A fun hike in the Årdal region
Index
| Date | Peak | Height | PF | Location | WCP/FP | MAP |
| 13.09.25 | Middagshaugane | 1124m | 110m | Årdal, Norway | – | MAP |
Saturday: After breakfast, we took the Mannheller – Fodnes ferry and drove to Naddvik to leave my bike and then we drove back to Kvitingsagi to hike Kvitingsmorki and Middagshaugane. The plan was to continue across Middagshaugane and descend to Naddvik.
I enjoyed the path up from Kvitingsagi. It reminded me a lot about the Kaupanger forest – outside Sogndal. An open, spruce forest.
On my way up, I had a déjà vu revelation and told Anne that I believed we had hiked up here, together, in the past. She couldn’t remember such a hike, but I was quite certain.
After the hike, I checked my hiking log, and sure enough – we had hiked up here and up to Hyttehaugane (490m) back in February 2014. I do recall that Anne was strongly advocating for this hike and that I was a bit reluctant because there was no pf100 top awaiting on top. Obviously, I must have thought that Middagshaugane was too far away, most likely because we had been hiking a couple of Årdal tops the very same day.
Once the steep part was over, we continued on the nice forest path leading to Kvitingsmorki. I felt this part of the hike was “endless”.
But eventually, we reached the Kvitingsmorki cabins.
Bed sheets were hanging up to dry, but there were no one to be seen up there, and we sat down for a short break.
After a few minutes, we continued upwards.
It was getting windier by now, but the weather still seemed to be holding up.
We followed the path – which was much vaguer after leaving Kvitingsmorki and when we didn’t feel that following the path added any value, we went off-trail.
Middagshaugane consists of several less distinct humps, but we had no problem locating the highest of them.
I could see a rain shower above Årdalstangen and a nice rainbow too. I just hoped that we would stay clear of rain showers.
I could also see fresh snow in the Hurrungane mountain region. Only a week ago, I hiked a 2000m peak (Tverrådalskyrkja) on the Skjåk/Luster border and that hike would have been SO much different with fresh snow…
It was nice to reach the top, because it would be mostly downhill from here on.
Surprisingly, there was no cairn so Anne built a small one.
Our next goal was to get to Øvre Halsen. Now we had to figure out the best route to get there.
When we reached the dam below lake Storevatnet, we stopped for our lunch break. Anne wanted a long break (at least 30 minutes). I wanted a short break (maximum 15 minutes) and my vote came in as the strongest. Anne wasn’t totally happy and let me know.
After the break, we continued towards Øvre Halsen.
The scenery was just breathtaking.
Then followed a 1000 vertical meter descent that felt like more than 1500m.
Anne told me that in the old days, this was the primary route to Kvitingsmorki. On our way down, I struggled to understand how they got the livestock up here. Yes, there were staircases in the steepest parts, but these modifications looked new, not old.
The descent just felt endless.
Anne also told me about Gryta, a pond east of Nedre Halsen. She had seen some pictures of someone going ice skating there and it looked mind-boggling. We couldn’t see the bottom of Gryta and it was for sure not on our to-do list today.
There was tear and wear but Anne had her methods…
Finally, we reached the pass (Nedre Halsen). We both looked forward to the end of this hike.
Eventually, we reached the valley that is called Hovlandsdalen on the map, but what Anne called Vikadalen. Either way, it also felt endless.
But finally, we reached a forest road and soon after, a paved road that took us down to Naddvik.
I went to pick up my bike and Anne helped me getting my reflex vest on, as well as the headlamp and other lights – for the Timeskred tunnel.
Minutes later, I was on my way to pick up the car.
I had an enjoyable bike trip. When I got to the tunnel, I noticed it was uphill, but I “flew” straight through it on the lowest gear, probably carried by winds or draft from behind.
The 6,9km bike trip took 22 minutes and a few minutes later, I was back at Naddvik, picking Anne up.
Now, I had a “logistical” problem. The time was 5:25pm and the stores stopped selling beer at 6pm. I asked Anne if it was OK if we drove to Årdalstangen so that I could enjoy a couple of beers on this Saturday evening. She was OK wit that. Bless her heart…
We got to Fodnes 1 minute before the ferry was leaving, which called for a “fist bump”. In the evening, we enjoyed ourselves with a good movie and scampi + crabs. It’s what I would call a really nice Saturday evening …
Trip statistics: 6,9km on bike, 16,5km om foot, 1300 vertical meters, 6h:01m
