OMG, what a nice hike!
Index
| Date | Peak | Height | PF | Location | MAP |
| 30.07.23 | Gasskatjåhkkå | 1517m | 839m | Sørfold, Norway | MAP |
Sunday: We woke up at Kobbelv Vertshus, where we had checked in the day before. I took Karma and hiked up to Reinhausen, from where we had a great view towards Gasskatjåhkkå – our goal for today.
We had booked the room for two nights. We expected the Gasskatjåhkkå hike to be long and it would be nice to have a room to return to.
None of us had heard about Gasskatjåhkkå before, but it used to be the highest peak in Hamarøy. After merging with Tysfjord, this is now the 2nd highest peak in the new municipality.
It was a strike of luck that we ended up here, as we had 2 days “spare” between our Bodø stay and returning to Brønnøysund on our last week on this vacation. We were done by Bodø, and we didn’t want to drive too far north and so I started looking for mountains in the region north of Bodø and south of Drag. It didn’t take long before Gasskatjåhkkå caught my attention on the map. Fortunately, Anne found this mountain interesting too and today we would hopefully stand on top of it!
After breakfast, we drove to lake Kobbvatnet and left E6. After a few kilometres, we came to the start of the mountain road into Gjerdalen that would take us up to the trailhead at 550m, near Reinoksskardet.
After a while, Gasskatjåhkkå came into view. Oh wow…
We parked the car where the path to lake Juoksajávrre begins, just below Juoksatjåhkkå.
After 1,1km, we left the path and followed a ridge between lakes Juoksajávrre and Jierddajávrre.
Gasskatjåhkkå was a sight for sore eyes…
We aimed for the distinct pass between Hálljetjårro and Gasskavárre and looked forward to get to the slabs.
The slabs were just wonderful.
Fortunately, Karma found water all the way to the foot of Gasskatjåhkkå.
When we reached the pass, we also got Gasskatjåhkkå in proper view. What a wonderful peak!
We just couldn’t wait to get over there…
We started out by following the east shore of lake Hálljejávrre but soon realized that this would involve a lot more vertical gain. So, we turned around and aimed for the west shore instead. This was a good call…
Eventually, we reached the foot of the mountain and Karma could drink all she wanted, for as long as she wanted.
And then we headed up the mountain. On dry slabs. Which was an important detail. This hike will be altogether different if the rock is wet. We were lucky, on several accounts. The mountain road is only open in the July 15 – October 15 timeframe. Which gives a 3-month window. Within this window, you want to wait until most of the snow has gone. Otherwise, ice-axe and crampons should be brought along. You would also want nice weather. It would be a true shame if your first and only visit to this mountain happened in fog.
In sum, within this 3-month period, you want little snow, dry rock and nice weather. We had all of that today!
We had brought ice-axes and crampons just in case, but we soon realized that they wouldn’t be needed. The only snow we had to cross was just below the summit ridge and the terrain wasn’t steep.
On dry rock going up, slide on snow on our way down…
Karma seemed to appreciate reaching snow again…
Fog was moving in, and I got a bit worried about being cheated of the amazing views I expected to get on top. Better hurry up!
Then we got Litletinden (Little peak) in view. That is not the name I would have given it…
The fog came closer and closer…
The final ridge – 0,5-0,6km of hiking – was easy enough. On the upper part of the ridge, I had to find the best route for Karma. But it didn’t take long before we had the summit in view.
And then we were on top of Gasskatjåhkkå!
We were super-thrilled to be here. While this peak would have been “just another nice peak” in the Norwegian alpine ranges, we had traveled a long way to get here. The fastest driving route from Sogndal to this trailhead would be 1150km! And we hadn’t expected to find such a peak up here either.
The fog left us alone and we could enjoy the views towards this massive mountain region.
We went over to the northeast tip for some additional views towards the terrain below the mountain.
Eventually it was time to head back down. Again – this hike is so much easier on dry rock.
And on that note – there was a lot of amazing rock details here!
Back on the snow, we could “floor it”!
Anne decided to utilize every centimeter of snow…
Back at the foot of the mountain, we discovered something odd about Karma. We wanted her to go for a swim and cool down. But that seemed to be out of the question. That is – until you throw something in the water. The retriever genes kick in. But what should we throw? There were no sticks up here. How about a piece of ice?
Sure enough, she got in the water, picked up the ice and swam back to us. But, instead of handing the ice over to us – like a good retriever ought to – she ran towards the nearest snow, frantically dug a hole and put the ice in it. This was repeated not once, not twice but three times!
We went back on the same side of lake Hálljejávrre that we came in, but closer to the lake this time. And Karma demonstrated that her climbing skills are still intact!
This was already a memorable hike, but Anne had one more thing she needed to do.
Of course, she had to take a bath in the ice-cold water!
I know exactly how cold that is. I’ve also had my baths in lakes with ice floating around. So I wasn’t tempted…
Afterwards, we continued down the mountain. This landscape was just so … massive!
For the sake of variation, we decided to hike on the west side of lake Jierddajávrre. To get there, we had to descend along slabs that were steep at times. But we found a good route!
I desperately wanted to hike Reinoksfjellet also. There seemed to be at least 4 pf100 tops up there! But alas, this will have to wait until some other holiday. If ever…
And then we were back at the trailhead! What a nice hike this had been! Truly unforgettable. Now it was time to return to Kobbelv Vertshus, enjoy a dinner and a beer/wine and start thinking about our return to Brønnøysund…
Trip statistics: 18,2km, 1250 vertical meters, 7h:09m
Pictures (Canon EOS RP/Iphone 13 Pro Max) from the hike:
