Returning to normal…
Index
| Date | Peak | Height | PF | Location | WCP/FP | MAP |
| 21.04.25 | Frostadalseggene | 1464m | 144m | Årdal/Vang, Norway | MAP | |
| 21.04.25 | Rambjøra | 132m | 109m | Herøy, M&R, Norway | WCP | MAP |
| 22.04.25 | Haddalshornet | 611m | 103m | Ulstein, Norway | WCP | MAP |
| 23.04.25 | Svedehornet | 404m | 30m | Sande, M&R, Norway | WCP | MAP |
| 23.04.25 | Årvikveten | 458m | 205m | Sande, Norway | WCP | MAP |
| 23.04.25 | Grøthornet | 298m | 50m | Sande, Norway | WCP | MAP |
| 24.04.25 | Leinehornet | 364m | 364m | Herøy, M&R, Norway | WCP | MAP |
| 25.04.25 | Sneldelida | 633m | 104m | Ulstein/ Hareid, Norway | WCP | MAP |
| 26.04.25 | Saudehornet | 1303m | 825m | Ørsta, Norway | WCP | MAP |
| 26.04.25 | Garnestua | 654m | 417m | Ulstein, Norway | WCP | MAP |
| 27.04.25 | Storetua | 592m | 249m | Sande, Norway | WCP | MAP |
Frostdalseggene (1464m), Apr 21 2025
Monday: This ski-trip is featured on a separate post…
Rambjøra (132m), Apr 21 2025
Monday: After getting back home from the Easter vacation and emptying the car (it was smack full of stuff) I felt for a stroll up the Rambjøra forest. Karma seemed to appreciate the idea and came eagerly along.
But at the exact same place she decided to turn around before Easter (and after surgery), she stopped now.
This time, there shouldn’t be any physical limitations, especially based on what we had seen her do during Easter. So, I used my outdoor voice to let her know what I felt about it. She took the point and moved on.
After a while, it was all good and she looked happy as she was leading on up the forest.
She made well sure to get duly paid on top. I let her choose the descent route. She decided to return the same way, except for when we got to the fork, then she wanted to descend to Møre Skule.
And then we had a little detour before returning home.
Trip statistics: 3,4km, 140 vertical meters, 0h:50m
Haddalshornet (611m), Apr 22 2025
Tuesday: After 9 hours of working, I looked forward to a hike. The big question was – would Karma come along? She ate grass in the morning, then stayed in the bedroom (unusual) half the day. But when I changed clothes, she came to me, wagging her tail.
I decided to hike Haddalshornet from Havåg. When we got to the Havåg trailhead, she seemed both happy and hesitant. She was leading on up the forest, but not in the usual manner. She walked slowly and seemed affected by the warm temperature.
I didn’t push her in any way, prepared to turn around if she gave the signal.
After a while, I thought we were OK and started looking forward to getting to the top.
And THEN she gave the signal to turn around. But now we were almost out of the forest, and turning around would be really aggravating. She didn’t seem sick, just tired. I decided to continue walking. If she came running after me, I would repeat the procedure. If she didn’t, I would turn around. She came running and we did this on repeat until we got the mountain in view. She laid down when I took a picture. She never does that.
We reached the top and Karma demanded payment right away.
I assumed she would have more “mojo” going down the mountain, and she seemed quite happy when she found that we wouldn’t be returning the same way. Still, the brakes were slightly on.
It wasn’t until we left the ridge and headed into Havågsdalen – along a route we hadn’t done before – that she seemed quite energetic. She was leading on, destined to find the best route.
I decided to buy her some extra treats for dinner, but I don’t think I would be taking her up to any mountain the next day. She’ll have to let me know when it’s time, in her own way.
Trip statistics: 7,1km, 620 vertical meters, 2h:13m
Årvikveten (458m), Apr 23 2025
Wednesday: For an unknown reason, I had a consecutive tension headache from 5am until 5pm. The working day was incredibly hard, but I was able to do what I had planned to get done. I finished work at 4pm and treated myself with a paracet and an hour of rest in bed.
At 5pm, I was in good enough shape to take the dog for a walk. She had been curling up in her bed all day long and showed no signs of wanting to come along. Still, I decided to take a chance and bring her along.
I drove to Drageskaret (on Gurskøya) and Karma looked moderately interested around. Then she noticed the new stone path and got interested. For the first couple of hundred meters, she looked like herself again.
But when we ran out of stones, she ran out of “mojo”. But she didn’t turn around. She only kept looking at me, like “are we really, really sure about this”?
I decided to see how far she would go before filing a major complaint. We turned onto a path that we hadn’t done before, and she got interested again. But this path only led to a couple of cabins, basically a dead end.
I sweet-talked her into going off-trail and eventually, we joined the path to Svedehornet. She was clearly hot, but I promised water – all she could drink – once across Svedehornet.
I delivered on my promise, and she reluctantly – came along in the direction of Årvikveten.
We got to the top, I got my pictures and Karma got her treats.
Now what? Return the same way or take an even longer route back? I decided to see what Karma thought about the longer route, and she was very positive. Like: “get out of my way”.
We headed down to lake Nyksvatnet and we followed the marked path on the east side.
We had the sun against us, and I decided to take the lead, as I wasn’t sure how good Karma was seeing. Every time we reached shade, she took the front position.
We could have avoided hiking across Grøthornet, but that detour would take me above 500 vertical meters on this hike. Karma didn’t seem thrilled about the uphill, but life got better when we reached the top and met Mariann (whom I know) and her daughter. Karma got attention and extra treats and was very happy.
We joined them on our way back to Drageskaret. Karma was very eager now and took the lead. Maybe she wanted to show us the way. I never quite understood why she wants to be in front.
In any case, a good hike. Way above my expectations with respect to Karma.
Trip statistics: 9,4km, 530 vertical meters, 2h:39m
Leinehornet (364m), Apr 24 2025
Thursday: The weather was nice, but there was a cold wind. Which I liked, as it meant that Karma wouldn’t be so warm. I was a bit curious how she would react to today’s route – starting at Bølandet on Leinøya, with Leinehornet as the primary goal.
She was very focused for the first 180 seconds. Then she just turned around. But she couldn’t get past me on the narrow path, and I encouraged her to give it a little more time.
I could read “oh well, I tried” in her face and she resumed walking. After a little while, I knew that she would be in for the long run on this hike. She wasn’t constantly looking back at me, like she’s been doing lately. She simply walked like she always did and I relaxed a bit.
The first stop would be Sollida (239m). This is not a very prominent top (22m of prominence), but it’s a nice walk.
It was tempting to stop my Leinebjørnen, but I wanted to keep the walk fairly short today – for Karma’s sake.
So, we sat course for Leinehornet and I looked forward to getting to the top. I was pretty sure that Karma would look more happy then, knowing it would be downhill from there on.
We reached the top and Karma had steel focus on my pocket, where the goodies were. She got paid and I got a few pictures.
We then sat course for Sande. As expected, Karma was really looking like herself now. She clearly knew it would be downhill from now on.
Halfway down the valley, the path forked. I hadn’t noticed that before and took the one that was new to me. This path led us to an infield and there was fortunately a gate on the Sande side.
From Sande, we followed the road 1,7km back to the car at Bølandet. Karma had no “mojo” left when we hit the asphalt road…
Trip statistics: 8km, 520 vertical meters, 2h:08m
Sneldelida (633m), Apr 25 2025
Friday: Sneldelida from Indredalen ticked all the boxes for the perfect afternoon hike in the gorgeous weather. First of all, Karma doesn’t know this path very well and would not pull the “boring!” card on me.
Secondly, after a short climb in the beginning, we would be hiking on the same elevation for ~1km, in the shade. That should give her some time to warm up without overheating.
Lastly, there was water awaiting above the forest path and there would be a path, gently climbing to the top of Sneldelida.
I did expect some protests but got none. She wasn’t racing through the forest, but I let her decide the pace.
Above the forest, she picked up the scent of something and was very eager. Getting to the creek also helped on the situation.
On the way from the Tørlingeskaret pass and up to Sneldelida, she was leading the whole way. I was happy!
It was nice to reach the top, especially since we hadn’t been on this top in 2025.
After enjoying her treats, Karma laid down. That’s very unusual for her, but something is bugging her and we’ll find out soon enough. X-ray in May…
She seemed a little disappointed that we were heading down the same way…
The plan was to return via Lågheida and when she discovered this, she took the lead again and her nose was glued to the ground for the remainder of the hike.
On Lågheida, I felt a stroke of fatigue and decided to lay down for a couple of minutes. Since no one that knows me would believe this, I took a picture of it…
All in all, a very nice hike – in all possible ways.
Trip statistics: 8,9km, 520 vertical meters, 2h:24m
Pictures (Canon EOS RP/Iphone 13 Pro Max) from the hike:
Saudehornet (1303m), Apr 26 2025
Saturday: This trip is featured on a separate post…
Garnestua (654m), Apr 26 2025
Saturday: This trip is featured on a separate post…
Storetua (592m), Apr 27 2025
Sunday: I was a bit tired after yesterday’s hiking and settled for a short hike to Storetua. I was hoping that Karma would find this route interesting, one more time. We drove up Brekkane and parked at the waterworks building at Holtane.
She wasn’t overwhelmed by enthusiasm but walked without any protests. She didn’t walk fast, but that was OK. I was not in a hurry.
There was light rain in the air, but I hoped that it was just a pre-warning of the forecasted afternoon rain. And sure enough, it was just a teaser.
We got onto the long summit ridge, and I looked forward to reaching the top. That meant Karma would get way livelier. Downhill is king when you’re old…
As the rain never came, I decided to go for a round-trip hike. We had two options – both including Sæsshorn (394m). From there, we could either return via Årekinna, or head down to Sætre and followed the forest path back to Holtane.
On our way down the west ridge, I could see a guy in an orange jacket, 500m ahead of me. I assumed he had hiked from Holtane and would return via Sæsshorn and Årekinna. He turned towards Sæshorn about when I expected him too.
I decided to take a bit longer route to Sæsshorn, getting some new tracks. To my surprise, the other guy arrived on Sæshorn just two minutes before we got there. We had a quick chat. He would be heading down to Sætre, from where someone in the family would give him a ride back to Holtane to pick up the car.
I told him I had done the Sætre route once before but went off-trail when I realized that the route was going in the wrong direction. He told me where to look the path that would take me back to Holtane.
This was excellent. Now I didn’t have to wander around in the forest, like the last time.
Karma had been very eager since we left the top, but now that we had some uphill ahead of us (100 vertical meters) she started to slow down again.
But when we reached the top of the path, at Hanehornet, she got her “mojo” back and we had a nice hike back to the car.
All in all, a good hiking week. Very nice to see Karma walking in the local region again. Before Easter, I didn’t think see a week like this on the horizon…
Trip statistics: 8,2km, 575 vertical meters, 2h:08m
Pictures (Canon EOS RP/Iphone 13 Pro Max) from the hike:
