Bad weather. Then good weather…
Index
| Date | Peak | Height | PF | Location | WCP/FP | MAP |
| 13.01.25 | Huldrehornet | 271m | 113m | Herøy, M&R, Norway | WCP | MAP |
| 14.01.25 | Øyrahornet | 417m | 42m | Herøy, M&R, Norway | WCP | MAP |
| 14.01.25 | Osberget | 134m | 36m | Ulstein, Norway | MAP | |
| 15.01.25 | Huldrehornet | 271m | 113m | Herøy, M&R, Norway | WCP | MAP |
| 16.01.25 | Høgskjerva | 317m | 9m | Ulstein, Norway | WCP | MAP |
| 17.01.25 | Rambjøra | 132m | 109m | Herøy, M&R, Norway | WCP | MAP |
| 18.01.25 | Rjåhornet | 421m | 68m | Herøy, M&R, Norway | WCP | MAP |
| 18.01.25 | Storevarden | 430m | 430m | Herøy, M&R, Norway | WCP | MAP |
| 18.01.25 | Haddalshornet | 611m | 103m | Ulstein, Norway | WCP | MAP |
| 19.01.25 | Melshornet | 668m | 560m | Hareid, Norway | WCP | MAP |
| 19.01.25 | Gjøna | 531m | 163m | Sande, Norway | WCP | MAP |
Huldrehornet (271m), Jan 13 2025
Monday: Today, the weather was exceptionally bad. It was pouring down and the snow was furiously melting away. There was not a fiber in my body that wanted to go outside after work, but I manned up and went for a quick hike to Huldrehornet.
Now that Karma’s stitches were “in the open”, I didn’t want to let her out of my sight. But she hadn’t shown interest in them, and moreover, it’s difficult to do damage to your own back. She could be rolling and rubbing, though. Probably not an optimal activity during recovery.
The weather in the afternoon wasn’t as bad as the weather earlier in the day. It was really awful then. Now it was just windy, and it was raining. I got wet through and through. The Gore-Text didn’t save me today.
When I got back home, everything was all good with Karma, and it was time to take the dog for a walk. As I didn’t want the stitches to get wet, I put a bandage on, with elastic tape (around her belly). Then two layers of rain gear and hopefully she would stay dry.
She was a bit reluctant to get going, but after five minutes she could probably walk all evening. But it was raining so hard that I decided to call it a day. Back home, the wound was perfectly dry.
Huldrehornet: 2,8km, 250 vertical meters, 0h:45m
Dog walk: 2,7km, 60 vertical meters, 0h:34m
Øyrahornet (417m), Jan 14 2025
Tuesday: The weather during my working day was almost as bad as the day before. Fortunately, the worst part was over when I drove to Tjørvåg to do a quick hike up and down Øyrahornet.
The first section of the path was a disaster. I’m not sure if draining the water into the river would work. The river would just find another route for the water and send it back.
The river was big. I’ve seen it big before, so I wouldn’t find out how big it was until I got to the dam.
When I got to the dam, I knew I’ve never seen this amount of water before. The water level was close to hitting the top of the old dam. Incredible snowmelt!
It was good to reach the top, so I could soon be back home and check on Karma.
The Vet called me this afternoon and told me that there was cancer in the tumor he removed. But it was the mildest form of cancer and there is a low possibility that she will get it again – given her age. We also sat the date for the next operation – removal of the womb. Poor kiddo. The first part of 2025 will be hard on her.
Trip statistics: 3,6km, 400 vertical meters, 1h:08m
Osberget (134m), Jan 14 2025
Tuesday: After hiking Øyrahornet, I drove back home, changed clothes and took Karma to Bugarden in Ulsteinvik. She would get an easy walk with lots of smells from other dogs.
We took the new gravel road to the viewpoint. Given the rain, I didn’t bother bringing the camera, so cell phone pictures will have to do this time.
Of course, we stopped by the top of Osberget also.
I took another crap picture in crap weather.
The highlight of the walk was this game on a picnic table. I had a feeling it could be the Christmas version of tic-tac-toe but wasn’t sure. So, I asked ChatGPT. It concurred and had noticed the colors on the gnomes’ hats. I know image technology has come a long way, but still it impressed me.
Trip statistics: 3,7km, 155 vertical meters, 0h:53m
Huldrehornet (271m), Jan 15 2025
Wednesday: The weather was just awful, and I decided to take a hike to Huldrehornet all by myself. Karma would be walked in the streets afterwards.
As soon as I entered the forest, I decided to go off-trail and do a route I hadn’t done before. It didn’t take long before I reached a steep forest that required scrambling, holding on to trees and roots. Big fun!
When I came above the forest, the crap weather hit me straight into the face. It was good to be up here, but it would be twice as good to get back down…
Trip statistics: 3,1km, 285 vertical meters, 0h:52m
Høgskjerva (317m), Jan 16 2025
Thursday: I was tired after work and didn’t feel like going on a solo hike and then walk the dog. It was raining, but not a whole lot. So, I put enough rain gear on the dog to protect the stitches and drove to Ulsteinvik without any concrete plan.
On my way to Ulsteinvik, I decided to drive to Bugarden again, like on Tuesday. But today, we would follow a different route.
We headed up “Mørdarbakken” (killer hill) gravel road. Karma was not enthusiastic, but at least she didn’t signal that she didn’t want to turn around. Halfway up the hill, I turned towards the ridge trail. That made her enthusiastic. We followed the ridge up to Høgskjerva.
As it was raining, I didn’t bother bringing my camera and documented our “ascent” with the cell phone…
We were the only ones out walking, and I wasn’t surprised.
We continued across Høgskjerva and reconnected to the gravel road. We then headed down to the waterworks building and met a guy on a bike, going up. We turned onto the Vikemarka path and followed it back to civilization and the trailhead. It was a nice walk.
Trip statistics: 6,1km, 270 vertical meters, 1h:26
Rambjøra (132m), Jan 17 2025
Friday: Storm in mid-Norway. Terrible wind, but it got less strong after work. The downside was that rain sat in. I dressed Karma up for a rainy day (protecting the stitches) and took a walk up to Rambjøra.
When we got to the top, it had stopped raining, and I decided that we should do the regular round-trip hike. This was Karma’s first visit to the nearest top in 2025…
After the hike, we went down to the sea, primarily to get extra 30 vertical meters…
Trip statistics: 5,3km, 180 vertical meters, 1h:17m
Rjåhornet (421m), Storevarden (430m), Jan 18 2025
Saturday: To my delight, it stopped raining early in the morning. I was tired of the rain, beyond words. I decided to step it up a notch, with respect to what I thought was OK to do for Karma (and her stitches) and decided to drive to Nerlandsøya to hike across Rjåhornet and Storevarden.
I was not inventive today. We would do the same round-trip hike that we usually do out here. Overall, easy terrain. Karma would walk nice and easy all the way to the top.
The first kilometer was spent in the forest, along an easy path.
Above the forest, it was windy. Very windy!
Karma seemed to be doing well, and I looked forward to getting to the top.
The top was incredibly windy. My hood and hat was brutally ripped off.
But it wasn’t a full-fledged storm, and I was able to take a couple of pictures.
Now, I looked forward to getting OFF the top.
Our next goal was Storevarden – the island high point.
We got a break from the worst wind between the tops.
But – the wind was back at full strength on Storevarden.
Fortunately, the cairn and the building provide shelter, and we could hang out here for a little while.
The wind was nothing, compared to how delightful it was to avoid the rain and even get a glimpse of blue sky and sunshine.
Then I discovered that we were not alone up here. I decided not to disturb. It would be difficult to hear what the other person was saying, anyway.
Time to head back down.
As great as this was, it wasn’t enough. So, I started to plan another hike (without Karma) that could be quite fun.
It was nice to see the new bridge coming along and I’m looking forward to drive across it.
Trip statistics: 8,1km, 520 vertical meters, 2h:13m
Pictures (Canon EOS RP/Iphone 13 Pro Max) from the hike:
Haddalshornet (611m), Jan 18 2025
Saturday: After hiking on Nerlandsøya, I drove home and changed clothes. I left Karma behind and drove to Haddal to hike Haddalshornet.
The plan was hike up the “Klungsgylet” route. I think that’s a name I gave it, many years ago.
