Back in “crap” mode…
Index
| Date | Peak | Height | PF | Location | WCP/FP | MAP |
| 06.02.23 | Nakken | 180m | 22m | Herøy, M&R, Norway | – | MAP |
| 06.02.23 | Garnestua | 654m | 416m | Ulstein, Norway | WCP | MAP |
| 07.02.23 | Tuva | 63m | 36m | Ulstein, Norway | – | MAP |
| 08.02.23 | Huldrehornet | 271m | 113m | Herøy, M&R, Norway | WCP | MAP |
| 11.02.23 | Flotshaugen | 229m | 9mtd> | Sogndal, Norway | – | MAP |
| 12.02.23 | Lærdal | – | – | Lærdal, Norway | – | MAP |
Nakken (180m), Feb 6 2023
Monday: I was hoping for another good week, but already on the lunch-hike to Nakken, I could feel that something was “off”. This little hill was bloody hard!
And I had a feeling that this new concept of “lunch-hikes” would have to be put on hold for a while.
It was quite windy too…
Trip statistics: 1,5km, 160 vertical meters, 0h:24m
Garnestua (654m), Feb 6 2023
Monday: I hoped that the bad shape on the Nakken hike was an “accident”. After all, I had just finished of a darn good week! So, I decided to hike Garnestua from Haddal this afternoon. 600m straight up would give me a definitive answer.
Already after 50 vertical meters, I was dead meat. Never has this hill been so long and hard!
But the will to reach the goal was stronger than to listen to the signals, and so we continued.
Maybe this hike wasn’t what my body needed now, but I would be super-depressed if I can’t go hiking, so it’s a … complex matter.
When we reached the top, I had to decide if we were to return the same way or take the longer route down. I chose the latter and sat course for Løset and the Ringstaddalen road.
It helps to know about the local dangers…
And never has the Ringstaddalen road been longer…
Trip statistics: 9,2km, 600 vertical meters, 2h:20m
Tuva (63m), Feb 7 2023
Tuesday: After 3 rounds of antibiotics since mid-December, I was hoping that I could see the light at the end of the tunnel, but it was evident that another inflammation was emerging. My back was getting stiff and all weird, and I never have back problems. So, walking the dog this afternoon would have to be in easier terrain and I chose to hike across the small top Tuva near Aursnes.
I parked by the Selvåg tunnel and followed the old road.
From here, we had a good view towards Garnestua that we visited the day before.
After 1,9km, we could leave the road and get on the round-trip walk across Tuva and around lake Aurnesvatnet.
At Tuva, I was all spent, but we were only half-way. Still, it helped to see that Karma had a good time!
Trip statistics: 6,9km, 200 vertical meters, 1h:29m
Huldrehornet (271m), Feb 8 2023
Wednesday: After work, I was going to Sogndal, but had the time to take the dog for a walk first. I felt crappier than the day before and looked forward to seeing the specialist in Bergen on Friday.
We headed up the Huldrehornet forest, and it felt good to give the dog a walk before the 3,5 hour drive to Sogndal.
I felt a little sad about leaving my snow-free region for the snowy Sogndal. If I had felt up to Randonee skiing, I wouldn’t have been sad about it, though.
Another “issue” was that the dog was overdue for a haircut. I didn’t look forward to the task, but I couldn’t postpone it for much longer.
We took an off-trail route down the southeast ridge before returning to the house and getting on our way to Sogndal. The drive was awful, as I couldn’t lean my back against the seat. What the heck was going on back there?
Trip statistics: 2,7km, 280 vertical meters, 0h:55m
Bergen, Feb 9-10 2023
Thursday-Friday: After work on Thursday, I drove from Sogndal to Bergen. This 230km drive was just as awful as the day before. I could not lean my back against the seat and the weather was terrible. Mixed snow and rain.
I checked into Quality Hotel Edvard Grieg at Sandsli. I had stayed at this hotel before, around 35 years ago (!) Back then, I had this great suite back then, but not so this time. No worries though, as the hotel was paid for by the health insurance…
On Friday, I went to see the specialist, got some answers but nothing that explained the inflammations. I was sent home with a requisition for a CT-scan. The upside was that tests showed that I should go on yet another round of antibiotics. I looked forward to that. The back was killing me.
The weather was just as bad as the day before, but on a good note, I could already feel the pills busy fixing the inflammation in my back. And 2 days later, the back felt way much better.
I was a certified wreck when I arrived at Sogndal in the afternoon…
Flotshaugen (229m), Feb 11 2023
Saturday: Feeling a notch better, I figured an easy walk across Flotshaugen in Sogndal would do my head some good and otherwise not too much harm. Anne decided to join in.
Fortunately, there wasn’t too much snow. At least on the Barsnes-facing side.
Karma was – like always – happy about the snow. And I got a little bit happier when I we took a short off-trail section near the top. New track for my GPS map. Stuff that matters…
Well, technically this is not a top. Not even close. You only descend a whopping 4 meters before the mountain continues to rise. But, it’s a nice target if you’re looking for a short round-trip hike.
We descended along a tractor road and on the northeast side, there was a whole lot more snow.
Down by Barsnesfjorden, we discovered a potential new, cool activity. Jumping between ice floes. With a wetsuit and a pair of ice picks in case the jump fails. I made of note of it…
Back at Anne’s place, Karma discovered the neighbor cat that frequently passes through Anne’s garden…
Trip statistics: 4km, 260 vertical meters, 1h:22m
Pictures (Canon EOS RP/Iphone 13 Pro Max) from the hike:
Lærdal, Feb 12 2023
Sunday: Sundays mean that Anne goes swimming along with a bunch of other people. I came along once but didn’t get hooked. I’m convinced it’s good and healthy, but … I just don’t bother. But today, I went down there to give her a lift back home. It’s a good social gathering.
When going to the mountains is not an option, then the next best thing is to explore places where we never would have been walking. So, today we drove to Lærdal to get better acquainted with this town.
The plan was a round-trip hike, covering both sides of the Lærdalselvi river.
Then the plan was slightly altered to also include Dagsturhytta (day hiking cabin). Every municipality in the former Sogn og Fjordane County has one. At least that was the plan. I’ve only been to a few.
We enjoyed walking in Lærdal – “notorious” for the lack of snow. The snow showers are exhausted long before they reach this area.
Along the way, we ran into a couple of guys. Anne knew one of them and we had a nicechat. The other guy told us about a big rock on which he had developed a number of climbing routes. We would check out this rock later on.
We then crossed the bridge and found the path that would take us up the forest.
The path was nice!
Eventually, we reached the day hiking cabin and had a good view towards Lærdal.
We continued down to Jektesanden, in pursuit of the big rock. And found it. It was indeed huge!
It didn’t take long before we realized that we were way too old for this. Maybe we could pull off the easiest routes, but it’s OK that this activity is something we can look back on with some fun memories.
Back at the car, we drove to “Motorikkparken” – which has a number of fun challenges for young and old persons.
While I love this stuff, I get too nervous about Anne. The last time we tried this, Anne ended up on the hospital with a broken back…
Altogether – a very nice day in Lærdal!
Trip statistics: 6,4km, 170 vertical meters, 2h:23m
Pictures (Canon EOS RP/Iphone 13 Pro Max) from the walk:
