Index

Date Peak Height PF Location WCP/FP MAP
09.01.23 Røyrafjellet 123m 100m Ulstein, Norway WCP MAP
09.01.23 Dragsund Herøy, M&R, Norway MAP
10.01.23 Heida 239m 126m Herøy, M&R, Norway WCP MAP
12.01.23 Huldrehornet 271m 113m Herøy, M&R, Norway WCP MAP
13.01.23 Høgåsen 240m 240m Ulstein, Norway WCP MAP
13.01.23 Dragsund Herøy, M&R, Norway MAP
14.01.23 Storehornet 278m 78m Sande, M&R, Norway WCP MAP
14.01.23 Nupen (Nupatinden) 242m 69m Sande, M&R, Norway WCP MAP
15.01.23 Rjåhornet 421m 68m Herøy, M&R, Norway WCP MAP
15.01.23 Storevarden 430m 430m Herøy, M&R, Norway WCP MAP

Røyrafjellet (123m), Jan 9 2023

Our route across Røyrafjellet

Monday: Week 2 of following the Doctor’s orders of taking it easy and sticking to the streets when walking. I interpreted this as – since I’m used to hiking 5-600 vertical meters daily – a mere 100 would quality as “streets”.

That was the baseline for today’s hike across Røyrafjellet on Dimnøya island. The route to the top is super-easy, and the very first top Karma walked as a puppy.

On our way up Røyrafjellet

I was pleased that there was still a touch of red left in the sky. A touch of red is way better than no color at all…

On the Røyrafjellet ridge

The plan was of course to hike down the way we came up. But now that didn’t seem so fun at all.

Gurskøy island

So, we did what we usually do when we’re here – and that’s to head down the west ridge and return via the shore.

On top of Røyrafjellet

But the shore route isn’t fun any longer. It’s way too much bush. So, this might be the last time we did this round-trip hike.

View towards Nerlandsøy island

Trip statistics: 3,9km, 205 vertical meters, 1h:06m

Dragsund, Jan 9 2023

Monday: As the Røyrafjellet hike was a bit short, I decided to walk the dog to Dragsund late in the evening.

Back in the local streets…

It was a beautiful evening and I cursed myself for not bringing a real camera

Nice sky…

These pictures would have been so much better with my Canon.

On our way to Dragsund

At least I know how to do selfies with the Canon. The Iphone was flashing in my face and I got a series of videos I didn’t want. Oh well…

An IT guy not keeping up with the technology…

Trip statistics: 2,9km, 30 vertical meters, 0h:38m

Heida (239m), Jan 10 2023

Our route across Heida

Tuesday: For the first time this year, I logged “Good” in my health log. No, I don’t usually log my health, but I’ve been paying close attention, having been sick since end of November. I was still on antibiotics (round #2 in one month). I decided to “celebrate” this progress by visiting a top that was higher than 200m, and still “keeping it easy”.

Heida is a good candidate. It’s not a strenuous hike but avoiding falling took some energy. The forest roads were incredibly icy.

Better put on our A-game here…

Things got easier in the forest and in not too long, we reached the top.

On top of Heida

I certainly didn’t want to return the same way and deal with the ice in downhill slopes. A better solution would be to descend to Jøsøk and follow the road – uphill – back to the car.

Descending to Jøsok

Except for the road part, I like the Jøsok route. There is a nice short-cut down to the road that I suspect only me and the locals know about…

On the short-cut from Jøsok to the main road

Trip statistics: 5,6km, 300 vertical meters, 1h:24m

Huldrehornet (271m), Jan 12 2023

Our hike across Huldrehornet

Thursday: Wednesday was a good day healthwise but offered terrible weather. Karma only got walks in my neighborhood. But today, the weather was a bit better, and we took a hike up to Huldrehornet.

On the Huldrehornet ridge

This was my last day on antibiotics, but the order was to take it easy for 3-4 days. So, we took it nice and easy on our way up the forest.

On Huldrehornet

Upon descent, we headed down to Djupvika and it was pitch dark when we returned to the car.

On our way down from Huldrehornet with Sunnmøre alps in the background

Trip statistics: 5,8km, 310 vertical meters, 1h:32m
Pictures (Canon EOS RP) from the hike:

Høgåsen (240m), Svarane (191m), Stemnehornet (190m), Jan 13 2023

Our hike across the Dimnøya tops

Friday: The plan for the afternoon was to do our regular round trip hike across 3 tops on Dimnøya island. It was a beautiful afternoon!

Høgåsen

We headed up to Høgåsen first. There were some pretty nice colors in the sky, and it was tempting to sit down and enjoy it for a bit.

View from Høgåsen

But we still had a long way to go, and I wanted to get most out of the daylight.

Coastal view

The nice light had disappeared by the time we reached Stemnehornet, and now it was just a matter of making it through the forest, past Uglesetra before I would have to turn on the headlamp.

Crossing the “bridge” before Uglesætra

Uglesetra is … something else. It is a very popular destination for the children. Someone has spent an incredible number of manhours here – carving out figures and decorating the cabin. Probably even built the cabin…

Uglesetra

I don’t want to be a critic, but the amount of plastic may be a bit too much? This is after all our common nature.

I hope this is gone in January…

I had to switch on the headlamp 10 minutes before reaching the trailhead at Gjerdsbakkane. It was indeed a nice round-trip hike!

The Uglesetra cabin

Trip statistics: 7,5km, 440 vertical meters, 2h:01m
Pictures (Canon EOS RP) from the hike:

Dragsund, Jan 13 2023

Aurora Borealis

Friday: And then Anne came up from Sogndal. We took the dog for the walk to Dragsund and back.

Starting to enjoy these evening walks in my neighborhood…

If I had known that we were to see the northern light, I would have brought my camera. Oh well…

The northern light doesn’t deserve this picture quality…

Trip statistics: 3,2km, 30 vertical meters, 0h:44m

Storehornet (278m), Nupatinden (242m), Jan 14 2023

Our hike across Storehornet and Nupatinden

Saturday: Beautiful weather and I resisted from going the higher tops and proposed a hike across Storehornet and Nupatinden. It wasn’t really a short walk, and there were some vertical meters involved, but very … evenly distributed.

On our way to Storehornet

We’ve hiked the route across Storehornet and Nupatinden before but then returned to Drageskaret via Sandvik. This time, we would return via Hallebygda – along the main road.

Storehornet ahead

My shape and form wasn’t rockin’, but it felt really good to be out in the open landscape.

This is nice…

It was amazing to see how little snow was left, after the big December snowfall…

Very little snow left…

The first top – Storehornet – was just a 1,3km walk from the Drageskaret trailhead.

View from Storehornet

From here, we had a good view of the route towards Nupatinden.

View towards Nupatinden aka Nupen

Life was good!

Funny!

Remembering how terrible January and February 2022 was – in terms of the weather – one was obligated to appreciate every minute of this weather.

Below Nupen

And then we reached the tip of Nupen – Nupatinden.

The coastal view ain’t half bad…

View from Nupatinden

For descent, we followed a vague path that I’ve never followed before.

Descending from Nupatinden

Down in the forest, we lost sight of the path, but the remaining off-trail route wasn’t difficult.

Where is the path?

We had brought a couple of logs for a small fire and found a nice spot down by the sea, watching the sun go down.

Down by the fjord

A moment for the scrapbook

I don’t really like taking pauses, but I can survive 20-30 minutes like this…

After the fire was out, it was time for the 4,5km walk to the car at Drageskaret

Not the best part of the hike…

Trip statistics: 10,1km, 410 vertical meters, 3h:35m
Pictures (Canon EOS RP/Iphone 13 Pro Max) from the hike

Rjåhornet (421m), Storevarden (430m), Jan 15 2023

Our hike across the Nerlandsøya tops

Sunday: I felt for stepping up the hiking just a little bit, but still keep it moderate. A hike across the Nerlandsøya tops seemed perfect. The weather was still nice, and I always enjoy hiking on this island.

Today, I wanted to follow a path I’ve not done before, and we parked at the Mjelthaugveien trailhead.

The trailhead

From here, it would be a 3,3km walk up to Rjåhornet.

Rising above Kvalsund

We both enjoyed the forest path.

Through the forest

While the forest is usually nice, I prefer being above it and it didn’t take long before we had passed it. It’s not a whole lot of forests out here on the coastline.

Rising above the forest

Eventually, we reached the top of Rjåhornet, and it was a bit windy. Like always, almost…

View from Rjåhornet

Our next goal was Storevarden – the highest point on the island.

Heading for Storevarden

Approaching Storevarden, an eagle paid us extra attention. It’s seldom we see eagles this curious

A curious eagle

And then we stood on top of the island.

On top of Storevarden

We followed the regular trail down the mountain, while I was figuring out how to get back to the car, avoiding roads.

Descending from Storevarden

When we passed the dam (on the above picture), I realized that I had been wanting to stand on top of the islet, ever since I hiked here the first time. It would clearly have to be on ice in case this was drinking water. And today, there was ice, although not very thick.

The islet

After throwing rocks, we concluded that the ice was thick enough. Just…

The ice held…

And then the islet was “in the bag”.

Yeah! 😉

All I could now was to hope that I hadn’t pushed my limits too far, with respect to the rest my body needed. Time would show. And time did

Trip statistics: 7,6km, 510 vertical meters, 2h:36m
Pictures (Canon EOS RP/Iphone 13 Pro Max) from the hike
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