In a cabin off the beaten track…
Index
| Date | Peak | Height | PF | Location | MAP |
| 02.09.23 | Skårasætra | 1176m | 78m | Ørsta, Norway | MAP |
| 03.09.23 | Litlehornet | 1176m | 78m | Ørsta, Norway | MAP |
| 03.09.23 | Skåranakken | 602m | 13m | Ørsta, Norway | MAP |
Our friends Jannike and Mara gave Anne a weekend at Skårasætra as a gift for her 60th birthday, and this weekend was reserved for collecting the present. I have been to Skårasalen (above the cabin) several times, but I must admit that the presence of this cabin had passed me by…
Skårasætra is owned by Jannike’s cousin Johan and Jannike suggested that we’d paid Johan a visit during our stay.
Saturday, Sep 2 2023
We would take the 4:50pm ferry from Sæbø but had to time kill in Sæbø.
There seemed to be some kind of market day, and it was all shutting down when we came there.
I had to check the local Joker store to see if my 2006 panorama was still on display. It was!
When all was seen and done, we just had to wait…
Eventually, we were on the ferry to Skår.
There is no point in sitting inside on this trip. Stay on deck!
After a little while, we got Skår in closer view and we looked forward to getting to the cabin.
We left the ferry 5:13pm and headed up to the Skår farm. We considered waiting for the bus, but concluded it was a hoax…
At Skår, Johan welcomed us wholeheartedly. As he doesn’t live here on a permanent basis, we were lucky that he was here now…
We were given a guided tour and it’s mighty impressive what he has accomplished here, in close partnership with Ørsta municipality.
A classic spring ski-trip is to ski Skårasalen from Kvistaddalen and descend Litle Skåradalen (Litledalen) and then cross over to Skår and wait for the ferry. Johan told us about a couple of foreign skiers that came down here, totally exhausted, wet and cold with hours to wait for the ferry. When they discovered that there was a pub here, they almost started crying.
One thing is for sure, this place offers quite a view…
We left Johan’s place just after 6pm and headed for Skårasætra.
We didn’t look so much forward to the hike up, as our backpacks were quite heavy. How much stuff do you really need for a sleepover at a cabin? Apparently – a lot! Hiking clothes, extra survival gear, cabin clothes, clogs, human food (dinner, breakfast), dog food, headlamp, camera, GPS, bed set, wine, first aid kit, books, and a lot of other stuff I don’t remember…
500 vertical meters is normally a “breeze”, but with our heavy backpacks, the ascent was … hard!
The weather forecast for the weekend wasn’t that great, and we were happy that it hadn’t started raining yet.
Finally, Skårasætra came into view, with Litlehornet towering above. I was hoping to stand on top on this peak the very next day.
There are two cabins up here. The black one would be ours for the next 22 hours.
The cabin had the necessary equipment for cooking, relaxing and sleeping. Quite a good standard, given this place is an old “sel” – a place where the shepherds stayed during summers.
Anne did the cooking and served deer stew, with mashed potatoes and vegetables. Afterwards, we could relax and let the night just creep in…
Sunday, Sep 3 2023
Sunday: We woke up in the middle of the night from rain and an incredible wind that made the fireplace howl.
Anne wasn’t too keen on going hiking after breakfast, and as I didn’t know what kind of hike Litlehornet would be, I let Karma stay with Anne. And then I headed out…
It was raining on and off. If it had been raining constantly, I don’t think I would have gone on this hike.
Now that I was on my way, I was very much looking forward to what the summit ridge would be like.
I had to hike a boulder field on my way up, and each and every rock was slippery. Fortunately, I had good hiking boots.
Finally, I was on the summit ridge, and I had Litlehornet ahead of me. My first thought was “ouch, this looks steep!”
But as I continued upwards, things looked easier. Still, if I had brought Karma along, I probably would have to look for alternatives to the places I chose to go up. But overall, this is not a difficult ridge!
And then I was up!
This felt extra nice, as my leg felt quite OK. I was not sure it was ready for jogging right now, but that was my last worry. Hiking is much more important than jogging. To me.
I descended the boulder field very carefully. This was definitely not easy terrain with the current conditions.
Anne called as I was on my way down. A couple of hikers came up to Skårasætra and as Anne tried to stop Karma from running out, she fell and hurt her knee. Still, with an aching knee, she was eager to get out of the cabin and we agreed to meet up and hike across Skåranakken.
The hike across Skåranakken was nice and easy. There is not a distinct top up here, but at least we found a high point.
One thing is for sure – the Hjørundfjord view from up here was superb. I could only imagine how nice it would be with blue sky and sunshine.
Then we returned to the cabin, and a few sheep kept us company…
We had to clean the cabin before we could check out and once that was done, we headed for the ferry, plenty ahead of the schedule…
We could have wished there was a bus shed at the bus stop, but as there wasn’t, we had to do with the boathouse.
Many thanks to Jannike and Mara for this gift. It was great fun!
To Skårasætra: 2,7km, 530 vertical meters, 1h:52m (incl. stopping at Skår)
Litlehornet & Skåranakken: 6,4km, 745 vertical meters, 2h:29m
To Skår: 2,7km, 10 vertical meters, 0h:54m
Pictures (Canon EOS RP/Iphone 13 Pro Max) from the trip:
