Easter break – part II
Index
| Date | Peak | Height | PF | Location | WCP/FP | MAP |
| 29.03.24 | Lushaugen | 812m | 302m | Gran/Hurdal, Norway | FP | MAP |
| 30.03.24 | Sjåheimen | 610m | 57m | Søndre Land, Norway | FP | MAP |
| 31.03.24 | Odnesberga | 358m | – | Søndre Land, Norway | – | MAP |
| 31.03.24 | Sjåheimen | 610m | 57m | Søndre Land, Norway | FP | MAP |
Lushaugen (812m), Mar 29 2024
Friday: We spent the morning cleaning the cabin we had rented for the first part of our Easter break and were ready for departure. I was nervous about driving the heavy loaded car down the steep hill with slush snow. There was no real grip or steering. I just had to make sure the car ran as slow as possible, with just a slight touch on the brakes.
Once down from the cabin road, we found the other roads to be just as bad. And we had a LONG way down the mountain. We passed one Tesla stuck in the slush and figured it wouldn’t be the only one if others were leaving today. The road was in a poor and disappointing state.
I felt like kissing the asphalt when we got down to the main road. To get to Randsfjorden, we could either drive northbound to Gol, or southbound to Hønefoss. We chose Hønefoss, just to get a road we were not familiar with. We also stopped near Hønefoss to hike a top we thought would offer little snow. But there was no path and so we moved on.
We agreed to ski Lushaugen from Lygna before continuing to Randsfjorden. It was just a 10-minute detour.
We skied Lushaugen back in 2016, together with Eva – whom we were about to visit. I didn’t remember all that much of that trip, other than Lushaughytta and waffles.
As we came rather late in the day, there weren’t many skiers around, which served us nicely and we could let Karma walk as she pleased – along with us.
The fog just didn’t seem to let go, but we were quite accustomed to it by now…
We passed Lushaughytta but didn’t stop there. We were here for the top only.
Karma isn’t easily put off by the weather…
Every time we thought we were up, there were one more hill.
But eventually, we got there.
New since 2016 was the 15m tall Lushaugtårnet.
We had to check it out of course. We took turns, as the stairs were a bit too narrow for Karma.
I’m sure there is a nice view from here, on any given average day with OK weather.
Time to leave and join up with our friends in Hov!
Trip statistics: 9,8km, 230 vertical meters, 1h:36m
Sjåheimen (610m), Mar 30 2024
Saturday: The weather wasn’t great today either, but that would not stop us from going on a ski-trip. Rather than doing the classic routes to Skihytta on Sjåheimen, I proposed we could start at Vassenden at Trevatna, and the others liked the idea.
Bjørn had a bad back from a recent fall, and he felt this trip would be too long. But he drove us to Trevatna and dropped us off there.
The track was quite alright, albeit the snow was a bit wet in the beginning…
The snow got better, and we had a nice trip through the forest.
Karma didn’t appreciate the fact that we’re always seeking places where the snow can carry her weight.
After a while, we were tracking two moose that had recently enjoyed the ski-tracks. Karma was quite eager…
After 4,6km, we arrived at Haraldsrud. None of us had been here before.
Although it was cloudy, we had a very nice day outdoors!
10,3km after heading out from Trevatna, we arrived at Skihytta on Sjåheimen.
There was no service today, but we had brought our own treats…
On our way down, we met Bjørn – coming up from Sagdammen.
The others stopped at Sagdammen where Bjørn had parked, while Karma and I continued down to Skjeskroken.
After a wonderful meal of “Easter lamb” in the evening, we had some rounds of Raffle (Liar’s Dice). This is my favourite game, bar none. The only thing needed is dices in different colours. The cups can be improvised.
Trip statistics: 18,3km, 330 vertical meters, 2h:34m
Odnesberga (358m), Mar 31 2024
Sunday: Sunday morning was just as grey as the previous Easter days. Eva could probably kill for just one sunny day and during breakfast I promised her blue sky. She looked at the fog outside and gazed back to me. She probably thought I was mocking her. But the forecast mentioned a chance of blue sky and I decided to trust it.
The blue sky came as promised and Eva wanted to do a hike across Odnesberga. This is not a top, but the top of a cliff, with a good view towards Randsfjorden.
We parked at the foot of the old Odnesbakken ski jumping hill…
…and headed up the gravel road to approach Odnesberga from the east.
Karma was busy with her off-trail adventures…
After a while, we had to hike on snow. Although it wasn’t deep, it was draining my energy.
After a while, we passed the top of the old ski jumping hill. Anne tried to imagine how it would be to take off…
There is a “Gapahuk” (lean-on shelter) here, but we would not be sitting down here, this time.
We continued up the forest…
…and got a better view towards Randsfjorden.
This was my first hike in 9 days, and it felt a little odd to not be skiing…
The lingering fog made for some nice details.
It was nice to be here, for the first time!
For a while, we were wondering if we would be able to get Eva to come along with the rest of us. She claimed she hadn’t seen blue sky since June. A slight exaggeration, surely – but we took the point and let her have her moment.
We just had to wait 😉
Eventually, it was time to head down, and we took the westbound path. We met a woman who said this path was icy.
She was spot on!
But we made it down, safe and sound.
We had 1,7km back to the trailhead, along FV33, watching the Easter tourists returning to Oslo, hopefully to avoid the huge traffic chaos that always follows the holidays.
Trip statistics: 5,7km, 290 vertical meters, 1h:43m
Sjåheimen (610m), Mar 31 2024
Sunday: After the Odnesberga hike, I wanted to do some more skiing. The others didn’t and so I drove up to Vardalsåsen to ski back to Skjeskroken. I could hopefully get Bjørn to drive me back up for the car, later on.
I discovered that the part of the route I had planned to follow hadn’t been prepared, and so I would have to go on a longer detour via Vesterås. Not optimal, in terms of making it back in time for dinner, but I could always ski as fast as I could…
But when I got to Vardalsåsen, the parking area hadn’t been cleared of snow. There was a clear risk of getting the car stuck while trying to park. So, I abandoned the plan and drove down to “Flyplassen” to do the usual route to and from Skihytta on Sjåheimen.
At Flyplassen, I could see that the groomer had been here and left the track in pristine order for the day after – which would be the last day of Easter. Enter Karma, and it was not so pristine any longer…
I told Karma to stay on the right-hand side and without really understanding, she mostly did.
It was a beautiful afternoon, and I was really happy about skiing by myself, going as fast as I pleased…
I had the time to reflect on this Easter holiday. I went into it, low on energy and the weather forecast was both miserable and accurate. Still, we had done a whole lot of skiing and visited several new tops. I don’t think my hiking long would have been much different with sunshine and blue sky.
At the Tverrmyra junction, we took the southern (and shortest) route to the top.
Shortly after, we were back at Skihytta on Sjåheimen.
We took the longer route back to Tverrmyra, and at the Høgbrenna junction, we met the groomer. I tried not to look the guy in the eyes as we passed. It wasn’t so that we had ruined the tracks – by any means – but I’ll bet the guy wanted to leave the tracks – shining.
Karma and I were back in good time for dinner. The others were licking the sunshine on the terrace and all of a sudden, we got entertainment.
Armadas of Graylag Geese came up from the European continent, heading for the north. We were wondering if they followed the river systems – in this case Randsfjorden.
I heard later on that multiple flocks also had been seen above Mjøsa. And probably many other places too.
A lovely sight!
This was our last full day in eastern Norway for now. We would be going home the next day, and hopefully get a nice ski-trip along the way. And we did!
Trip statistics: 9,3km, 200 vertical meters, 1h:10m
