Sunnmøre, Sogn and Hafjell
| Date | Peak | Height | PF | Location | WCP/FP | MAP |
| 23.03.26 | Garnestua | 654m | 417m | Ulstein, Norway | WCP | MAP |
| 24.03.26 | Huldrehornet | 271m | 113m | Herøy, M&R, Norway | WCP | MAP |
| 25.03.26 | Huldrehornet | 271m | 113m | Herøy, M&R, Norway | WCP | MAP |
| 26.03.26 | Rjåhornet | 600m | 107m | Herøy, M&R, Norway | WCP | MAP |
| 27.03.26 | Nørdbergsheida | 508m | 74m | Herøy, M&R, Norway | WCP | MAP |
| 28.03.26 | Stedjeåsen | 625m | 123m | Sogndal, Norway | WCP | MAP |
| 29.03.26 | Hafjelltoppen | 1067m | 91m | Sogndal, Norway | – | MAP |
Garnestua (653m), Mar 23 2026
Monday: I had a positive start to the week. The body feels normal again and I looked forward to going hiking without the feeling of a brick in my chest.
We had some hefty wind during the night and some intense hail showers during the day. But according to the forecast, the rest of the afternoon would be “just cloudy”.
So, I decided to hike across Garnestua after work. I left my bike at Løset and drove down to Haddal to hike up my normal route.
I had a couple of podcasts stacked up and enjoyed myself.
When I got to the high ridge, I wasn’t so sure that “just cloudy” was an accurate forecast.
So far it was just windy, but 1 minute after I took the below picture, a proper hail shower came in from the south, in a ferocious speed.
The weather suddenly got unpleasant but as it came from behind, I didn’t have to face it. Literally.
There was no point in a photo shoot at the summit cairn …
I just continued across the top. The path to Løset looked a bit “scarier” in the fog…
Gradually, the hail passed, and I could enjoy the hike again. It was nice to hike on 5cm of fresh hail. Whatever ice was left on the path wasn’t slippery because of the hail.
When I got down to Løset, I was wet and a little bit cold. I did have a rucksack – not present on any of the pictures – where I had warm gloves and a dune jacket. But I figured I could get back to the car as I were…
But as I my bike doesn’t have mudguards, I was quite dirty when I returned to the car.
Overall, it was nice to start the week with 600 vertical meters!
Trip statistics: 5,2km on foot, 4,2km on bike, 605 vertical meters, 1h:56m
Huldrehornet (271m), Mar 24 2026
Tuesday: Pouring rain, all day long. It was so tempting to skip the hike and just enjoy being indoors. Which is exactly why I got dressed and decided to do a forest hike across Huldrehornet – with minimum 400 vertical meters (as I got 600 the day before). That’s the penalty for even thinking about chickening out.
I put on my headphones, found a good podcast and put three layers of hats on, to protect the electronics.
Hiking up the forest wasn’t bad at all, but once I rose of out, one of my hats was ripped off my head.
I descended on the south side, aiming for Djupvikhaugen.
I crossed Djupvikhaugen and when I was quite close to my car, I went back up to Djupvikhaugen – in horrible terrain, while listening to what Victor Orban is doing in Hungary. The bonus was that I got a brand-new track for my GPS map.
Eventually, I could return to the car, having met my goals.
Trip statistics: 4,9km, 415 vertical meters, 1h:24m
Huldrehornet (271m), Mar 25 2026
Wednesday: I was tired after a long working day and allowed myself a little rest while the rain was pouring down and the wind was doing its best to torment the house and the pipe hat in particular.
While resting, I got this idea of taking a day off from hiking. Not a fibre in my body wanted to go outside. After a while, it felt like I was really letting this notion sink in and take it seriously.
So, just when I had concluded that this would be a full resting day, I panicked and got dressed without any further thinking.
The ambition was now only to get myself up and down Huldrehornet and – knock on wood – maybe twice.
I started out late (6:10pm) and the forest part wasn’t bad at all. It wasn’t pouring down anymore. But when I got on the summit ridge, the wind was just crazy. I am no stranger to wind on the coastline, but it was simply difficult to be hiking against the wind, and the gust kept pushing me sideways. I decided to move over to the small valley south of the ridge and found it less windy there.
I reached the top but found it impossible to take any sort of pictures with my cellphone. I had to descend a little until I found a spot where I could hold the phone somewhat steady.
When I hiked down the ridge, the wind pushed me so hard that I found myself running without any chance of stopping. That doesn’t happen very often and was a bit crazy.
When I got back down to the car (6:50pm) it was starting to get dark. I hadn’t brought a headlamp, but I figured there was enough time for one more hike (1,1km up, 255 vertical meters).
The wind was just as strong the second time around, and now it had begun raining again. It was quite dark when I reached the car at 7:28pm. I was very happy to: a) had defeated my laziness and b) get my daily dose of 500 vertical meters.
Trip statistics: 4,4km, 510 vertical meters, 1h:19m
Rjåhornet (600m), Mar 26 2026
Thursday: After working 9,5 hours non-stop, it was tempting to rest a little, but that would mean losing valuable daylight. And while it had been raining all day long, the rain had now stopped. I just had to go out.
A colleague of mine had picked up an Easter egg for me at the office, and so I drove to Leikong to pick it up. We had a nice chat and since I was there, I decided to hike Rjåhornet from Leikong. From sea level. Of course, it started raining when I got out of the car, but it didn’t last for long.
Today’s podcast was about a guy who ran 5273 kilometres in 70 days and apparently – sat a world record. A physical endeavour which is completely uncomprehensible. My main takeaway from the podcast were two things; 1) Try a little more and see how it goes and 2) Don’t give up on the day before you’ve taken your shoes on. Simple, good advice.
I was tired. Maybe because of lack of good sleep and a long working day, but it could also be because of food. I am experimenting with days with or without wheat, to see if I can get a handle of something that could be cross-allergy.
Today, I had bread for breakfast and lunch, and I had to put one foot in front of the other. Yesterday was non-wheat day and hiking felt easier. It’s way too early to draw conclusions, but I am observing.
The weather was confusing. Would it stay clear or would I get a snow shower?
I didn’t really care. It wasn’t windy and it wasn’t raining. That was all that mattered. A snow shower is OK.
But it didn’t start snowing and eventually, I reached the top.
This was my 362nd visit to this top. I *know* this mountain.
I looked forward to dinner. I’ve got a recent crush on salads. Today’s dinner would be Fish Gratin with a huge salad, looking like Greek salad on top.
I descended the way I came until I reached the forest. Then I decided to go off-trail in a part of the forest I haven’t visited before. It won’t be repeated, but at least I have a new GPS track to show for it.
A good day!
Trip statistics: 6,2km, 605 vertical meters, 2h:04m
Nørdbergsheida (508m), Mar 27 2026
Friday: This hike is featured on a separate post…
Stedjeåsen (624m), Mar 28 2026
Saturday: Didn’t get to bed until 1am (preparing for Easter vacation in eastern Norway). Woke up 4am, looked at the phone and thought “crap”. I had been shutting down a number of services at work due to maintenance but had forgotten one. It was now complaining loudly. I wasn’t the only one getting this email, so I had to get up and fix it.
Once done, I slept to 8am, had breakfast, packed the car and sat course for Sogndal.
Just a few days ago, most people would have said that spring was around the corner. But I’ve said (and posted) since October that “winter comes in March”. Fresh snow was covering my local mountains from 3-400 meters and up and there was snow in the mountains all the way to Sogndal.
When I came out of Frudalstunnelen, I could see that skiers had headed towards the Frudalsbreen mountain. Wow! And when I passed the Togga, I could see approx. 10 cars at the trailhead. Winter had returned!
But we would not stick around to enjoy it. We had booked a room in a mountain hotel in eastern Norway and would be leaving Sogndal the next day.
When I got to Anne’s place, I changed clothes and sat course for Stedjeåsen. There would probably not be any skiing or hiking on Sunday, so I wanted to get as close to my weekly vertical meter goal as possible.
The upper Sogndalsdalen and Sogndal were two different planets, in terms of snow. There was a thin layer of snow in the upper forest, but hiking was easy.
It’s sad that all the fun route variations are now out of reach due to the storm last October. Now, there is only one route open to the top.
I stopped by the (only) viewpoint. There was a little bit snow in the air, but nothing much. In Sogndalsdalen, it was snowing sideways.
As expected, there was more snow on the meadow, where there are no trees to stop the snow from touching the ground. It was not a whole lot of it though.
On my way down, I could see a rainbow. I hadn’t noticed that it was raining but if it was snowing lightly at 600m, it was probably raining down here.
Then I returned to Anne’s place, rested a little and were served a delightful dinner. In the evening, we watched all 4 episodes of “Mord I Sogn”, which was particularly enjoyable when being in Sogn. We were able to not get annoyed by the cross-cutting, making it look like that Sogndal, Lærdal, Årdal and Balestrand was one town called “Sogn”. Being huge Jørgen Jæger fans, we enjoyed the plot!
Trip statistics: 6,2km, 590 vertical meters, 1h:50m
Hafjelltoppen (1067m), Mar 29 2026
Sunday: This trip is featured on a separate post…
