Biking and hiking in the local region
Index
| Date | Peak | Height | PF | Location | WCP/FP | MAP |
| 05.05.25 | Brandhornet | 380m | 92m | Herøy, M&R, Norway | WCP | MAP |
| 06.05.25 | Koppen | 393m | 40m | Ulstein, Norway | – | MAP |
| 07.05.25 | Kongsvollen | 683m | 200m | Hareid/Ulstein, Norway | WCP | MAP |
| 08.05.25 | Rjåhornet | 421m | 68m | Herøy, M&R, Norway | WCP | MAP |
| 08.05.25 | Storevarden | 430m | 430m | Herøy, M&R, Norway | WCP | MAP |
| 09.05.25 | Sandfjelltuva | 1001m | 153m | Vanylven | WCP | MAP |
| 10.05.25 | Hasundhornet | 533m | 93m | Ulstein, Norway | WCP | MAP |
| 11.05.25 | Gjøna | 531m | 163m | Sande, Norway | WCP | MAP |
| 11.05.25 | Kjeldsund | – | – | Herøy, M&R, Norway | – | MAP |
Brandhornet/Fjellsenden (380m), May 5 2025
Monday: It was a rainy day, but it wasn’t raining *hard* when I quit work for the day. Karma didn’t look very energetic, and I considered letting her stay home. She had a long (relatively) hike the day before. But just as I was getting my shoes on, she came down the stairs with the “you’re not leaving me, are you?” look. Most likely it wasn’t that look. I just wanted to think it was. Most likely, she came down because she’s always come down when it’s that time of the day and I am getting dressed.
I thought hard about going to a place where she wouldn’t go “oh no, this is boring”. It shouldn’t be a hard hike for her either. Plus, I wanted to go somewhere where I – some way or the other – get my daily dose of vertical meters. These parameters don’t easily produce a solution, but it will probably be the scenario for the time she has left for hiking.
I decided to drive to Gjerdsvika and hike Brandhornet / Fjellsenden. I couldn’t get Anne interested. She had job trips racked and stacked for the rest of the week.
The plan was to hike across Brandhornet with Karma and then bike up Sædalen to get the “missing” vertical meters.
Karma didn’t protest and walked slowly – albeit somewhat interested – up the wet path. As she probably didn’t remember this route, she had no way of knowing whether this could be fun or not.
We followed the path towards Gjerdseidet and then I got a bit restless and called for an off-trail shortcut to the top. It was probably not a shortcut, timewise. Karma was going slowly up the hill and I was a bit annoyed with myself for not taking the detour the Gjerdseidet route calls for.
But eventually, we got up.
I got my pictures (cell phone pictures today) and Karma got treats. Then it started to rain for real, and it got windy too. We hurried down the southeast ridge – towards lake Storevatnet.
We joined the gravel road that runs from Gjerdsvika to Moltudalen. There was a sign about rockfall in the middle of the road, and I was confused. Rockfall? I have come up- and gone down this way numerous times and not once have I ever considered that I could get a rock in my head.
So, I was quite “mindful” when we headed down the road and now the cliff up to our left looked quite shady. Further down were pieces of rock that had fallen off the mountain. Further down, a gate marked this toll road as closed – most likely on a permanent basis until they have secured the road.
Back at the car, I left Karma in it, took the bike, biked down to the fjord and then continued back up the Sædalen road that we just had come down. It was a tough hill, but it earned me more than 200 vertical meters. Vertical meters should not come for free. I don’t count the kilometres on my hiking total, but I do count the vertical meters. They’re much harder on a bike than on foot.
Once I was satisfied that I had passed 500 vertical meters in total, I drove back down and went back home. Anne had gone for a walk to Djupvikhaugen. I drove over there and met Anne on the road. Karma was glad (and confused) to see mommy again.
Trip statistics: 4,7km on bike, 5km on foot, 585 vertical meters, 1h:45m
Koppen (393m), May 6 2025
Tuesday: I figured I could do a repetition of yesterday’s concept – a relatively short hike with Karma, along a path she may not remember (hence: not boring) and that would give me an option for a bike trip afterwards. Less strain on the bad knee and more vertical meters.
We went to Ulsteindalen to hike Koppen, via the forest path.
The forest path was very nice in the beginning.
But above the forest, we left the path and followed a very vague path towards Koppen.
Eventually, the path disappeared, and we were off-trail in an incredibly cumbersome terrain.
To my HUGE surprise, Karma was on fire. She went back and forth, smelling this, smelling that. It was like she was 5 years old again. She was breathing so heavily that I had to stop her multiple times, so she was able to get control over the breathing.
