Indre Sogn week and lots of biking
Index
| Date | Peak | Height | PF | Location | WCP/FP | MAP |
| 11.08.25 | Bustaklant | 902m | 25m | Luster, Norway | WCP | MAP |
| 12.08.25 | Amlaholten | 508m | 265m | Sogndal, Norway | WCP | MAP |
| 13.08.25 | Store Haugmelen | 1172m | 974m | Sogndal/Luster, Norway | WCP | MAP |
| 14.08.25 | Gråbrørne, Søre | 739m | 136m | Sogndal, Norway | – | MAP |
| 15.08.25 | Storehaug | 661m | 101m | Luster, Norway | WCP | MAP |
| 16.08.25 | Høganipa | 824m | 60m | Luster, Norway | WCP | MAP |
| 17.08.25 | Heirsnosi | 1456m | 156m | Årdal, Norway | – | MAP |
Bustaklant (902m), Aug 11 2025
Monday: I was still in Sogndal, and after work, I didn’t feel like hiking. It was raining. But I didn’t want to rest either. So, I decided to drive to Hafslo and hike the slalom hill to the Bustaklant hilltop. I hadn’t been on that hump before. It would do nicely as a named turnaround point, and I would get – at least – 500 vertical meters.
Due to high grass, my feet were soaking wet before 10 minutes had passed. The upside was that it was only raining lightly. The local sheep were confused. They didn’t seem to be used seeing anyone in this hill during summer.
By the time I reached the ridge, it was raining properly. I looked forward to getting to the top and begin my descent.
On my map, the western top has 894m as height, but I had a feeling the eastern top was higher. That was a good guess, because when I got back home, a closer look at the map gave 892m on the western top and 902m on the eastern top.
Great. Been here, done that. Now what? Return the way I came or follow the south slope down? I chose the latter.
After a while, I realized that I was following a trail that would give me a solid detour, and so I settled for some bushwack to get back to the south slope.
I was dripping wet from top to toe when I got back to the car. This was not a memorable hike by any standards…
Trip statistics: 5,6km, 590 vertical meters, 1h:25m
Amlaholten (508m), Aug 12 2025
Tuesday: Anne left for Balestrand for work and would spend the night there. I might as well stick around in Sogndal. It felt better than being at home.
The weather was OK most of the day, until I finished work. Then it was raining. For days like this, when I “need” my 500 vertical meters, then Amlaholten straight up from Amlabukti is a nice hike. The forest would shelter me from some of the rain.
I was dreaming about light rain during the July heatwave. The rain finally came, early last week. I was now wishing it would stop.
I love this forest very much, and not even Ramnereiret can change that.
What I love the most, are all the off-trail places I can go, and the open forest.
Eventually, I was up. Tired. More tired than usual. Maybe the antibiotics is wearing me down a bit.
I took a different route down. I wasn’t as dripping wet as the day before. I took a warm shower and had dinner that Anne prepared for us the day before. I am a lucky guy.
Trip statistics: 6,3km, 505 vertical meters, 1h:33m
Store Haugmelen (1172m), Aug 13 2025
Wednesday: I waited for Anne to return from Balestrand, and then I drove to Dalåker to bike-and-hike Store Haugmelen. This top has a decent prominence (974m) and offers great views. But would I have any views today? The fog seemed thick above Dalåker.
The fog was very local and nothing to worry about. I biked 3,8km along the road to Breisete, until I got to the Vassløysa fork.
As we’ve for the most part have been skiing this mountain, I didn’t remember how good or bad the tractor road to Vassløysa was but decided to bring the bike. After the first hill, I was able to bike a little.
It was the right decision, because I would have no problem biking down this road. After a little while, Store Haugmelen came into view.
The sheep at Vassløysa seemed a little surprised about the guy on a bike.
I left the bike behind one of the cabins and continued on the mountain path.
Taking the bike to the top was out of the question. The path was narrow and rocky. It would be a nightmare to push the bike up.
I was tempted to do a round-trip hike across Store and Vetle Haugmelen, but I also knew that Anne was probably hungry and wanted me home for dinner.
Finally, I reached the top.
The Lustrafjord view was very nice!
I walked around for a couple of minutes, taking pictures.
Then I headed over to the 1169m top and could see two hikers arriving on the main top. After a short off-trail pitch, I was back on the path and continued down to the bike.
The tractor road was incredibly rough, but biking was very fun. I was surprised about how comfortable I was on the bike.
When I got to the Dalåker – Breisete road, the 3,8km back to the car only took 8 minutes.
Trip statistics: 11,3km on bike, 4,8km on foot, 850 vertical meters, 2h:29m
Søre Gråbrørne (737m), Aug 14 2025
Thursday: It was forecasted rain in the afternoon, so I quit work 3pm and sat course for Festingdalen, aiming to bike to Djupedal and hike to Søre Gråbroren.
The temperature at the trailhead was 21° C but it felt like 25° C. I still looked forward to the long and hard 6,3km bike trip to the road end in Djupedal.
The climb is overall gentle, but the route climbs more than 3km before you get a break on a flat stretch.
Eventually, I was approaching road end and looked forward to reaching the top. I hadn’t been up here since 2021.
I left the bike where the road ended, followed the path for a couple of minutes, then I headed straight up the mountain (off-trail)
7,6km to the north, I could see Store Haugmelen, which I biked and hiked the day before. One day, I’ll hike this entire ridge!
I was looking for fjord views, but trees were in the way.
I stopped by the high point just for “courtesy”, then I continued along the cliffs to look for the view I was hoping to find.
The views were improving, but trees were still in the way!
But, finally…
I was very happy to find this viewpoint. It won’t be the last time I am here…
Happy with my view, I sat course for my bike. I took a detour via Kyndilstjørni.
The bike trip down the forest was big fun. My top speed on the forest road was 43 km/h, which was more than fast enough for me!
Trip statistics: 12,4km on bike, 2,4km on foot, 590 vertical meters, 1h:50m
Storehaug (661m), Aug 15 2025
Friday: After an unfortunate fall some time ago, with the camera in my hand, the UV filter broke free from its ring and refused to budge. No matter how I tried, it wouldn’t come off the camera. But Anne knew an inventive guy (Dagfinn) and we went up to his garage to seek advice. In the end, armed with a hacksaw, an angle grinder, and a thin steel plate pressed into service as a screwdriver, I finally wrestled it free. There was no damage to the (expensive) lens. I was quite happy!
After work, I drove to Hafslo to bike across Storehaug. I looked forward to it. I hadn’t been up to Storehaug since 2017, and I had never biked across Mollandsmorki.
I followed the forest road from Hafslo to Mollandsmorki.
My first goal was to pass Krossen (the Molden trailhead). At least that would cover most of the vertical meters.
I took a picture which I called “a taste of Norway”. Gosh, how beautiful…
And I saw the Lustrafjord for the 3rd day in a row. That’s not a bad thing…
Next up was crossing Storehaug on bike.
I had to push the bike up the old tractor road passing Storehaug, and I went on foot the final 0,2km to the top.
The plan was to continue the old tractor road across Storehaug, but I saw no trace of it! I looked around, but in the end, I gave up and biked the road to Feivall. From here, I decided to bike down something I thought was a tractor road.
Maybe it used to be, but this is what I would call a “cattle trail”. It was just terrible to bike, but I was able to bike all of it, except when I stopped for pictures…
Eventually, I was closing in on Hafslo.
Back at the car, I decided to continue biking and went down to the centre of Hafslo.
Down by lake Hafslovatnet, I suddenly remembered kayaking here in a strong headwind, some years ago.
Today, the lake looked a bit calmer…
From Hafslo, I had a good view towards Bondehaug (723m) and Storehaug (661m) – which I just had come down from.
Back at Anne’s place, she had a job for me. It’s good to do something for others, every now and then…
Trip statistics: 21,2km on bike, 0,4km on foot, 650 vertical meters, 2h:12m
Saupsete, Høganipa (824m), Aug 16 2025
Saturday: The morning hours were spent on writing a farewell letter to Karma. It was quite emotional. I shared the link on social media, and it didn’t take long before the first heartwarming comments came in.
I didn’t have any trip planned for this Saturday, but when Anne said she felt for “doing something”, I proposed a bike trip to Saupsete in Indre Hafslo. None of us had been to this old summer pasture farm before. And while up there – we might as well hike Høganipa. None of us had been to this forest top either.
We started out from Høgi. This was the 3rd time I’ve headed out from Høgi. The other times were on skis, and the destination was Nipa (867m).
After a brutal start (steep hill), we got a gentler passage on our way to the road coming up from Joranger.
After passing Midstølen, I knew that the hardest part was still ahead of us.
The “hairpin” curves above Midstølen were totally murder. I was so tired!
At Skarsmyri, we were surprised to get Asbjørnnosi in clear view. We almost felt we were up on the mountain.
I had hoped that Skarsmyri marked the end to the uphill part, but I was wrong. We still had almost 2km of ups and downs, before reaching Saupsete.
What a nice place! It didn’t resemble an old summer pasture farm, any longer. There were a couple of cabin owners up there, and we had a nice chat with one of them, before heading back down.
Back at Skarsmyri, the plan was to hike Høganipa.
The local sheep weren’t to chew on our stuff!
We followed a vague path into the valley.
There were steep cliffs all around, but we assumed we would find a way up.
When we passed the cliff on the below picture, we noticed a vague path going up.
If the sheep can get up here, so can we!
There were three tops on Høganipa. We had to visit all 3 just to be sure. I think the northeast top is highest, by a few cm.
From here, we had a better view towards Asbjørnnosi.
We also had a nice view towards Nipa.
And of course – Molden.
I now looked forward to the trip down!
On our way upwards, we had to pass straight through a small herd of cows. One looked mean, the others yielded. On our way down, the same cows were resting alongside the road. Further down, there was another cow – soloing. I was mighty glad she wasn’t on the road…
A very nice trip! On our way back to Sogndal, I had to stop for a picture of the stunning Bøtun farm. I still remember the dinner we had there…
Trip statistics: 11,5km on bike, 1,1km on foot, 665 vertical meters, 2h:07m
Tunnelvegen, Heirsnosi (1469m), Tusenmeteren, Aug 17 2025
Sunday: This trip is featured on a separate post…
