Rain, snowmelt and snow showers
Index
| Date | Peak | Height | PF | Location | WCP/FP | MAP |
| 08.01.23 | Røddalshorn | 563m | 100m | Sande, M&R, Norway | WCP | MAP |
| 09.01.23 | Leinehornet | 364m | 364m | Herøy, M&R, Norway | WCP | MAP |
| 10.01.23 | Aksla | 188m | 188m | Ålesund, Norway | WCP | MAP |
| 11.01.23 | Årvikveten | 458m | 205m | Sande, Norway | WCP | MAP |
| 12.01.23 | Laupsnipa | 562m | 380m | Herøy/Sande, M&R, Norway | WCP | MAP |
| 13.01.23 | Høgåsen | 240m | 240m | Ulstein, Norway | WCP | MAP |
| 13.01.23 | Svarane | 191m | 43m | Ulstein, Norway | WCP | MAP |
| 13.01.23 | Stemnehornet | 190m | 43m | Ulstein, Norway | WCP | MAP |
| 13.01.23 | Røyrafjellet | 123m | 100m | Ulstein, Norway | WCP | MAP |
| 14.01.23 | Lidaveten (failed) | 592m | 439m | Volda, Norway | WCP | MAP |
| 14.01.23 | Leinebjørnen | 271m | 108m | Herøy, Norway | WCP | MAP |
| 14.01.23 | Leinehornet | 364m | 364m | Herøy, M&R, Norway | WCP | MAP |
Røddalshorn (563m), Jan 8 2024
Monday: It was quite clear early on that this week would be nothing like the first week, in terms of the weather. We would have to get used to rain and snowmelt. But there was still enough snow to have to be picky about where to take the dog.
I had a call with my buddy Bjørn Skoge, as he knows all there is to know about mountains on the south side of Gurskøy island – at any given time. We agreed to do a hike together up to Røddalshorn.
At first glance, this didn’t look easy at all. But old tracks from skis and snowshoes carried Karma’s weight and we didn’t mind the struggle.
And it wasn’t the struggle I feared either. The snow did carry quite OK!
We had a little bit of weather on the summit ridge, but not enough for putting our hoods on.
For some reason, some of my pictures came out with a strong amount of purple/pink.
The final meters…
…and we were up!
At least, the descent would be easier than the ascent.
It was a good hike, and I was curious about how bad the weather this week would get…
Trip statistics: 3,5km, 400 vertical meters, 1h:18m
Leinehornet (366m), Jan 9 2023
Tuesday: This afternoon was a bit rainy, and I chose to stay in the lower mountains. Leinehornet on Leinøya island sounded like a good plan. Hopefully, people had been hiking here for the past week.
The ascent was fairly easy. The snowmelt helped more than the tracks in the snow.
If there were tracks, I would be extending the hike to also include Leinebjørnen. Time would show.
The weather wasn’t good, but as long as it wasn’t BAD, I was happy.
We reached the top and I was able to produce a WHOLE LOT of daylight at 4:30pm thanks to a headlamp and long shutter speed. It was quite dark when I took this picture.
There were no other tracks than the one we had been following. We followed another route back down and Karma was more swimming than walking. Leinebjørnen would have to wait until another day. At the time, I didn’t know that we would be doing this round trip before the week came to an end…
Trip statistics: 3km, 350 vertical meters, 1h:04m
Aksla (188m), Jan 10 2024
Wednesday: Ålesund and time for Karma’s monthly Librela injection. I was curious if she was interested in going for a walk after work. Sometimes, after the injection, she’s doesn’t want to. But she seemed “game” today when I parked at Gangstøvika to do the classic hike across Aksla.
The hike was a bit strenuous. I didn’t sink deep in the snow, but the soft snow drained me from energy.
I was happy when we reached Rundskue – the highest point on the Aksla ridge. The main vertical gain was now over.
We walked over to Fjellstua, and the plan was to descend “Bytrappene”, but the staircase was closed with a gate. It’s just so silly, but I decided to respect the closure and went back to Aksla Stadion and went down to the trail to Gangstøvika.
At least Fjellstua was open (last time I was here, one had to pay to get in) and I got a good Ålesund picture (feature image)
It was altogether a good round. Good to be back here!
Trip statistics: 7,8km, 330 vertical meters, 1h:48m
Årvikveten (458m), Jan 11 2024
Thursday: The snowmelt was now so effective that I could almost take Karma anywhere I wanted (along the coastline). Almost. I decided to wait with the highest tops, but I could at least give Årvikveten a try – from Drageskaret.
The first hillside was easy. It was either free of snow or just icy.
We followed tracks (which didn’t help due to the soft snow) to Svedehornet. After that, there were no more tracks.
That was fine by me. The hike was never hard. Yes, there were some strenuous sections with deep snow, but then there were pitches with very little snow, allowing us to get breaks from the hardship.
The last hill was slightly strenuous, but eventually we reached the top. I wasn’t putting on my A-game in terms of combining headlamp and camera settings…
Returning to Drageskaret was just slightly easier than going up the mountain…
Trip statistics: 6,9km, 465 vertical meters, 2h:05m
Laupsnipa (562m), Jan 12 2024
Friday: Every year, I try to hike as many different tops in January as I possibly can. Preferably tops with a prominence of 100m or more. It’s just a motivational thing, and today I wanted to hike Laupsnipa. I assumed this would be yet another snow struggle for me, but not so much for the dog.
We hiked from Voldsund, and the lower forest was fairly easy to ascend.
When we got approx. halfway up the mountain, the snow was deep – where we couldn’t avoid snow. But there were spots without snow, so it was not too bad. But I hadn’t my best day on the trail and the entire ascent was quite strenuous.
Eventually, we reached the top. There was fog on top when we headed out, but that fog was gone now. I had been looking forward to taking some pictures with a long shutter speed, but the wind was just too strong. I knew the results would be bad, so we just headed back down.
Trip statistics: 4,8km, 575 vertical meters, 1h:37m
Høgåsen (240m), Røyrafjellet (123m), Jan 13 2024
Saturday: The weather was quite unpleasant when it was time to walk the dog today. Rain and snow showers. I felt it would be best for the dog to stay in the forest and I decided to do the usual round across the Dimnøya tops, with an extra twist.
The snow was rapidly melting, and Karma wouldn’t have big problems today. The weather was getting much better once we got going.
Our first stop was Høgåsen – the highest top on Dimnøya island.
In case we would get hail showers, it was OK to already have done the most exposed point.
Then we moved on towards Svarane.
After Stemnehornet, we sat course for Uglesætra. I had now decided that we would have enough daylight to also visit Røyrafjellet. I hadn’t brought my headlamp on this trip.
The Røyrafjellet path was free of snow, and we had a quick hike up and down.
The hike felt longer than it actually was.
On our way back to the sports field (where I had parked), we hiked along the fjord. It was all quiet and nice now.
We’ve now done the Høgåsen – Svarane – Stemnehornet round twice in a month. It will be a while until next time…
Trip statistics: 11,4km, 655 vertical meters, 2h:40m
Lidaveten attempt (592m), Jan 14 2024
Sunday: The weather forecast for this Sunday wasn’t all that good, but if we got going right now, we could maybe get an hour or two with OK weather. Given the snowmelt this week, I decided to give Lidaveten another go. The attempt from Eidheim last week stranded in too much snow. Would we have better luck today?
It had been snowing last night, but it’s didn’t seem like a ton…
On our way up from Berkneset, I thought this hike would be a slam dunk.
And the weather didn’t look like it was about to change any time soon, either.
So far, we were both quite happy…
But all of a sudden, the snow depth was for real. Still manageable, though. I didn’t know that it would get four times worse within few minutes.
The term “dragging my feet” is seldom used in a trip report, but I was literally dragging my feet, trying to plough for Karma.
At the same time, I could see snow showers coming in.
I had been thinking that if we could just get up to Tua, we would have a chance to reach the top. But right now, Tua looked like Mt. Everest.
We were at 370m. It was still a long way to go. I decided to call it quits and go looking for another hike.
Darn! This was the second time we had to give up on Lidaveten this year. No worries, though. We’ll be back. Now, it’s personal!
No doubt this was the correct decision…
Trip statistics: 2,6km, 370 vertical meters, 1h:04m
Leinebjørnen (271m), Leinehornet (366m), Jan 14 2024
Sunday: This trip is featured in a separate post…