When we got on the nearest ridge, hiking got a bit easier.
It was tempting to cross the valley and hike a higher mountain, and I gave it some good thought for a while.
We reached the top of Koppen, but since there’s nothing marking the top, Karma didn’t demand payment.
We then sat course for the valley between Breidfjellet and Koppen. It was really tempting to do a quick hike up to Breidfjellet (534m). But a “Hoggorm” (poisonous viper) changed all that.
Suddenly, Karma jumped backwards. And there was the snake, resting on the path with its head held high. It chose not to pick a fight with us and took off. When the path was clear, Karma refused to walk there and took a solid detour. I was glad that the viper scared Karma and not the other way around…
I was pretty sure she wasn’t bit, but just to be on the safe side, we sat course for the trailhead, via Litlevatnet. From there, we followed the Ulsteindalen road back to the car.
It was a good hike, but it only gave me 300 vertical meters and so I chose to bike up to Litlevatnet for the “missing” 200 vertical meters. It’s a pretty hard hill. Some pitches hit 18% (or more) – steep enough to make even experienced cyclists grind their gears.
The plan was to return when I got to lake Litlevatnet, but then I decided to stretch it a bit further. I biked to the other side of the valley and biked down “Monsterbakken” (monster hill). This hill is way harder than the Ulsteindalen route, but fortunately – I was going downhill there today.
This extra loop gave me way more vertical meters than I “needed” and I now have some extra for “a rainy day”.
Trip statistics: 7,7km on bike, 5,1km on foot, 650 vertical meters, 2h:10m
Kongsvollen (683m), May 7 2025
Wednesday: The plan was to hike Melshornet in Ørsta, but after I had driven through the Selvåg tunnel that closes at 8pm for road work, I realized that this would be a stressful hike if I were to avoid the scheduled convoys beyond closing.
So instead, I drove up Ringstaddalen, trying to figure out something to do that would get Karma moderately interested. We had done all the routes up here so far this year, except Kongsvollen from Løset.
I didn’t have high expectations, but we started walking along the cabin road. Karma signalled that she wasn’t too sure about this, but she made no effort to turn around. She just kept looking at me, while walking.
Once we reached the meadow and the path, she got more interested. From that point, she just worked her way across the meadow and up to Kvamstua with her nose glued to the ground. If a deer had recently walked this path, I am forever grateful…
Once on the ridge, she wasn’t so sure anymore. But she kept on going, still in the lead.
Finally, we had the final hillside ahead of us, and I hope that Karma was thinking something like: “oh well, might as well get it over with”
Like the last time I was here, I decided to take the outer route on “Bukketrappene” (goats’ staircase) but this was way trickier with a dog. Karma doesn’t always want to go where I go, but I still think I make the best decisions, in terms of safety. In a very exposed spot, I gave up guiding her and we scrambled back onto the ridge.
She was definitely my little hero today. I promised her something extra nice for dinner, even before we reached the top.
On top, she got her treats, while I was thinking about the descent route. Option 1 was to cross the exposed ledge below the top and avoid “Bukketrappene”. Not that the normal route scares me in any way, but the route is easier for me than Karma.
Option 2 was to descend to lake Hundelaupsvatnet and make an off-trail descent from there. But that would mean a (relatively) long hike back up to the trailhead.
Option 3 was of course to return the way we came. I chose option 1.
The first part of the ledge was easy. But then we got an exposed point that I completely had forgotten about. I had taken Karma along this route once before and now I remembered that it wasn’t all that fun.
At the exposed point, I determined that I couldn’t guarantee her safety. It was wet and slippery, and I decided to turn around. But there was not enough room for Karma to turn around, and so I tried to manoeuvre her backwards. She wouldn’t have that at all and put up a fight.
No commands had any effect on her, and so I had to apply brute force. I pushed her into the mountainside, held her legs and pulled her backwards. Once in safer terrain, we had a debrief and decided that we “were good”.
We had wasted enough time already and so I figured we might as well return the way we came. 85 vertical meters later, we were back on the summit, now heading for the main “Bukketrappene” route. That went just fine.
I had promised Karma something extra nice for descent, and once down from the steepest part of the ridge, we went off-trail, aiming for lake Løsetvatnet. It was a fun route – in several places just 1% less steep than “no-go.” Karma was loving it.
Once down by the lake, I didn’t bother going back up again to get to the Løset – Kvamstua path. It was wet and muddy and in the off-trail terrain, it was all nice and dry.
When we were approaching Løset, I discovered a path that run alongside the lake, and we followed it to the place where the cabin owners keep their boats. From there, we went up to the cabin road and returned to the car.
I had also promised Karma something extra for dinner and bought some neck chops. She got ¾ of 1 chop and was really focused on the dinner today. She had deserved it. In addition to all her other issues – cancer operation in January, removal of the uterus in March, and presently – something with her hip or hind leg, she has gotten a bad hot-spot on two claws. I took her to the Vet today, just to make sure there wasn’t something wrong with the claws. “Fortunately”, the Vet concluded that it was probably a hot-spot.
Trip statistics: 9,3km, 700 vertical meters, 2h:46m
Rjåhornet (421m), Storevarden (430m), May 8 2025
Thursday: Liberation day. No, I’m not talking about tariffs, but the celebration of when peace returned to Norway, 80 years ago. With this backdrop, I dedicated today’s hike to reflect about how good it is to be a Norwegian in 2025.
The hike started on Nerlandsøya, at Koparstad. I had picked this trailhead as there was no way Karma would remember this trailhead. As such, she could not give me a yawn and refuse to hike.
I hardly remembered the route myself. I had to check my (extensive) GPS track archive, which told me that I had been here on two occasions before. I enjoyed the grazed cultural landscape.
I didn’t remember anything from the path itself, but Karma got the diesel engine going and glued her nose to the ground. Things were looking good.
I didn’t have a plan, but as the path was leading us towards Rjåhornet, that seemed to be the first logical place to go.
There was a little bit fog, but as long as it wasn’t raining, I didn’t care. I dived into what it’s like to be a Norwegian in 2025. It doesn’t take many seconds before you realize it’s an amazing privilege. We have peace, we have good economy, we have a sound democracy, we have a true freedom of speech, and we have an amazing health care. This *should* make us humble citizens, but I find more and more, we’re becoming just the opposite. I am more and more ashamed of my fellow countrymen.
From time to time, I tend to think about Norwegians as Gulf sheiks – just without the robes.
After 2,6km, we reached the top.
After a short stay, we sat course for the island high point – Storevarden. Karma knows this route quite well, and I could see her enthusiasm dropped a few points.
On top of Storevarden, it was time to decide on the descent route. I had thought that maybe we could hike down to Kvalsund, but that would give us a boring 1,5km along the main road, back to the car.
I decided to more or less go off-trail down to the foot of Hestingshornet and get back to the Koparstad route from there.
But when we got to the point where I had to leave the Kvalsund path, I didn’t appreciate the terrain and made the choice to follow the path to Kvalsund but keep a close eye on any paths down to the main road that I had missed – all the times I’ve been hiking here.
Halfway along this route, I did find a vague path that I hadn’t seen before. We followed it down to the main road and now we only had 0,7km back to the car. Bonus!
The walk along the main road wasn’t boring at all. It was so nice to watch the lambs, on both sides of the road.
And then we saw hens. I don’t think Karma has ever seen these animals so close and she was super-focused. The body language was unmistakable – these were things that needed killing! Eventually, she came along – reluctantly…
Trip statistics: 8,3km, 600 vertical meters, 2h:23m
Sandfjelltuva (1001m), May 9 2025
Friday: This hike is featured on a separate post…
Hasundhornet (533m), May 10 2025
Saturday: It was a lovely day. And a “hot” day, with temperatures up to 18 deg. C. I had to work parts of the day. After working 3 hours in the morning, I decided to give Karma an easy hike today and the plan was to hike Røddalshorn from Leikongeidet. She refused to walk.
So, I drove to Drageskaret between Gursken and Larsnes, assuming she would come along on a hike from there. She didn’t.
I almost gave up on her. On the way home, I stopped by Almestad just to see if she wanted to hike. This trailhead was in the shade, and I hoped that would help. She did come along, but only for 100 meters. Then it was full stop.
I returned home after spending a whole hour on trying to walk the dog. But it was OK. It’s not her fault. I am pretty sure something’s troubling her, and the steep hike to Sandfjelltua the day before probably didn’t help.
I decided to go for a bike trip to Hasundhornet and drove to Haddal. Then I wouldn’t have to cross the Dragsund bridge on a busy Saturday.
I felt I had a good rhythm up Ringstaddalen valley. For mental inspiration, I divided the route to Hasundhornet in 3 parts: 1) up to the gravel road at Løset, 2) up to the Hasundhornet trailhead and 3) up to the top.
I was good and warm when I got to the Hasundhornet trailhead, but the final 200 vertical meters to the top were still brutal. But it was ever so nice to reach the top, knowing that there would be mostly downhill from here.
I still had time before I had to continue my second part of my working day and decided to return via Ulsteinvik.
I enjoyed myself a lot. If it hadn’t been for work, I would have extended this bike trip to include Hjørungavåg and Hareid.
I crossed the main road between Hareid and Ulsteinvik and followed a nice path down to Ulsteinvik.
As I was approaching Ulsteinvik, Hasundhornet looked really far away!
From Ulsteinvik, I took the regular biking route back, via Strandabøen, Botnen, Kvalneset and through Haddal (opposed to following the main road).
Back home, I did my thing at work, then I mowed the lawn (a good hour of work right there) and then I gave Karma a bath, as I plan to give her a haircut the next day.
After all that, I was tired and decided to “call it a day”, which means dinner, a couple of beers and something on the telly.
Trip statistics: 28,9km on bike, 700 vertical meters, 1h:51m
Around Gurskøya on bike + Gjøna (531m), May 11 2025
Sunday: In the morning, I gave Karma an overdue haircut. Poor kiddo, she has almost no hair left on her back, but it’s booming everywhere else.
She was very happy to get it over with and I decided to see if this enthusiasm could lead to a hike. I drove up to Leikongeidet, and I knew this wouldn’t end good when I had to command her out of the car. She stood firmly on the ground, refusing to move. Oh well. Hopefully, Tuesday’s X-ray will give us some clues.
I didn’t want this beautiful Sunday to go to waste, and I decided to bike around the island (Gurskøy). I’ve done this a few times, and I’ve always started by going up Leikongbakken – getting the hard part over with. But today, I decided to do it in the opposite direction – aiming for Moltustranda.
I had a strong wind against, from the south. It was hard work and very annoying, as I only could do half the speed I hoped for.
Passing Hidsneset, I decided to include a hike on this trip. But after giving it some thought, I wanted to hike Gjøna instead of Hidsegga.
So, I started to mentally prepare for 530 intense vertical meters – straight up from the fjord.
I still had the option to back out, but going around the island on a bike isn’t all that hard. This would add an extra dimension.
I parked the bike and began my journey up the steep hillside. After a while, I caught up with two ladies who thought I was trying to catch up with them. I wished them a good hike and continued upwards. My legs were sore from the biking, and this wasn’t my fastest hike up this route.
It took me 38 minutes to reach the top. There were two other hikers on top. We just nodded. I was here for the top and pictures only.
A shame really, these views were definitely worth sitting down for.
After a minute, I started jogging down. The two women must have taken a pause, because I passed them not too far away from where I last saw them going up. They must have thought I was crazy and suggested I’d slow down in the steepest part. Not a bad advice. One can call off the mountain in a couple of places.
Back on the car, I had headwind all the way to Gjøneset. From there on, it went better, with the wind in my back. I decided to go via Gursken opposed the shortcut through Myklebust. If there truly was a tailwind, it would have more effect from Gursken.
The climb up the valley went better than I had feared, and this route allowed me to do the forest trail near Almestad – for the first time.
The rest of the hill up to Leikongeidet also went surprisingly easy.
From Leikongeidet and home was a breeze. I assumed this trip had gotten me around 800 vertical meters, and I was surprised to learn that it was closer to 1200m. But I had only thought about the 500 meters to Gjøna and the 200 meters from Gursken to Leikongeidet. Then I added 100 for ups and downs, but there was way more ups and downs than I had thought about.
Once home, I called on Karma. She was happy and I wanted to see if she was up for a hike to Rambjøra. She immediately got on the forest path and looked on fire. But all of sudden, she stopped and didn’t want to continue.
I then took her down to Tovågen. She walked but didn’t look happy.
I wanted to see if she would come along further along the shore, and she did.
At the end of the road, it seemed very clear that she wanted to turn around.
And so we did…
Trip statistics: 49km on bike, 5,5km on foot, 1180 vertical meters, 4h:14m
Kjeldsund, May 11 2025
Sunday: For her evening walk, I decided to drive to Kjeldsund, knowing she likes the place. She was very eager for the first 2-3 minutes.
I proposed we should hike over to the “Gapahuk”, but she didn’t want to. It’s not a long way so I commanded her. I knew she would easily do the same distance in the neighbourhood, and that she was just acting up.
She reluctantly followed and at least, she got an evening walk.
Trip statistics: 1,7km, 55 vertical meters, 0h:23m
