OK local hikes…
Index
| Date | Peak | Height | PF | Location | WCP/FP | MAP |
| 10.04.23 | Garnestua | 653m | 415m | Ulstein, Norway | WCP | MAP |
| 11.04.23 | Melshornet | 668m | 560m | Hareid, Norway | WCP | MAP |
| 12.04.23 | Sollia | 661m | 661m | Herøy/Sande, M&R, Norway | WCP | MAP |
| 13.04.23 | Blåtind | 697m | 697m | Ulstein, Norway | WCP | MAP |
| 14.04.23 | Leinehornet | 364m | 364m | Herøy, M&R, Norway | WCP | MAP |
| 14.04.23 | Leinebjørnen | 271m | 108m | Herøy, Norway | WCP | MAP |
| 15.04.23 | Årvikveten | 458m | 205m | Sande, Norway | WCP | MAP |
| 16.04.23 | Krokhornet | 616m | 68m | Vanylven, Norway | WCP | MAP |
| 16.04.23 | Storekrokhornet | 654m | 146m | Vanylven, Norway | WCP | MAP |
| 16.04.23 | Myklebustheida | 553m | 25m | Vanylven, Norway | WCP | MAP |
| 16.04.23 | Rindekollen | 562m | 40m | Vanylven, Norway | WCP | MAP |
Garnestua (654m), Apr 10 2023
Monday: Back from Easter vacation, with 8 new pf100 tops in the bag, it felt like a slight anticlimax to be walking the dog in my local mountains again. I had to remind myself that I was not allowed to have any non-positive thoughts when hiking. Before one knows it, the opportunity is gone…
So, I chose Garnestua with fresh optimism. Most likely, there would be at least one good thing that I could take away from this hike – besides the privilege of just being able to do it.
Karma and I headed out from the Haddal sports field and took the regular SW ridge route.
I was curious about how much snow we would have to deal with.
The ridge to Ringstadhornet didn’t offer a whole lot of snow and the main elevation gain was basically over.
It was OK to be hiking again. The weather didn’t really invite for skiing…
We got to the top without any major snow struggle.
It was nice to be back again, but what should I do to make this hike worth remembering?
For starters, I chose to hike over Flåna and take it from there.
I decided to set course for lake Garnesvatnet and see if the ice would hold. I don’t think I’ve been hiking across this lake before, so that would surely qualify as “memorable” …
The ice did hold my weight, and it was fun to hike on ice again. Given the fact that we weren’t too far away from the dam, we stayed close to the shore. Then we sat course for our ascent route and descended back to Haddal.
Trip statistics: 8,2km, 740 vertical meters, 2h:22m
Pictures (Canon EOS RP) from the hike:
Melshornet (668m), Apr 11 2023
Tuesday: After work, I needed a slight change of scenery and drove to Ulset to hike Melshornet on Hareidlandet.
I did not expect to struggle with snow on the route from Ulset.
To be honest, I am a little bored with this route now. I’d rather hike from the Hjørungavåg side, but there is a severe tick-problem on that side. Karma doesn’t seem to mind about this route, though…
One thing I never get bored with – is the views!
As we got higher, I could feel a cold wind picking up. I met a couple on their way down. The guy was hiking in shorts, and he didn’t look too happy…
Above 500m, the wind was cold and unpleasant and on top it was almost unbearable. I am so grateful to those who built the summit cairn!
In shelter from the wind, I could enjoy the views in full…
We took the same route down, jogging quickly down to 500m and soon passed the couple we met earlier…
Trip statistics: 7,3km, 560 vertical meters, 1h:40m
Pictures (Canon EOS RP/Iphone 13 Max Pro) from the hike:
Sollia (661m), Apr 12 2023
Wednesday: It didn’t like there was any particular snow left for skiing in the local mountains, but I decided to give it a go anyway. As long as there is snow > 500m then Sollia could offer kilometers of nice skiing. It was just a matter of carrying the skis from Leikongeidet and put them on when conditions allowed for it.
The opportunity came already shortly after the Røddalshorn – Sollia pass. It wasn’t epic amounts of snow but just enough to get by.
The higher we got, the better it got…
Karma was struggling in the snow and seemed extra happy every time she could walk alongside me – on dry ground.
I truly enjoyed myself. Things got much better after converting from plastic (Scarpa T4) to leather (Alfa) during Easter. I kind of miss the 75mm bindings but would take this as an opportunity to get more comfortable with the BC bindings off the track.
And then we were on top of Gurskøy island’s high point!
The higher mountains would surely offer nice skiing for another month. Little did I know that I would be back here on Sollia almost 1 month later (May 5th) on skis…
We – more or less – headed down the same route we came up. This was a really nice trip!
Trip statistics: 10,4km, 635 vertical meters, 2h:30m
Pictures (Canon EOS RP/Iphone 13 Max Pro) from the trip:
Blåtind (697m), Apr 13 2023
Thursday: After visiting the Gurskøy island high point the day before, it was only natural to aim for the Hareidlandet island high point this afternoon. On foot!
Again, I chose the steep and direct off-trail route straight up from Ringstaddalen. Karma loves this route, as she spotted a hare here, some 6-7 years ago. Some things are hard to forget…
It was a beautiful afternoon, and I wouldn’t let any soft or rotten snow spoil the moment.
The snow seemed for the most part to carry Karma’s weight. Not mine, though…
This was my 187th visit here. Time goes by…
For descent, I chose to hike the SW ridge down to Klungsdalen. This route was as good as free of snow.
Trip statistics: 5,8km, 650 vertical meters, 2h:01m
Pictures (Canon EOS RP/Iphone 13 Max Pro) from the hike:
Leinehornet (366m), Leinebjørnen (271m), Apr 14 2023
Friday: It has now more become the standard that I hike both Leinehornet and Leinebjørnen when I’ve decided to visit one of them. But today, there would be a twist. Instead of hiking from the Leine side, we would head out from Sande.
I parked at the Sande – Ytrebø junction and then we aimed for Sande.
At Sande, I was not able to locate the Leinehornet path, but after a short off-trail escapade, we finally found the path.
Once you find the path, it’s actually quite nice and takes you straight to the top. Just make sure to turn right in the only fork you get to.
The weather didn’t invite for spending much time with the camera.
So, we sat course for Leinebjørnen.
The weather had “potential” though. But I didn’t have time to hang around.
From Leinebjørnen, we hiked across Sollida and joined the road at Bølandet. It was a good walk!
Trip statistics: 9,3km, 610 vertical meters, 2h:01m
Pictures (Canon EOS RP/Iphone 13 Max Pro) from the hike:
Årvikveten (458m), Apr 15 2023
Saturday: Today, I felt for exploring more of the forest above Larsnes, with Årvikveten as the main goal. I Noticed that I hadn’t hiked from Breivikneset before, so that’s where I planned to start.
This route seemed to be recently marked and was a very nice route up the forest!
After a while, I merged with the Dalen route and was back in familiar territory. This route was signposted “Kyrkjehornet”. I had been there before, so that top was not on my list today.
The weather was nice, and I really enjoyed myself. Karma – with a ghost cloud – seemed happy too!
After a while, I passed a familiar rock. I had Anne posing on this rock some years ago…
I briefly considered putting Karma on top but abandoned. It would be a haul to get her up there…
Next, I reached the lakes and had Årvikveten in view. The ascent would be done up the right-hand side.
Throughout the hike, I had let Karma walk in front of me – as she wants that – and I was on her tail, constantly looking for snakes. For some reason, that seemed important today, well knowing that I should have been in front of her to make it count.
But we reached the top without sight of any snakes.
I enjoyed the views for a few minutes, then decided on the return route.
We followed the route towards Drageskaret, with the intention to descend at Svedehornet. On our way, we met a woman who was looking in the grass. A snake had just crossed her path. I had to remind myself that these are shy creatures and would normally prefer the exit strategy over combat.
In case you’re not Norwegian, this viper is called “Hoggorm” and is poisonous. If the dog gets bitten, my vet recommends me to carry her down the mountain. She’s “only” 30+ kg…
He also told me that if they get bit in the mouth, they dog can breathe through the nose. And vice versa. But if it gets bit in the throat, that’s more serious. In any case, the venom needs treatment. That goes for humans too. As I can’t carry myself down the mountain, maybe it’s not such a bad idea to let the dog go first…
From Svedehornet, I hiked down to lake Kjellavatnet, then took the route to “Gapahuken” and followed the tractor road down to Dalen. I was now on the wrong side of the valley, so we crossed it, jumped across the creek, and found the Dalen path, which we followed until we reached the Breivikneset path.
All in all, a really enjoyable hike!
Trip statistics: 11,1km, 790 vertical meters, 2h:53m
Pictures (Canon EOS RP/Iphone 13 Max Pro) from the hike:
Krokhornet (616m), Storkrokhornet (654m), Apr 16 2023
Sunday: Today, I felt for a total change in scenery and took the Årvika – Koparnes ferry – aiming for Storekrokhornet in Vanylven.
For starters, this would be a repetition of the hike I did with Anne back in 2018. There would hopefully be a variation today, but I wasn’t quite sure how – when we headed out from Sighaug.
I remembered the route fairly well. The fjord view is nice!
After a steep climb, we got Storekrokhornet in view. The direct line would mean crossing snow, so I chose to hike across Krokhornet instead.
With lake Brudevikvatnet almost free of ice, I took it for granted that spring had arrived. I was wrong…
The route up to Krokhornet was basically free of snow.
To get to Storekrokhornet, we would surely have to walk on snow. Which is not a problem of course, but today I was walking in terrain shoes and wanted to keep dry as long as possible.
Karma had the quite opposite attraction to the snow…
And then we reached the top.
There are some good views up here, for sure…
So, what kind of variation could we have today? Anne and I returned on the west side of lake Måsevatnet. So maybe I should go on the east side? Preferably across the tops Myklebustheida and Rindekollen. Two new < pf100 tops would be quite fine!
Snow was now inevitable, but it was spring snow. After sinking in like 5cm, the sinking stopped. All in all, OK.
Then view reached the viewpoint with the odd name “Kjeringa hass Vik”, freely translated to “Vik’s woman”. I had no clue what the story is here, but found an online article…
From here, we sat course for the top of the mountain road that would take us down to Hundsnes.
But first, one final glance at the surroundings…
I had hiked this mountain road a couple of times before, and I remembered vaguely that Anne and I had done a short-cut through the forest. I didn’t find the exact same route, but the route we picked was just fine…
Once down on the road, the car was only 1,5km away.
Back at Koparnes, time was easily killed by enjoying the views…
…and thinking back on previous hikes and ski-trips in these mountains…
It had been a really good hiking week, with an average of 702 vertical meters and 9,4km distance per day.
Trip statistics: 14,2km, 930 vertical meters, 3h:58m
Pictures (Canon EOS RP/Iphone 13 Pro Max) from the trip:
