2023 Week 37

Low energy and lots of rain…

Index

Date	Peak	Height	PF	Location	WCP/FP	MAP
11.09.23	Hornseten	190m	152m	Herøy, M&R, Norway	WCP	MAP
12.09.23	Hasundhornet	533m	93m	Ulstein, Norway	WCP	MAP
13.09.23	Mosvarden	553m	50m	Ulstein, Norway	WCP	MAP
13.09.23	Skafjellet	573m	82m	Hareid, Norway	WCP	MAP
14.09.23	Geitnausa	456m	102m	Ålesund, Norway	WCP	MAP
15.09.23	Rotbergshornet	850m	140m	Ørsta, Norway	–	MAP
16.09.23	Gjøna	531m	163m	Sande, Norway	WCP	MAP
16.09.23	Saursegga	516m	93m	Sande, Norway	WCP	MAP
17.09.23	Dyrdalstinden	1371m	107m	Fjord, Norway	–	MAP
17.09.23	Point 1313m	1313m	34m	Fjord, Norway	–	MAP
17.09.23	Fokhaugtinden	1244m	22m	Fjord, Norway	–	MAP

Hornseten (189m), Sep 11 2023

Monday: Anne and I mere looked like shadows of ourselves today. Anne had it worst and if hadn’t been for Karma, I’m not sure I would have managed to talk her into a walk.

But we ended up in Eggesbønes for a round-trip hike across Heida and Hornseten. Fortunately, it wasn’t raining.

This is not really a mountain hike, but I do like this round trip. The view from the top isn’t half bad.

But although this isn’t really a mountain, it is still a top. And we like tops!

Trip statistics: 4,1km, 275 vertical meters, 1h:07m

Hasundhornet (533m), Sep 12 2023

Tuesday: Anne had returned to Sogndal and so it was just kiddo and me on this rainy and windy afternoon. I’d rather stay in the house, but thanks to the dog, the doorstep wasn’t as high as it otherwise would have been. I decided to go to Hasundhornet and enjoy the new gravel road to the top.

We couldn’t see anything from the top. But it’s alright. I know the views…

I decided to go for the longest of the roundtrips up here and after a little while, it seemed that there would be a chance for some views…

And indeed, there was! That certainly weighed up for the wet and muddy path down to the Fjelle road.

Trip statistics: 5,7km, 270 vertical meters, 1h:14m

Mosvarden (553m), Skafjellet (533m), Sep 13 2023

Wednesday: I wasn’t in super-shape (by any means) and just drove up to Varleitet above Ulsteinvik and just take it from there, without any particular plan.

After a little while, the body was “getting onboard” and I decided to hike up to Mosvarden.

It is a nice view from the top. Too bad this top doesn’t have a prominence of 100m+

Now, I felt quite good and decided to proceed towards Skafjellet. The path was quite wet, but I didn’t care.

The hills above Ulsteinvik are really nice for hiking when the terrain is dry.

Skafjellet gradually got closer and closer…

And then we arrived on Skafjellet…

They’re building something here, probably a shelter. Certainly not a swimming pool…

And they have the coolest signpost…

Now – what route down? I had several options, but I chose the Akslinakken – Risesætra route down.

It was nice to not have to worry about incoming rain today. I cherished that.

Eventually, we were down by FV61 – the main road between Hareid and Ulsteinvik. We would have to follow this road for 1,3km until we could get on the forest path that took us back to Varleitet.

It was a nice afternoon, and I could my “mojo” rising.

Trip statistics: 13,9km, 695 vertical meters, 3h:03m

Geitnausa (456m), Sep 14 2023

Thursday: Ålesund day, and time for Karma’s monthly Librela injection. She’s normally a bit “down” after the injection, and so I had to be clever in picking a route for a hike. Clearly a route she wouldn’t recognize at first.

I decided to go to Geitnausa (aka Spjelkavikfjellet), but instead of starting by the slalom hill at Blindheim – like we normally do – I drove a bit further and found parking alongside lake Brusdalsvatnet. Here, we got on a lit trail that I knew would connect with the waterworks. From there, it would be familiar terrain for me, but not for Karma.

At the waterworks, Karma was still interested in walking. Good news!

A bonus for me was that I discovered a path that I didn’t know about, and got a new 0,5km GPS track. And then we joined the normal route to Geitnausa. By now, I knew that Karma would continue to walk by her own will.

They have done good maintenance on this path since the last time we were here. This is typically super-wet terrain after rain, but with the rocks and wooden pathways, hiking here was just nice now.

Rain was in the air, and I hoped that we would reach the top before the rain sat in. We almost accomplished that…

And then we were up!

Better get down before the heavy rain sat in…

The heavy rain didn’t set in right away and I found time and opportunity to visit Rambjøra – which I had been thinking about for quite some years.

There was a marked path to Rambjøra, and the viewpoint was quite alright.

Then we took the normal route back to the foot of the slalom hill and we got some additional new tracks while finding our way back to the car.

Trip statistics: 9,7km, 545 vertical meters, 2h:10m

Rotbergshornet (850m), Sep 15 2023

Friday: I had a 2pm appointment at the car garage in Ørsta. They would figure what the engine light on my dashboard was all about. While they were investigating, I took Karma for a 3,7km walk in Ørsta. That was all we managed to do before I got a text about the car being ready.

I paid 135 Euro for them telling me what the light was about and that I would have to come back in a few days (while they ordered the part) and pay additional 373 Euro for the part. Oh well…

But now that I was in Ørsta, and it wasn’t raining – I might as well call it a day (workwise) and go for a hike. As I hadn’t been to Rotbergshornet since 2010 – and as Karma had never been there – that seemed like a good choice.

I drove up to Mossetra and hoped that the sheep autumn roundup a) hadn’t begun or b) was finished. The reality was probably somewhere in the middle, but at least there was no activity up here today. And – the weather was quite alright!

We headed out on the path that is common for the Rotbergshornet and Sandhornet route. But after just a few minutes, we went off-trail as I had planned to hike Rotbergshornet via the south ridge. At this point in time, I had no recollection of which route I took in 2010.

Vassdalstinden – across the valley – was calling my name. “When are you going to bring Karma up here?” I plan to, although I probably won’t get here up to the real summit. The ENTIRE route is steep (except for the Bukkedalen route) and the top is particularly steep.

The lower part of the south ridge was awful. The bush was just evil and so I realized that my best route would be up the boulder fields.

Karma follows me wherever I go…

I was already looking forward to my next visit to Mossetra, but I will continue to hike Sandhornet, which I typically do when I’m up here…

It was quite windy, so I sought terrain that was in shelter behind the south ridge.

I was quite happy when we reached the top. This wasn’t my favorite kind of terrain…

The plan was always to descend the north ridge…

And then the heavy rain sat in.

But only for a little while…

We then descended down to lake Ljøsådalsvatnet.

From here, we followed the marked route back to Mossetra.

Just as we came out of the forest, Karma (not on a leash) was standing 1 meter away from 4 sheep. Their presence took me by surprise, as I hadn’t seen or heard any sheep throughout the hike. I swear – Karma didn’t even look at them, just walked past them while they were gazing at her. That said, if I had just a flinch of suspicion that Karma would react to the sheep, she would have been always on leash. It seems like putting her into a flock of sheep as a puppy led to the desired effect…

Once again, we could go home, leaving nature just as it was before we came…

Ørsta: Trip statistics: 3,7km, 115 vertical meters, 0h:46m
Rotbergshornet: Trip statistics: 6,4km, 595 vertical meters, 1h:57m
Pictures (Canon EOS RP/Iphone 13 Pro Max) from the hike(s):

Gjøna (531m), Saursegga (516m), Sep 16 2023

Saturday: Mediocre weather and I decided to hike Gjøna from the Muren (Gjerdsvika) side. That was my only plan in the beginning. Time would show what the rest of the hike would be. The natural option was to continue across Saursegga and either descend back to Muren via a different path or descend via Botnen.

We started out where we’ve started out from ever since I discovered this path. The forest path was exceptionally muddy, and I wondered if the sheep had been brought down from the mountain – this way.

I was a little confused when we got out of the forest, I could see sticks coming up from a different direction. I later realized that they have moved the trailhead. Probably an unhappy farmer…

On our way up the mountain, it didn’t seem that the sheep had been brought down yet. They were kind enough to move away from the path.

This path is quite strenuous if you’re not used to 500m+ straight up. And – it’s steep in places!

Eventually, we got up and now I had to decide on our descent route.

I decided to hike across Saursegga and then descend to Haugsbygda. From there, our only option would be to follow the main road back to the car. Boring, but I was a little fed up with wet and muddy paths.

One thing is for sure – the hike from Gjøna to Saursegga is NEVER boring!

Eventually, we could set course for Haugsbygda.

Once we reached the asphalt roads, we had 5,5km(!) back to the car. But it was alright, as I had never hiked (just biked) here before.

In addition to enjoying the coastal view –

– I also got opportunity to see if it was possible to ascend Gjøna from Gjøneset. I concluded that I’m not going to try. I think…

Trip statistics: 12,3km, 750 vertical meters, 2h:47m

Dyrdalstinden (1371m), Fokhaugtinden (1244m), Sep 17 2023

This hike is featured on a separate post…