I had brought an ice-axe. Today, it would be used for slippery grass. It’s quite slippery in the steepest part, and I wanted to return home, safe and sound.
This was the 7th time I’ve done this route and it’s fun every time. Mistakes should be avoided at all costs in the steepest part.
The scramble went well today also, and I could enjoy the remaining daylight from the top.
The time was 3:25pm, but I had enough daylight for my descent. The headlamp would not be used today.
After the hike, I stopped by Kjeldsund for some sunset pictures.
All in all, a great day off and on the trails!
Trip statistics: 5,6km, 585 vertical meters, 1h:47m
Pictures (Canon EOS RP/Iphone 13 Pro Max) from the hike:
Melshornet (668m), Jan 19 2025
Sunday: Another nice day and I decided to walk the dog up to Melshornet above Hareid.
We typically head out from Ulset and follow the southwest ridge to the top. But today, we started in Pilskogane (Hjørungavåg). It’s been a few years since we last hiked here. Mainly because this is tick-area. Hopefully, they were on diapause now, although it was a warm day (8 deg. C.) I had a feeling of spring.
Karma was not enthusiastic, but didn’t protest. I just let her tag along behind me, knowing it would change once she picked up an interesting scent. It took 10 minutes, and then she was in front.
I didn’t particularly enjoy the forest route. Or rather – I do enjoy forests, but not the wet parts between the forests.
It was nice to get above the forest and get the mountain top in view.
I was curious about the wind. Would be something close to yesterday? Nah, the wind was a little cold, but it wasn’t particularly strong.
As we took it nice and easy, it took us 1h:16m to reach the top.
It was nice to be back here again, for sure!
It’s always nice to zoom in on the Sunnmøre alps!
I tried to guess how many times I had been up here, and landed on 30. But later, I found out that this was my 42th visit. Again – I never have a goal to visit a top many times, but it’s nice to keep count…
After a while, we both got bored and began the descent.
We followed the same route down to Litlehornet, but I wanted to follow the other route (via Ovranakken) on our way down.
The terrain was overall easy, and Karma didn’t have to do any jumps. I lifted her up on a couple of occasions, but her twisting and turning in her bed is probably more brutal than a small jump.
I checked her stitches when we returned to the car. Everything was good.
Trip statistics: 7,5km, 650 vertical meters, 2h:15m
Pictures (Canon EOS RP/Iphone 13 Pro Max) from the hike:
Gjøna (531m), Jan 19 2025
Sunday: After hiking Melshornet, I drove home, changed my shoes, left Karma behind and sat course for Gjerdsvika. I wanted some additional vertical meters and Gjøna is perfect in that respect. 500 vertical meters straight up. No march to the foot of the mountain. No bullshit.
To my surprise, I was not able to go up in my usual pace. Am I getting old? I had to stop and rest in a couple of places. Might as well take some pictures then…
The 515 vertical meters took me a whopping 43 minutes. That’s slow. But I wasn’t here to set any speed record.
I met 4 other hikers on top. They had come up from Haugsbygda to catch the sunset. But, because of clouds, there didn’t seem to be a spectacular sunset. Moreover, they hadn’t brought headlamps and as it was almost 4pm, they had to get moving.
I had a headlamp and wasn’t in any rush. I had even brought my mini tripod, as well as my 16mm lens. But, there didn’t seem to be any magic sunset and so I packed my things and headed back down.
The descent took only 22 minutes. I could have gone much faster, but parts of this route is quite steep and a slip could have ended on a really bad note.
Now, something was happening in the sky, and I drove to Gjøneset to catch it.
This wasn’t bad at all!
And if you ever wondered what happened to Kermit...
I hung around for a little while, then packed my things again and started on the drive back home.
I only got to Gursken before I decided to stop for more pictures.
I stopped one more time just before I got to Myrvåg. I wanted a picture of Rjåhornet and there is no place to stop. Except for a tiny turnout where I managed to squeeze in. There was lots of traffic and several must have thought that there was a car crash, because they slowed down (a lot) while passing. Oh well…
Trip statistics: 3,4km, 515 vertical meters, 1h:19m
Pictures (Canon EOS RP/Iphone 13 Pro Max) from the hike:
