@Indre Sogn
Index
| Date | Peak | Height | PF | Location | WCP/FP | MAP |
| 15.05.23 | Kambafjellet | 1230m | 25m | Sogndal, Norway | WCP | MAP |
| 15.05.23 | Blåfjellet | 1401m | 151m | Sogndal, Norway | WCP | MAP |
| 16.05.23 | Turrlifjellet | 647m | 16m | Sogndal, Norway | – | MAP |
| 17.05.23 | Smørhovden | 704m | 61m | Sogndal, Norway | WCP | MAP |
| 19.05.23 | Nesahaugen | 670m | 7m | Sogndal, Norway | – | MAP |
| 21.05.23 | Amlaholten | 508m | 265m | Sogndal, Norway | WCP | MAP |
Blåfjellet (1401m), May 15 2023
Monday: Inspired by the nice ski-trip to Vardeggi on Gaularfjellet the day before, I decided to ski Blåfjellet in Sogndal after work.
This would be a solo ski-trip. I didn’t trust the snow to carry Karma’s weight. I drove up to Rindabotn and was alone at the skiing centre. The skiing season was seemingly over…
The easiest way to get up the mountain was to ski below the lifts…
On top of the ski lifts, I had Blåfjellet in clear view. On my way up, I noticed that I had lost one of my skin clips. Not a big disaster, but the skins were brand new, and it was just annoying to lose one so soon.
I could see a skier way ahead of me. I caught up with her just before Kambafjellet. We had a quick chat, and she would not continue to Blåfjellet.
I first skied to the westernmost top, possibly the highest top of the two up here – and formerly located in Leikanger municipality.
Then I skied to the top where the cairn is, wondering what kind of descent I had ahead of me.
I considered skiing down my ascent route, in case I would spot the skin clip. But, in the end I decided it wasn’t worth it. The chance of spotting it was slim.
I’m officially saying that this was the worst ski-descent ever. The snow was sticky like glue. This mountain is not steep enough to let gravity play a part and so the entire run down was a sad affair.
Once back at Rindabotn, I took the skis off. I had only a few meters to the car. Just as I bent down to release the skis, I noticed something in the grass. It was my skin clip! That just made my day!
Trip statistics: 9,6km, 875 vertical meters, 2h:31m
Pictures (Canon EOS RP/Iphone 13 Pro Max) from the trip:
Turrlifjellet (647m), May 16 2023
Tuesday: I was actually on my way to hike Amlaholten after work, but then I noticed a forest path just before the Amla tunnel and I was curious to see where it went.
It didn’t go very far. We soon reached a tractor road which I had no intention of following. So, we went off-trail, going somewhere…
I was a bit curious about Karma. She had a long walk with Anne earlier in the day – to Nigardsbreen glacier and she looked a bit tired when she got back. But when I “saddled up” for my hike, she was in the hallway. Because that’s just how it usually works, or if she wanted more walking, I will never know. She had looked a little bit down on the path but as soon we went off-trail, she was all fired up…
Eventually, I decided to hike to Turrlifjellet – a small forest hump in the Kaupanger forest that I hadn’t previously been to. Eventually, I had to adjust my direct course because of the terrain ahead of me…
There are not a lot of viewpoints in this forest, but at least I got a good glimpse of Amlaholten – my original goal.
Eventually, we reached Turrlifjellet – although it wasn’t easy to pinpoint the high point. So, I made sure I visited all the potential spots…
We took a different route down the mountain, partly on-trail, partly off-trail and partly along deer tracks.
Trip statistics: 7,7km, 400 vertical meters, 1h:55m
Pictures (Canon EOS RP) from the trip:
Smørhovden (704m), May 17 2023
Wednesday: Norway’s Constitution Day but it wouldn’t be the traditional ski-trip today. We were invited to lunch at friends in Sogndalsfjøra.
Afterwards, Anne wanted to stay in downtown Sogndal and watch the parades, while I took Karma and drove to Øvstedalen to hike Smørhovden.
We had a steep ascent up the forest! After a little while, we joined the tractor road to Alpastølen.
I was hoping to avoid snow on this hike, while Karma had a slightly different perspective…
There was not a whole lot of snow left on this side of the forest, so the hike to the top was easy.
And then we were on top!
I decided to continue towards Skardet, descend to Skardsbø and return via the road. I almost regretted this decision when I saw the amount of snow ahead of me.
Luckily, when we stayed on the south side, there was little snow left and then we joined the S1 path.
After passing Øyrahagestølen and Skardsbøstølen, we reached Skardet.
At Skardsbø, the car was 2,6km away (walking distance)
It’s not super-fun to hike this road, but you can enjoy fjord views and Smørhovden above.
And maybe pull out some better selfies than I did…
Trip statistics: 8km, 650 vertical meters, 2h:03m
Pictures (Canon EOS RP) from the hike:
Nesahaugen (670m), May 19 2023
Friday: This weekend, we attended a private event in the beautiful village Fjærland.
A part of this event was a hike up to Nesahaugen. We were 11 persons and one dog heading out.
Anne and I had been up here before, passing on our way up Jordalsnipa back in 2013. I remembered Jordalsnipa, but nothing from Nesahaugen.
We headed out from Homrane, just south of the Fjærland village along a marked trail.
The first stop was at “Oslo Plass”. Someone has had a great sense of humor in naming this spot…
Then we continued up to Hamrastølen where we had lunch.
At Hamrastølen, we “lost” Eva and Bjørn – who figured that their knees were quite happy about turning around here. Going up is not a problem, but what goes up must come down…
Again, I was hoping we would avoid snow and Karma had the opposite idea. She won…
It was actually a good deal of snow in the upper forest, but fortunately the snow wasn’t totally rotten.
Then it was time for a group picture…
You gather a bunch of old people on a mountain top and anything can happen.
Well, calling a Nesahaugen a “top” is stretching it to the fullest. It is at best a small hump. But, who cares? We had a good time!
And we had nice views too…
Trip statistics: 6,6km, 650 vertical meters, 3h:53m
Pictures (Canon EOS RP) from the hike:
Amlaholten (508m), May 21 2023
Sunday: Back in Sogndal, after spending 2 nights in Fjærland. I decided to take the dog a hike up to Hesteggi (907m).
But the dog was not interested and stopped walking after 100 meters. One has to respect that, but I had to figure out what the problem actually was. Didn’t she want to walk at all or had she grown a dislike towards this top?
To find out, I drove to Kaupanger to see if she was willing to hike Amlaholten along the forest path.
She was…
Now that I knew she wasn’t sick or anything, I could go off-trail and she didn’t mind one bit. On the contrary…
Once on the high ridge, I took her to a nice viewpoint. I know she likes the Sognefjord…
I’m joking, of course. Then we went up to the high point where she knew that treats were awaiting.
On the way down, I found a viewpoint that hadn’t caught my attention before. One has an – almost – pretty good Kaupanger view from here.
Then I decided to go off another off-trail escapade. Karma didn’t mind that at all.
Eventually, we joined the forest trail and returned to the car.
Unfortunately, Karma had gotten another hot-spot and it was difficult to get it fixed. I have a great cortisone spray that heals this quickly, but yesterday she had been biting on the wound and it was all bloody again. And now, the bandage had fallen off. As such, I didn’t want to leave her alone in the back of the car until I got a new bandage on her. So, she had to sit in the front seat back to Sogndal. She really seemed to like that! Like, “so THIS is what it’s like from up here. Wow…”
Back home, darling Anne had got the barbeque going…
Trip statistics: 4,8km, 340 vertical meters, 1h:18m
Pictures (Canon EOS RP/Iphone 13 Pro Max) from the hike:
