Helgehornet, Hovdeåsane, Feb 5 2023

A mighty fine round-trip hike in the Ørsta/Volda region

Our hike across Helgehornet and Hovdeåsane

Index

Date Peak Height PF Location WCP/FP MAP
05.02.23 Helgehornet 626m 545m Volda, Norway WCP MAP
05.02.23 Høgtua (Åsen) 162m 27m Ørsta, Norway WCP MAP
05.02.23 Indrehovdåsen (Høgåsen) 187m 66m Ørsta, Norway WCP MAP
05.02.23 Ytrehovdåsen (Geitenakken) 170m 72m Ørsta, Norway WCP MAP

Sunday: My good period lasted 5 days, and this Sunday was the last of those days. It was a grey day with rain and nasty hail showers, carpet bombing my house. As such, I had no plans to seek higher ground and expose my dog to those and chose to hike the lower Hovdeåsane hills in the Ørsta/Volda border region.

Once I came out from the Eiksund tunnel, the weather was not so violent, and I decided to do my “classic” round across Helgehornet and the Hovdeåsane hills, starting at the north end of lake Hovdevatnet. I just hoped that the weather would stay as it was (or improve), because it can be quite brutal on the mountain tops when the hail showers and wind set in.

Heading for a path I think few people know about. Take the forest road instead…

On our way up Helgehornet, it started snowing. Which was OK. Karma was happy, and I was happy. I felt strong and good.

On our way to Helgehornet

There wasn’t a whole lot of snow, so the struggle was moderate.

Karma likes snow…

Eventually, it stopped snowing and everything was honky dory fine…

Not far now…

It was good for the morale to reach the highest point and know that whatever weather we would get, we would soon be in shelter from it.

On top of Helgehornet
Panorama view from Helgehornet

We went down the south ridge, there were no tracks but Karma followed the path with 100% precision. Dogs never cease to amaze me…

Heading down the south ridge

Instead of turning towards the shooting range, we aimed for the tractor road going down to Håskjold.

Taking a short-cut from here

After a short-cut across the field, we reached the road and followed it for a short while before getting on the forest path to the Hovdeåsane hills near lake Tjørna.

On the path across the Hovdeåsane hills

We didn’t meet anyone on our hike across Helgehornet, but we met quite a lot of people on their Sunday walk across these lower hills.

On Indrehovdåsen (Høgåsen)

The 3 tops are; Høgetua (Åsen) – 162m, Indrehovdåsen (Høgåsen) – 187m and Ytrehovdåsen (Geitenakken) – 170m.

It is a really nice walk. If you live in this region and haven’t been hiking here, give it a try!

From Indrehovdåsen, we had to cross the car road at Hovden Møbel AS before getting on the path to Ytrehovdåsen.

View across the road towards Ytrehovdåsen

The hike was now coming to and end, and like always it felt much longer than the actual distance. I guess the vertical meters up to Helgehornet has something do with it.

Across Ytrehovdåsen. Helgehornet in the background.

I returned home very happy, feeling fine. Little did I know that it would be a longer downhill period from here…

Trip statistics: 11,9km, 830 vertical meters, 3h:20m
Pictures (Canon EOS RP)Iphone 13 Pro Max) from the hike:

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