Here we go again…
Index
| Date | Peak | Height | PF | Location | WCP/FP | MAP |
| 01.01.24 | Rambjøra | 132m | 109m | Herøy, M&R, Norway | WCP | MAP |
| 02.01.24 | Hornseten | 190m | 152m | Herøy, M&R, Norway | WCP | MAP |
| 03.01.24 | Melshornet | 809m | 567m | Ørsta, Norway | WCP | MAP |
| 04.01.24 | Rjåhornet | 600m | 107m | Herøy, M&R, Norway | WCP | MAP |
| 05.01.24 | Lidaveten (attempt) | 592m | 439m | Volda, Norway | WCP | MAP |
| 05.01.24 | Huldrehornet | 271m | 113m | Herøy, M&R, Norway | WCP | MAP |
| 06.01.24 | Sandhornet | 909m | 471m | Ørsta, Norway | WCP | MAP |
| 07.01.24 | Blåtind | 697m | 697m | Ulstein, Norway | WCP | MAP |
Rambjøra (132m), Jan 1 2024
Monday: The long December vacation had come to an end. Tenerife was history. So was Sjusjøen, and almost the kink in my back. We were now in Hov, Søndre Land and ready to drive across the mountain – to Sogndal.
This was a drive I had been dreading for a week, knowing that there would be a massive snowfall in southern Norway. But it seemed that the southern part of Norway would take the biggest hit. And what a hit they took! Everything was shut down for days…
It was snowing in Hov also, but only lightly. And it was only snowing lightly until we reached Fagernes. The drive across Filefjell was totally OK. Icy roads – yes – but it’s the snowfall that is the problem for a driver.
I was able to safely return Anne back to her house – 19 days after leaving. And now that I was accustomed to the winter roads – AND the weather was quite alright, I decided to drive all the way back home to Sunnmøre. The ~470km drive took me around 8 hours and I was mighty glad to be back home.
I found myself swaying. It often happens when I have been driving a car for many hours in a row. But I wanted to start the new year with a walk to Rambjøra, and before I had unpacked anything, Karma and I were on our way to my local forest top.
I was very surprised about the black ice on the side roads. Almost unsuitable for driving and for sure walking. In the forest, the path had an icy crust on the snow that broke on impact. Sharp for the dog, so I put socks on her.
With these conditions, I had to be picky about what evening hikes I would choose from now on. But it was nice to have done this walk. Now I could return home for some dinner and maybe some unpacking. And my back had gotten better. I didn’t think about it while hiking. Progress!
Trip statistics: 2,6km, 140 vertical meters, 0h:40m
Hornseten (188m), Jan 2 2024
Tuesday: After my first working day (for half a month – it was tough to get started, although I had been online often during the vacation) I chose to drive to Eggesbønes to hike Hornseten. Like back home, there was black ice on all roads and the trail across Heida was no exception.
I wore spikes, of course. Anything else would have been stupid…
Christmas wasn’t quite over in these parts…
After a while, Hornseten came into view.
We also had a nice view towards Fosnavåg.
And then we were up. Karma knew what was awaiting…
Taking pictures wasn’t easy due to the wind. Cold, it was too!
The good news that for every afternoon the next 6 months, it’s getting lighter by the day!
Trip statistics: 5,1km, 300 vertical meters, 1h:15m
Melshornet (809m), Jan 3 2024
Wednesday: The weather was great, and I was a bit tired of coastline hiking with black ice and crusty snow. So, I decided to drive to Volda to ski Melshornet. It’s altogether a different climate there, although it’s only a 25-minute drive away.
The “motorway” was there, as I had hoped.
For reasons unknown, Karma loves this route. At least the lower part of it. She tends to be less “all over the place” the higher we get.
But she was clearly happy so far…
I left work a little early so we could get a little bit of daylight on our way up. There were surprisingly few skiers on the mountain. Perhaps because I left work early. There would probably be many people here later in the evening.
It’s not difficult to bring a trained dog here even if the mountain is crowded. We have good visibility of skiers coming down and when it’s our turn to come down, her only focus is to keep up with me.
It was nice to get to the top. It was perhaps -5 deg. C.
Treats were awaiting, of course.
One final picture and it was our turn to enjoy the descent.
