Finally! The Børgefjell high point!
Summer vacation, day 8,9,10
Index
| Date | Peak | Height | PF | Location | WCP/FP | MAP |
| 12-14.07.24 | Kvigtinden | 1699m | 1160m | Hattefjelldal/Grane, Norway | – | MAP |
To Simskardhytta, July 12 2024
Friday: When we left Korgen Fjellstue, my knee was a little bit better, and so Kvigtinden was a go!
This was another mountain I had wanted to hike for decades, and I really, really wanted to get to the top.
Thanks to Anne and her research, she had booked Simskardhytta for two nights. I could simply not understand how this cabin was available in the busiest hiking month in Børgefjell.
We drove up the gravel road to the Simskardet parking and spent a good while on preparations.
At 14:08, we were ready to head out. I guess none of us really knew what was awaiting – other than a long hike and lots of vertical meters.
The trail up to Simskardhytta was easy enough.
We hadn’t studied the map very closely, so at this point, we didn’t know what was what…
It’s a good thing there is a bridge across the river coming from Golverskardet. This river would have been a tough crossing…
After 3,5km and ~1 hour of easy walking, we arrived at Simskardhytta.
The cabin was really nice. But, what the heck were we supposed to do for the rest of the day?
Anne found a nice place for a bath behind the cabin.
I tried to rest my knee as much as possible. It was still aching, but I was optimistic with respect to the Kvigtinden hike the next day.
In the evening, a couple of hikers passed by the cabin. Sierra and Tyler (with two dogs) – from the US but now living in Poland. They planned to put up a tent by the lakes and go for Kvigtinden the next day. We parted knowing we would probably see them the next day. We switched our cell phones off and we had books to read. But I wasn’t really in mood for reading and for the first time in a very, very long time, I was bored. Anne’s dinner was clearly the highlight of the entire afternoon and evening!
Kvigtinden, July 13 2024
Saturday: This was a gorgeous morning and today we would conquer Kvigtinden, come hell or high water! My knee was stiff but once I got it warmed up, it was functioning!
Anne had done a whole lot of useful research the day before, and walked around for 3km, trying to figure out the trails near the cabin. Eventually, she concluded that a vague path that passed by the cabin would get us into Bisseggskardet valley.
We headed out 08:20, after breakfast – mentally prepared for a long hike.
Thanks to Anne’s research, we had a fairly easy hike along the vague path for ~1km.
Then, we just had to set the best course into Bisseggskardet.
The 4-5km through Bisseggskardet valley was … not fun. Bush, wetlands and mosquitos. Lots of mosquitos.
But we were able to – more or less – follow a vague path through the valley. If we lost the path, we just asked ourselves – where would it be natural to go? And then we found the path again, over and over again.
It was great joy when we got to the point where we could begin our ascent up to lake Vestre Måsskardvatnet.
The terrain was easier now and constant access to water close by was also helpful. Karma was constantly thirsty. But more importantly – we were now moving *away* from Bisseggskardet.
It didn’t take long before we reached lake Vestre Måsskardvatnet, and we could see Sierra and Tyler’s tent. They were probably on their way down from the summit by now…
It was a relief to see that the river crossing would be easy. We were mentally prepared to ford the river and I had also gone through all variations of carrying the dog on my neck.
It was a moral boost to get across the river.
Hiking in this valley was easy.
We were tired from the tedious walk up Bisseggskardet but found new inspiration knowing the main ascent was just “up the road”
Then we saw reindeer. At first – two, then five, then seven and then a whole bunch.
As we began our ascent up to the pass between Kvigtinden and Måsskardfjellet, we met another (and larger) herd of reindeer. Karma was very enthusiastic. She doesn’t care about sheep, but reindeer is clearly of interest.
There is a long cliff where the river from the upper pass is coming down. We noticed a route up in the middle, easy for humans but more cumbersome for a dog.
But now we were en route for the Kvigtinden ridge!
And Karma found snow!
Access to the ridge looked quite negotiable!
And eventually, we were on the ridge! Only 3-400 vertical meters to the top. Nothing to it!
The terrain was dramatic. I had absolutely no mental picture of how the upper part would look like. Yes, we had done research, but only on the routes.
The ridge seemed to have a couple of possible challenges for Karma. We didn’t have any information about how dog-friendly this route was, other than having seen a picture of a dog on top.
Then we met Sierra, Tyler and their two dogs. They told us that the onward route was easy enough, but they hadn’t been to the top. They said one of their (young) dogs were tired and so they had turned around.
That didn’t quite make sense to us. If we ran into a pitch where we couldn’t get Karma up, we would have taken turns up to the top. Maybe they thought the upper part was too steep. Or maybe they just aren’t so “damaged” as we are, having to reach the top, no matter what.
The first “problem” was easily negotiated.
Then we had smooth sailing up to the summit block. It looked really steep from a distance and I could easily see Karma NOT making it to the top.
But, like very often – there is always a way up and Kvigtinden didn’t offer any exception. True, it was a bit bumpy route, but we got Karma up!
Kvigtinden! After all these years!
The return to the cabin was not in our minds at this point in time.
I was really happy to be up here, but a little unhappy about the views. I had expected to see more of the majestic mountains in Nordland.
We saw most of the Børgefjell mountains of course, given that this peak is located in the middle of the national park. The only mountain I recognized was Heilhornet.
After a good stay on top, reality caught up with us. We had a long way down. The important thing was to stay mentally positive!
The descent down the ridge went OK. So did the descent to the lake between Kvigtinden and Måsskardfjellet.
We found a better route down the cliff area and when we reached the valley, there were no reindeer to be seen.
We had an easy hike back to the drain from lake Vestre Måsskardvatnet and we could see Sierra and Tyler returning to their tent after a bath. We stopped and took a bath ourselves and discovered an Iphone on a rock. I jogged over to Sierra and Tyler – just heading out, but it wasn’t their phone.
After a little while, we moved on and descended into Bisseggskardet.
We soon caught up with Sierra and Tyler and they asked if they could stay on our tail. I guess they thought we knew what we were doing (I was just following our GPS tracks from the day before).
They told us that their hike up the valley the day before was a bit of a nightmare. It was a major bush-fight, and the mosquitos were completely intolerable.
Anne and I were hiking in shorts and were constantly bitten by horseflies, but Sierra and Tyler said that “today, there are NO mosquitos, compared to yesterday”.
They seemed really happy about being led down the valley along an easier route than the one they had picked the day before.
We got concerned when one of their dogs started limping, but fortunately – it was the harness that wasn’t optimally adjusted. Once sorted out, the dog was walking normally again.
They were a really interesting couple. Tyler had proposed to Sierra in Tromsø in 2023 and this year, they were getting married in Lofoten. One could almost get envious – young people with life ahead of them.
Finally, we were back at the Simskardhytta cabin. We had hiked for 10,5 hours, along 26-27 kilometres and ~1300 vertical meters. It wasn’t really the distance or the vertical gain that was “a dimension”, but more the terrain in Bisseggskardet that drained our energy.
We chatted with our new friends for a little while before they returned to their car.
We were staying at the cabin for one more night and Anne was a sweetheart and made a delicious dinner. We were not so careful with the red wine and went to be around 21:00, very tired and happy.
From Simskardhytta, July 14 2024
Sunday: We woke up early in the morning and started the day with a bath in the river. Anne found an axe (!) in the river and assumed it was lost by someone chopping a hole in the river in the wintertime.
After breakfast, we packed our backpacks, cleaned the cabin and got ready to return to the car.
Karma had gotten accustomed to the bridge across Golverskardelva river…
We had an easy hike back to the car.
I was SO HAPPY about finally having done this hike. There are so many hikes I’ve forgotten. It’s the ones that you remember 20-30 years later, that really count…
Then we sat course for mom’s place in Brønnøysund…
Trip statistics: 34,6km, 1780 vertical meters, 12h:30m
Pictures (Canon EOS RP/Iphone 13 Pro Max/Samsung Galaxy) from the hike:
