A nice revisit to a fine peak
Index
| 26.08.25 | Kjerringa | 1132m | 322m | Ørsta, Norway | FP | MAP |
Tuesday: Now that Kjerringa and Høgehornet (“Mannen”) has “switched ranks” on Peakbook.org, meaning that Kjerringa is now officially higher than Høgehornet and is the only pf100m top of the two, Kjerringa has become much more interesting to me. Høgehornet is not a mountain I would hike by myself.
So, as the gorgeous weather continued, I decided to revisit Kjerringa after work. But with a twist this time; I would bike the toll road.
Biking was easy at first, then it got significantly harder.
4,6km and 30 minutes after leaving the car, I arrived at Mossetra.
I’ve been up here many times, last time on July 6 (at Vallasetra) when Terje and I hiked Vassdalstinden.
Today, I looked forward to standing on top of Kjerringa. The last time I was up there, was in Sep. 2022, together with Anne and Karma. That is – there was no way I could get Karma up to the very top, so she had to wait below the steepest section.
The path to Kjerringa curves around Rotbergshornet. It can be a little boring hike if you’ve done it a few times.
I listened to a podcast to get my mind on something else.
I met several people coming down the forest. I don’t think all of them had been to Kjerringa, but it was nice to see others.
It was good to arrive in Ljøsådalen. Now I had my ascent route in clear view.
I caught up with two other hikers at the foot of the steep route up to the ridge. We said “hi” and then I moved on.
Looking at Årsæterhornet, I remembered the steep hillside, but I couldn’t remember when I went up there. The answer was: 2010.
Near the top of the ridge came the first airy part. The path is OK, but if you stumble here, you could quickly find yourself in a world of problems.
My legs were quite tired. This was the 3rd day in a row with elevation gain around 1000m, and with my meniscus issues, there was some pain involved too. But I was very happy when I reached the ridge crest and was looking directly at Kolåstinden. Now, the fun part began!
The first time I tried to get to the top of Høgehornet was in 2010. I failed. 6 years later, I went up again, together with my friend Terje Øvrebø. This time, we reached the top. I didn’t like the mountain. I don’t see myself going back up there…
My focus now was to get to the top and enjoy the (easy) scramble.
The scrambling is truly fun! I do understand that some would find it too exposed and airy, but the actual exposure isn’t too bad.
When I reached the top, I could see the guys I had passed, at the beginning of the steep route.
I figured I should do a selfie on the high point. But with a 10 second countdown, it was a small challenge to get over there – and up in time. But I did it. Although the picture is slightly out of focus.
So nice to be back here again!
I was happy that I brough my Canon camera. These mountains deserve more than a cellphone picture…
It was time to get back home. I scrambled down and passed the other guys just as they were about to begin their scrambling.
Just after lake Ljøsådalsvatnet, I stopped for the below picture. I noticed that the time was 6:51pm. The Selvåg tunnel would close at 8pm. I didn’t find it very realistic to: a) hike the remaining 2,5km, b) bike 4,6km back to the car and c) drive the 24km to the Selvåg tunnel in 69 minutes.
But why not give it a try? I started to jog. It’s all downhill until you get to the flats between Rotbergshornet and Sandhornet. But then it’s a bit uphill before you descend to Mossetra.
I didn’t look at the time when I got to the bike (it was 7:17pm). I just unlocked it and blasted down Setrevegen.
The time was 7:29pm when I reached the car, and the time was 7:51pm when I reached the Selvåg tunnel. 9 minutes before it closed and opened for convoys, starting at 8:30pm. It wouldn’t have been so bad to wait 30 minutes, but since I went through the tunnel in a convoy the day before, I just wanted to get there before closing time…
Trip statistics: 10km on foot, 9,2km on bike, 1200 vertical meters, 3h:49m