Oh, my goshness, how Karma ran! It took us 15 minutes to get down (which is not impressive, the record is < 3 minutes) but we stopped several times, thinking the dog needed rest. But she just wanted to keep running. I was doing ~40km/h in places and she was just behind me! Good work by an 11-year dog, if you ask me…
Trip statistics: 6,9km, 570 vertical meters, 1h:18m
Rjåhornet (600m), Jan 4 2024
Thursday: I was dead meat after work, but amazingly enough – I found the energy and motivation to hike Rjåhornet from sea level (from Leikong). It didn’t more than a minute before I concluded that the snow hadn’t improved one bit. There was an icy crust that didn’t even hold the weight of the dog.
Fortunately, someone had been hiking here earlier, and so we were able to follow an OK path up to the Hillesteinen fork.
But from the fork and upwards, it was bloody hard work. I really just wanted to quit, but a devil on my shoulder kept whispering “we don’t quit, do we?” At least, Karma seemed happy.
Halfway up, I felt that the worst part was over. There would be less snow on the upper mountain and I would probably find spots with hard snow also.
While southern Norway has had the worst snowfall in decades, the weather here was just alright. As it’s been all winter – with exception of the last part of December – when I wasn’t around.
We found hard snow in the steepest sections, and I was glad I had spikes under my boots. And finally, we reached the top…
Karma had definitely earned her treats today. Maybe I should have brought something for myself also…
It was freezing cold up there, and I put a dove jacket between my shirts and the Gore-Tex jacket. It wasn’t more than maybe 3-5 minus degrees (C) but there was this cold breeze from the ocean. It felt like 10-15 degrees.
We took the same route down and the descent was WAY easier than the ascent. I felt really good about reaching one of the highest tops out here so early in the year. It serves as inspiration to “crack” the 600m hurdle.
Trip statistics: 6,4km, 610 vertical meters, 2h:08m
Lidaveten attempt (592m), Jan 5 2024
Friday: I felt pretty confident that I would find tracks going up Lidaveten from Eideim, so I took the drive. It was a nice evening and I really wanted to watch the final glow from the top of Lidaveten.
We started from the main road and followed Eidheimsvegen upwards. I could have driven up the parking at 140m but felt for getting some extra vertical gain.
There were OK tracks up the forest road, but once it forked, the majority of tracks went the wrong way. We were left with an old track from skis that didn’t carry our weight. I started to realize that we would not be standing on top today, but decided to follow the forest road until we reached the mountain path.
There were no tracks up the mountain, and the snow was way too deep for Karma. So, I decided to head back down.
Darn! But we will be back soon enough…
Trip statistics: 4,5km, 245 vertical meters, 1h:04m
Huldrehornet (271m), Jan 5 2024
Friday: After the failed attempt on Lidaveten, I drove back home and decided to hike Huldrehornet instead. I wanted a top this afternoon!
There was hardly any snow in the lower forest, plenty of snow in the upper forest and very little snow above the forest. There was of course snow, but it had gathered in cornices. The summit ridge was almost free of snow. This was not where I wanted to be on this Friday, but I was happy about at least having done one top…
Trip statistics: 3,1km, 280 vertical meters, 0h:57m
Sandhornet (909m), Jan 6 2024
Saturday: This trip is featured in a separate post…
Blåtind (697m), Jan 7 2024
Sunday: I am not sure what I was thinking when I decided that it was probably OK to hike from Havåg to Blåtind. At least we could give it a try.
The first part up from Havåg was OK, as there wasn’t not a whole lot of snow.
But higher up in the forest, Karma would not have stood a chance if it hadn’t been for a snowshoe track that carried most of her weight, but not mine.
It was cloudy on the coastline, but at least we could see blue sky…
As we rose above the forest, I noticed a guy chillin’ at a viewpoint. I assumed it was the same guy who had walked on snowshoes, but I didn’t want to start shouting “thanks”.
Things looked easier now. Thanks to the wind, there would be more snow where there was snow, but also hardly any snow elsewhere.
We were both having a good time by now. Karma was looking for hares and I looked forward to reaching the top.
Eventually, the top was just a short walk away.
Then, the traditional posing on top…
And the traditional wide-angle panorama…
And then came the guy with the snowshoes – Jostein Eiken. He told me that he didn’t plan to go all the way to the top, but when he noticed another “crazy guy” (there are very few hikers here at this time of the year), he couldn’t settle for less.
We kept company on the way down, swinging by Grøthornet.
This was an excellent end to an unexpectedly good week.
Trip statistics: 8,5km, 795 vertical meters, 2h:59m
Pictures (Canon EOS RP/Iphone 13 Pro Max) from the hike:
