Exploring new terrain in Bindal
Summer vacation, day 18
Index
| Date | Peak | Height | PF | Location | WCP/FP | MAP |
| 22.07.24 | Selfjordsalen | 668m | 120m | Bindal, Norway | – | MAP |
Monday: After the relatively hard hike to Geittinden the day before, I was quite surprised that Anne wanted to come along for another hike. Our stay in the north was coming to an end and this would be our last hiking day in Nordland county.
My plan A was Nubben (489m) from the end of the Søbergsliveien road. I looked forward to a nice view towards Tosenfjorden.
But … there was another top nearby – Selfjordsalen. It was a) higher and b) had a cooler name and so that became my new plan A, as I didn’t think Anne would be up for both tops.
The road up Søbergsliveien is … bumpy. It feels like a whole year of the car’s lifetime is lost after a drive along this road. I drove this road last year, when I hiked Stortuva.
But whatever mountain we would be hiking, we would first have to get up to lake Søbergsvatnet. Fortunately, there was an OK path from the end of the road.
I don’t know, but maybe I thought that the trailhead would be in open terrain. It clearly wasn’t, but it was nice to have this good path.
It was a hot day, and we had put a cover on Karma to prevent sunburns (she has very little hair on her back) and once we reached the first pond, we turned to dirty tricks (a ball) to get her cooled down.
Anne came around and agreed to give Selfjordsalen a try. She felt it looked really far away, even though it wasn’t – it was only 7km (hiking distance) to the top. But now that the plan was set, we sat the course accordingly…
We passed several small lakes, and Karma was permanently wet…
Eventually, we got Selfjordsalen in view. It looked steep from a distance, but I assumed that looks were deceiving. In any case, I had my eyes on a traversing ledge.
Lake Søbergsvatnet was HUGE! It was really nice to be up here. It felt like some kind of wilderness.
Next up, we started to think about crossing the river from lake Litle Søbergsvatnet.
The river crossing was way easier than I had imagined…
After crossing the river, we had get across a hump before we could enjoy the nice slabs leading up to the foot of Selfjordsalen.
My ascent plan for Selfjordsalen remained the same until we got close to the mountain.
Then I realized that we would get up pretty much anywhere…
At the foot of the mountain, the final ascent could begin.
I enjoyed myself big time! Although I had previously been to Stortuva, this felt like brand new terrain!
Our ascent route was a good mix of terrain that the dog could do and at the same time had a fraction of fun in it…
It’s good that we have a dog that isn’t scared of heights, and can find its own way…
When we thought we were on top, we weren’t. But where the actual top was, wasn’t that easy to determine. We had to look closely at the map and settle for a point which was 10m higher than where we thought the high point was.
And then we got company…
Karma’s tail went straight up!
We parted in peace and headed for the high point.
And then we were up!
The forecast mentioned rain in the afternoon, and we were prepared. But so far, we were in the clear.
But there was no point in lingering on top. We turned around right away, hoping to get as far as possible before the rain.
When we got back to lake Søbergsvatnet, we had to treat ourselves with a bath.
Anne doesn’t need a ball for getting into the water…
So, what about the rain? Not here yet…
We managed to return to the trailhead before the rain came. Big bonus after a *great* hike!
Before going down the forest, there was time for one last swim…
Trip statistics: 14km, 870 vertical meters, 4h:51m
Pictures (Canon EOS RP/Iphone 13 Pro Max/Samsung Galaxy) from the hike:
