2025 Week 15

Arnt Flatmo - Fjordpeaks.com

1 year ago

Easter, part 1

Index

Date	Peak	Height	PF	Location	WCP/FP	MAP
07.04.25	Osberget	134m	36m	Ulstein, Norway		MAP
07.04.25	Rjåhornet	600m	107m	Herøy, M&R, Norway	WCP	MAP
08.04.25	Høgkubben	450m	62m	Ålesund, Norway	WCP	MAP
09.04.25	Huaren (Avleinsåsen)	397m	19m	Stryn, Norway	–	MAP
09.04.25	Nuken	658m	25m	Gloppen, Norway	WCP	MAP
09.04.25	Hamnanova	732m	3m	Jølster, Norway	WCP	MAP
10.04.25	Stedjeåsen	625m	123m	Sogndal, Norway	WCP	MAP
11.04.25	Hårånuten	1135m	18m	Nore og Uvdal, Norway	–	MAP
12.04.25	Kistenuten	1286m	170m	Nore og Uvdal, Norway	–	MAP
12.04.25	Falkeberget N	1263m	31m	Nore og Uvdal, Norway	–	MAP
12.04.25	Rundkult	1226m	19m	Nore og Uvdal, Norway	–	MAP
13.04.25	Flåtåfjellet	1259m	124m	Nore og Uvdal, Norway	–	MAP
13.04.25	Ryggehovde	1258m	41m	Nore og Uvdal, Norway	–	MAP

Osberget (134m), Apr 7 2025

Monday: After work, I was curious if there would be any improvement regarding Karma and walking. I drove up to Bugarden above Ulsteinvik and let her lead the way. She seemed very happy for the first couple of minutes.

When she understood that I was heading for Osberget, she had to think about it for a few seconds but came along. I was happy to see that she took the lead. I was very open to small, positive signs right now.

She did remember that I’ve been handing out treats on top of Osberget, and I made no exceptions this time.

She was OK to come along for a round trip. She knows the terrain is easy. But when we came to the viewpoint further into the forest, the mojo had left her, and I thought that was it. She did understand that there was no point in turning back, and so we might as well finish the round trip.

I was able to lead her onto a couple of side paths and the hike got a little longer than I had feared.

But eventually, she showed all signs of being done for the day and we returned to the car.

Time to start thinking about closing down this hike

We’ll just have to come back to this nice forest another day…

Trip statistic: 2,3km, 155 vertical meters, 0h:53m

Rjåhornet (600m), Apr 7 2025

Monday: Then it was time for my hike. I put the bike in the car and drove to the Stemmedalen trailhead. The bike wouldn’t buy me anything going up to the lake, but it would save me 10 minutes coming back down.

I left the bike just before the dam and headed out.

The plan was to jog a lot and get up and down in “record time”. But once I started jogging, I felt there was nothing to fuel the energy consumption. The batteries were just flat.

The hike up the mountain was incredibly hard, but I was able to keep a steady pace. It wasn’t until the very last hill, before I headed into the fog on top, that my body started to respond. A bit late, but rather late than never.

I didn’t jog back down, as I had planned. The legs felt like they were full of acid, and I didn’t want to risk falling. Still, the descent went swift, and I was back at the car in less than 1,5 hours after leaving.

Trip statistic: 5,8km, 600 vertical meters, 1h:19m

Høgkubben (450m), Apr 8 2025

Tuesday: Vet appointment 8am – Karma’s monthly Librela injection. I said to the Vet (not the one who performed the surgery) that I was a bit worried about her unwillingness to walk. On top of it all, she had a bleeding lipoma which not necessarily is a problem but had to be treated. She said she would consult with the other Vet, and he would make contact.

I got a call a few hours later and got an appointment for 1pm. The Vet was happy with the surgery, but he was concerned when he found that Karma has a potential hip problem. Her left leg muscle was way thicker than the other, suggesting she might have been compensating for a problem, over a period of time.

That was not good news. Well, the upside was that she is most likely healthy. But if she never joins me for a hike again, that’s not good. As Easter break is coming up, we will pick this up later. In the meantime, the Vet put her on pain killers. Hopefully, the refill of Librela could help too.

After work, I drove down to Bogneset. Karma was a little reluctant in the beginning, but then she suddenly started to run around in joy, like she used to. That warmed my heart, but only for a minute. All of a sudden, she didn’t want to continue.

We did a short round-trip hike. She seemed happy to be on the path, but didn’t want to hike. I cannot imagine what goes on inside her. Is she suffering from pain or is it mental? The Vet was quite sure that she would be in some kind of pain, because of the hip problem.

Easter break may be different this year…

I then drove to Spjelkavika for a solo hike. Karma relaxes well in the car, and it wasn’t a hot day. I sat out to hike Høgkubben in a good pace. Little did I know that the pace would be much higher than I had planned.

Halfway up the slalom hill, I notice a bloke on my tail – seemingly keeping my pace. From the looks of it, he seemed to be 20 years younger. Still, can’t have that, and so I focused on my technique.

Technique, you say? Yes, the technique is important. Upwards, two things are important: 1) Use rocks as much as possible. No energy goes into the ground and to waste. 2) Avoid high steps. Find a middle step where possible. That, combined with a good pace should give you a fighting chance. I’ll tell you about the downhill techniques some other day. They are much more important…

When I reached the top of the slalom hill (Høgelia, 313m), I had control of the guy, I thought he would turn around on top and allowed time to tie my shoelaces. And suddenly, he was just behind me. Can’t have that!

I imagined he would appreciate someone to catch up with, just as much as I wanted to keep him behind me. We had a good “race” from Høgelia to Høgekubben. Walking was out of the question. This was straight up running. I reached the top a couple of minutes before he did. That felt awesome.

The bloke turned around quite quicky, while I was taking some pictures. When I began my descent, I could just see his orange jacket, far, far ahead of me. It was not in my dreams to try to catch up with him.

But the jogging went surprisingly smooth, and I imagined that little by little, I would shorten the gap. And sure enough, when I returned to Høgelia, he was just a few meters ahead of me. Yes, I am an old fart, but I can give fit people a good run for the money in a downhill. Unfortunately, he went onto the new gravel road while I stuck to my plan – to do the shortest route possible.

Jogging down the slalom hill, the lack of competition must have made me lower the guard, and suddenly, I was sliding, and the knee was about to twist in a way that wouldn’t have a happy ending. Fortunately, it was so slippery that my body continued to rotate along with the knee, so it ended OK. If not, the Easter break would have been totally different this year…

Trip statistic: 6,3km, 495 vertical meters, 1h:01m

Huaren (397m), Apr 9 2025

Wednesday: After work, I left for Sogndal. The plan was to hike Orkja (948m) along the way. But then I ran into a road closure at Loen. The road wouldn’t open for another hour and rather than surfing on the phone, I chose to do a quick hike up and down Huaren.

It had only been a couple of weeks since I visited Huaren for the first time. Now, I knew the route – some along a tractor road, but the most part off-trail.

Near the top, I discovered a path (I don’t know where it started) and I saved a couple of minutes. I jogged all the way down and was back at the car and Karma 48 minutes after leaving. I could even surf on the phone for 10 minutes, before the convoy started to move.

Trip statistic: 5,1km, 390 vertical meters, 0h:48m

Nuken on Utvikfjellet (658m), Apr 9 2025

Wednesday: On the way to Sogndal, we stopped on Utvikfjellet. Karma was eager in the beginning, but when I started to walk on the mountain road, she stopped. Only when she saw me leave the mountain road and get on the path towards the small hump (Nuken) alongside the road, she came running after.

She seemed to understand that the walk would be short and even took the lead.

On our way down, she seemed a little nervous that I might stray off in the wrong direction. So I gave up any idea of a longer walk…

Trip statistic: 1km, 40 vertical meters, 0h:16m

Hamnanova (732m), Apr 9 2025

Wednesday: By the time I got to Skei, I was a little annoyed that I hadn’t reached 500 vertical meters and decided to hike Hamnanova – alone. Hamnanova isn’t a top (although there is a 3m hump), but it’s a wonderful viewpoint.

And besides, it was Orkja’s neighbour – so I didn’t end up too far away from my original goal.

The quarry – Hamnanova’s trailhead. Hamnanova to the left.

I started jogging up the forest, trying to keep the hike as quick as possible. Two women came down the forest and said it was really sporty to run up the mountain.

Thanks, but I didn’t run up the mountain. I jogged a little, walked a little but kept a decent pace. 20 minutes and 300 vertical meters later, I reached the top and could enjoy the wonderful Kjøsnesfjorden view.

This place is a pearl!

I did jog back down though and continued to Sogndal 38 minutes after we got here.

Trip statistic: 3,1km, 300 vertical meters, 0h:38m

Stedjeåsen (624m), Apr 10 2025

Thursday: Early morning, I took Karma down to Sogndalsfjøra for the morning walk. She seemed very happy to be back and completed the round without any protests.

After work, I did a solo hike up to Stedjeåsen.

It was in general quite steep from the get-go and until I arrived on the meadow near the top. In the steep terrain, I couldn’t place my right foot fully on the ground without twisting my body. I hadn’t noticed this before, but the more I thought about it, the clearer the problem became.

Six months ago, a therapist pointed out a misalignment in my pelvis, caused by muscle imbalance. He gave me an exercise program, and after a week, the misalignment was supposedly gone. I definitely need to resume that exercise program.

I have also started to stretch my arms – upwards. I noticed that stretching was really painful, which probably means – in my case – that I should stretch more. It’s becoming less painful, and the headaches come more seldom now. I think I’m onto something here…

On the meadow, there were now wooden walkways between the mailbox (where 99% of hikers turn around) and the high point. Now, there is no good reason to skip the high point.

Improvement. Now, people don’t wear down more terrain than absolutely necessary

Back home, I invited Karma for a short walk. She was quite eager along the path she knows so well, but as soon as we closed in on the mountain, she got nervous.

I didn’t plan to hike the mountain one more time, but I wanted to extend the walk beyond the regular morning and evening loop that Anne takes the dog on. When I broke away from the loop, Karma stopped. This time, I ignored her and kept on walking. As expected, she came running after me.

Now, she was confident that we were on our way back home. Then I threw in a curveball and took a different street. She stopped again, I kept moving on and she came running after. There’s probably something that is affecting her, but I have a sneaky feeling that she is also playing mind games with me. I’m not 100% sure I got the same dog back after the uterus surgery.

But now Easter break is coming up and the terrain will be all new to her. We’ll she how she tackles that.

In the evening, we went down to the hotel to listen to the legend Lars Monsen. But as the speech was sponsored by the local bank, we had to endure one hour about retirement and pensions. The speaker was good, and the content was – even if I hate to admit it – highly relevant.

Finally, the living legend himself entered the podium and gave us a speech about his outdoor life. Through a number of expeditions, filmed and showed on national TV, everyone in Norway knows Lars Monsen.