What happened to winter?
Index
| Date | Peak | Height | PF | Location | WCP/FP | MAP |
| 19.02.24 | Eikenakken | 123m | 123m | Ulstein, Norway | WCP | MAP |
| 20.02.24 | Rambjøra | 132m | 109m | Herøy, M&R, Norway | WCP | MAP |
| 21.02.24 | Kongsvollen | 683m | 200m | Hareid/Ulstein, Norway | WCP | MAP |
| 22.02.24 | Løkeberget | 579m | 300m | Hareid, Norway | WCP | MAP |
| 23.02.24 | Skåla | 184m | 86m | Herøy, M&R, Norway | MAP | |
| 24.02.24 | Storevarden | 430m | 430m | Herøy, M&R, Norway | WCP | MAP |
| 25.02.24 | Rinden | 369m | 369m | Sande, Norway | WCP | MAP |
| 25.02.24 | Øyna | 359m | 51m | Sande, Norway | WCP | MAP |
| 25.02.24 | Dollsteinen | 227m | 109m | Sande, Norway | WCP | MAP |
| 25.02.24 | Hellandsfjella | 122m | 94m | Sande, Norway | WCP | MAP |
| 25.02.24 | Hornet (Grøntua) | 250m | 232m | Sande, Norway | WCP | MAP |
Eikenakken (123m), Feb 19 2024
Monday: The weather was crap, but Anne’s ankle was a bit better. I proposed that we could do my regular round on Eika island – 50% off-trail, 50% on road. None of us could remember if we had done this route together, but my gut feeling was that we hadn’t.
We started out by following the road to Nordre Eika.
From Nordre Eika, we headed into the forest – aiming for Nakken (89m).
Nakken is the only top on this island that offers some views – and that’s towards Eiksund and Blåtinden.
We moved on in the direction of Grønnakken (103m) and enjoyed ourselves.
We tried to keep a certain pace, as we would be eventually running out daylight. We had headlamps, but it’s not easy to navigate off-trail in this kind of terrain in the dark. If we could get to Søre Eika before it got dark, I would be happy.
But first, we had to get to Grønnakken…
Grønnakken is fun, as the ascent is a bit steep.
Next, we continued in the direction of Eikenakken and had another steep ascent before we reached the top.
And then we reached the main top on this island – Eikenakken.
After a few minutes, we crossed the road to Søre Eika, but continued our off-trail journey. When it was getting quite dark, we decided to head straight down to Søre Eika instead of following the route I had planned.
From Søre Eika, we followed the road back to the car.
Trip statistics: 7,2km, 385 vertical meters, 1h:52m
Rambjøra (132m), Feb 20 2024
Tuesday: When I finished work, Anne had gone back to Sogndal and it was raining outside. I really didn’t want to go out but the least I could do was to walk Karma across my local forest top Rambjøra. To my surprise, 99% of the snow was gone.
It was the kind of day where staying in the forest was the right thing to do…
After reaching the top, we headed down to Dragsund (not Dragsundflata) and followed Industrivegen back, with some stupid detours in the wet moor alongside the road. But we were already wet to the bone, so it didn’t matter much…
Trip statistics: 5,3km, 160 vertical meters, 1h:09m
Kongsvollen (683m), Feb 21 2024
Wednesday: The forecast for the afternoon wasn’t so good, which was too bad as I had planned to go skiing. Somewhere. But, with the increasing wind and flat light, I decided to hike Kongsvollen (on Hareidlandet island) instead. After all, I hadn’t been there yet in 2024.
The interesting parts of this hike would be: a) the wind and b) the hillside below Blåtind. The snow is typically very hard there and if you slip, you can slide a long way.
We met a girl and her dog coming down from Blåtind. She hadn’t been to the top because of the wind and she talked about deep snow – very cumbersome.
The snow was very soft where it was soft and very hard where it was hard. I had to pick a route very carefully in order to get to lake Hundelaupsvatnet without risking a long slide.
At lake Hundelaupsvatnet, it was windy, but not THAT windy.
So, we went for Kongsvollen. I didn’t imagine that conditions would be much worse up there. Unless it started raining (like the forecast said). Then, Karma would get some whipping. I was really hoping we could avoid that.
The snow was for the most part hard and easy to walk on.
I have to admit I didn’t quite understand why Blåtind was out of reach for that girl. Maybe she didn’t have warm enough clothes.
There were no signs of discomfort, looking at Karma…
The light was indeed flat. I was mighty pleased I didn’t choose to go on a skiing trip!
And then we were up…
It was starting to get dark, and I preferred to get back down without having to use the headlamp.
One last picture and we were off.
We reached the car like 2 minutes before a headlamp would have been needed…
Trip statistics: 7,4km, 675 vertical meters, 2h:20m
Løkeberget (579m), Feb 22 2024
Thursday: The afternoon weather was pretty much the same as 24 hours earlier. The light was flat and there was wind. I decided to hike Løkeberget – for the first time in 2024.
The snow was not a problem on this hike.
I asked Karma if she was up for a longer hike than I had planned. She was…
But first, we had to get to the top…
It was windy on top…
Quite windy…
So, what kind of round-trip hike should we do? Just head down to lake Fjellsvatnet?
Nah, I wanted a longer route and decided to head down on the opposite side and return along a route that I was confident was obnoxious.
And so, we headed down the northeast ridge.
Then we headed down to lake Svartevatnet.
The plan was to join the road leading up to lake Hammarstøylsvatnet early on, but we joined it just a few meters from the lake.
Now we had almost 2km of awful terrain along Hammarstøylsvatnet and the wet meadow beyond before we could get to the Fjelle road, and subsequently the trailhead.
The route was quite cumbersome, but it could have been much worse if the meadow wasn’t partly frozen. I don’t see myself doing this route ever again…
We were back at the car just minutes before it was pitch dark…
Trip statistics: 9km, 500 vertical meters, 2h:21m
Skåla (184m), Feb 23 2024
Friday: The weather this afternoon was absolutely miserable! I just wanted to stay indoors, but then Karma – totally unknowing about the weather outside – gave me “the eyes”.
Sigh…
I have to dig deep for motivation in this kind of weather, but I can find it if I choose to go to a place I haven’t been before. In my local area, I don’t have a lot of options, but I had been thinking about hiking across Prestegardsmyrane by Stokksund, Gurskøy.
But first, we had to go to a top. The natural choice was to hike up to Skåla from the Tjørvåg side.
When we reached the top, we headed down to the Stokksund side.
Beyond the soccer field, I found the path that I had seen on the map.
On the map, the path ended in the middle of the meadow, and this was also the case in reality. I sat course for Storeneset and the terrain was not pleasant!
At Storeneset, we followed the road back to the main road. But, instead of returning directly to the car, I decided to pay Lisjeneset a visit. It was a nice hike in the beginning, but then it started to get really tedious, and we returned to the main road and the car by MH24, Tjørvåg.
I was quite “proud” of having pulled off a 7,3km hike in this weather. The clothes and boots wouldn’t dry up until Sunday but that was OK…
Trip statistics: 7,3km, 300 vertical meters, 1h:35m
Storevarden (430m), Feb 24 2024
Saturday: This hike is featured on a separate post…
Across the Sandsøya tops, Feb 25 2024
Sunday: This hike is featured on a separate post…
