At large in the Bodø mountains…
Index
| Date | Peak | Height | PF | Location | MAP |
| 25.07.23 | Steigtinden | 793m | 760m | Bodø, Norway | MAP |
| 25.07.23 | Skautuva | 627m | 240m | Bodø, Norway | MAP |
| 25.07.23 | Svensdalsfjellet | 607m | 89m | Bodø, Norway | MAP |
Tuesday: I’m not going to say that we woke up at Hotel Scandic Bodø, as I hardly slept a wink that night. The temperature in the room was way too high and we were forced to have the window open, with super-annoying non-static noise from the street. Anne, on the other hand, slept OK. But I was done with this hotel even if we had booked the room for 3 days.
Anne suggested that we should go to Geitvågen camping ground and put up the tent. I admit that I was not happy. I’m not a fan of camping grounds and just the thought of spending many hours in a small tent… But, in lack of other options…
We went to Geitvågen and put up the tent. Then it was time for the main event for the day – Steigtinden!
The first time I saw Steigtinden was in 2009, when I was fortunate to get a chance to do the amazing traverse across Strandåtindan. There were sharp peaks for miles and miles in all directions, but Steigtinden caught my attention and I promised myself I would be back to visit it one day.
It took 14 years, but here we were – at the trailhead at Kvanngletta.
We followed the Skauveien road, aiming for the mountain. When Skauveien made a sharp right-hand turn, we left the road and followed a path upwards.
After 2-300m, we joined another gravel road – the road from Skau up to the waterworks.
By the waterworks, we found the forest path.
It was a hot climb up the forest, but the path was good and we took our time. 30 minutes later, we arrived in the pass between Steigtinden and Skautuva.
Next, we hiked up to Tonfjellet, from where we got Steigtinden in view for the first time. It didn’t look nearly as wild as it looks from the north. Which was good, otherwise we would not have been able to get up here…
Due to the high temperature, we had to make several stops as Karma needed cooling…
Steigtinden came closer and closer. The route up didn’t look very steep but looks could be deceiving…
Eventually we reached the foot of the summit block and could begin the ascent.
It was steep enough to make us cautious about not kicking loose any rocks. We were not alone on this mountain.
And then we were up! Back in 2009, I didn’t think that this mountain would offer such a nice and easy ascent!
The views were … spectacular!
THIS is what I call summer vacation!
After a nice stay on top, it was time to head back down. Anne had understood that I had my eyes on Skautuva and suggested that I should just go and hike it. She would take Karma and head back down. And – if I wanted to – continue on and she could pick me up wherever I came down. That was an offer I simply could not refuse.
I left Anne and Karma in the pass between the two mountains. Anne was busy with a job call and hardly noticed that I left.
But Karma never misses when daddy is going away…
The path to Skautuva was nice and it was fun to see Steigtinden from a new angle.
Soon, I ran into locals…
I was trying to move quickly, but then I met one much quicker than me…
A bit later, Skautuva was “in the bag”!
Steigtinden started to appear “remote”…
I didn’t have a plan, but at least I would reach Svensdalsfjellet before I started thinking about the descent.
Along the way I had a good view towards Geitvågen – easily spotted as they have built a dam across the bay – to control the water level in the bay.
On top of Svensdalsfjellet, I met a sporty woman who was jogging from Skau to Bodø – across Skautuva, Svensdalsfjellet, Løpsfjellet and Keiservarden. This was obviously a popular jogging route. It was tempting to continue to Løpsfjellet to get another pf100 top (we had visited Keiservarden during a previous summer holiday) but the hike was already running a bit long and it was time to get back down.
I decided to descend via Bjørndalsaksla, as the woman I spoke to said it was a nice route. To get there, I had to descend off-trail from Svensdalsfjellet to Brennakselfjellet and then continue off-trail until I reached the path to Bjørndalsaksla.
I was very happy to find the Bjørndalsaksla path, as the terrain below was by no means terrain you want to find yourself off-trail in. The path itself was steep enough and there were ropes in several places.
Eventually, I reached Skjelstad and called Anne for a pick-up. Looking back on the mountain, my suspicion about how crucial it was to find the path, was confirmed…
In the car, returning to Geitvågen – Anne suggested that we could always upgrade to a tent in which we could stand up. I found that idea to be super-excellent! We drove to Europris and bought a tent for NOK 1200,- These extra centimeters was a really game-changer for my state of mind regarding staying at the camping ground.
Back at Geitvågen, we decided to have dinner before putting the new tent up.
When the new tent was up, I was super-happy. This was just fantastic! Not only could we stand up inside, but we had separate bedrooms! I don’t mind sleeping next to my girlfriend, but I don’t mind sleeping alone either!
What started out as a quite miserable morning turned into a glorious day!
Trip statistics: 19,3km, 1500 vertical meters, 6h:06m
Pictures (Canon EOS RP/Iphone 13 Pro Max) from the hike:
