Miraculous progress after the injury
| Date | Peak | Height | PF | Location | WCP/FP | MAP |
| 13.04.26 | Rjåhornet | 600m | 107m | Herøy, M&R, Norway | WCP | MAP |
| 14.04.26 | Skafjellet | 573m | 82m | Hareid, Norway | WCP | MAP |
| 15.04.26 | Melshornet | 809m | 567m | Ørsta, Norway | WCP | MAP |
| 16.04.26 | Haddalshornet | 611m | 103m | Ulstein, Norway | WCP | MAP |
| 17.04.26 | Rjåhornet | 421m | 68m | Herøy, M&R, Norway | WCP | MAP |
| 17.04.26 | Storevarden | 430m | 430m | Herøy, M&R, Norway | WCP | MAP |
| 18.04.26 | Grøthornet | 1046m | 558m | Ørsta, Norway | WCP | MAP |
| 19.04.26 | Helgehornet | 623m | 545m | Volda, Norway | WCP | MAP |
Rjåhornet (600m), Apr 13 2026
Monday: After working almost all weekend, this Monday was not relaxation day. After working non-stop from 7am to 6pm, I simply had to abandon work and clear my head. I decided to take on a 600m mountain to see where my foot “was at” and hopefully see improvement or get some useful feedback.
I decided to hike Rjåhornet from Djupvika. It was painful from the very beginning but not limping mode. I had to bend and twist my right leg to vary the impact on the injured muscles in my thigh.
While not extremely painful, the walk was no pleasure and the 600m mountain ahead seemed like a daunting task.
I then noticed something happening in the painful part of my thigh. Like a snap, but without the sound. After that, walking got a bit easier.
The wind got stronger and stronger. When I reached the upper part of the mountain, I could no longer hear people talking in the podcast I was listening to.
From the top, I had a nice view towards some Crepuscular Rays. Beautiful!
I was curious about the descent. I knew I wouldn’t feel the same pain going down. The day before, I got some weird pain down in my right foot. Clearly related to the injury in the hamstring and the thigh. What would happen today?
It didn’t take long before a new sort of pain came along, this time in the back of the knee.
But I took it well. The foot was functioning, so nothing seems to have been torn off. And it can take as long as it needs to heal. I’m just not sure if my leg needs rest or exercise.
My rule of thumb is now – if I don’t feel worse the next day, I’ll keep on going. Let’s see what happens…
Trip statistics: 6,4km, 580 vertical meters, 1h:35m
Skafjellet (573m), Apr 14 2026
Tuesday: There had not been much progress with my right foot for the past two days and I was getting a bit impatient. This afternoon, I decided to test it on Skafjellet on Hareidetlandet island.
I started at Geilane, but instead of taking the normal route, I went up to Geilebakken and followed the long tractor road up the forest.
I had done this route a couple of times before but had to make a decision when I reached a fork. I didn’t remember where the path to the right went. Probably also up to “Skaret” between Skafjellet and Holstadhornet. I went left, listening to a podcast about the new Geopolitical situation in the Arctic.
I like the combination of physical exercise and fueling the the brain at the same time.
The foot felt quite good! I was so happy and decided to celebrate with an off-trail pitch.
It was a risk to start hiking the higher local tops so soon after the injury. The plan was to take it easier if I felt worse after my hikes. But I didn’t and quickly resumed my normal activity level. I think it’s going in the right direction now.
The summit cairn is quite something. I don’t know what all the stuff on top was, but I am guessing it is a weather station.
Then, the usual round of pictures before I kept moving on…
On my way down – along the normal route, I met my old buddy Rune and his dog. I hadn’t seen them in years, and it was really nice talking to him again – and giving the dog a lot of attention of course.
The foot was functioning well. I got a good scare after falling flat on my face on skis, going down from Fløtravarden on Utvikfjellet a week ago. I will be extra careful on skis from now on.
The podcast on the way down was a deep dive into the link between MAGA and Christianity in the US. It was an extremely complex topic and while it was quite educational, I almost regretted listening to it. People in high places are working hard to send us back to the stone age, with respect to civil rights…
Trip statistics: 6,7km, 530 vertical meters, 2h:22m
Melshornet (809m), Apr 15 2026
Wednesday: This trip is featured on a separate post…
Haddalshornet (611m), Apr 16 2026
Thursday: The weather had been OK throughout my working day and when it ended, it begun to rain. That made me a bit disappointed, but I decided to hike a 600m top regardless.
My choice fell on Haddalshornet on Hareidlandet and I was determined to go somewhere I hadn’t gone before. I’ve been to this top many times and so my options were already limited.
But I had never gone up from Sæmyra before, so that became my starting point. Fortunately, it stopped raining when I parked the car. I put on my headphones and tuned into a radio channel for young people. No matter how old I get, I will always enjoy new music.
But no matter how much nice music they put out, my top 5 list only has songs from the 60’s and 70s. It’s not because they were so much better back then, but the songs have proven the test of time. Which will also happen to new music. 50 years from now…
Which 70’s songs? Oh, thanks for asking. Bohemian Rhapsody (Queen), My Sweet Lord (Harrison), What’s going on (Gaye), God only knows (Beach Boys) and Space Oddity (Bowie). I love the Beatles to death, but it’s impossible to pick any top songs from their catalogue. There’s so many. And the Abbey Road album … Oh boy… I love ELO and Queen too, and it’s a bit of the same problem there.
It was steep from the very beginning, and I had to put more trust into grass and roots than I cared for.
Soon enough, the hard part was over, and I could relax a bit.
The terrain was less strenuous than I had feared. This route was for the most part just grass.
Eventually, I reached the lower ridge, but I had still 250 vertical meters to go.
As for my local backyard, I tend to go blind about it. But today, I reflected on how nice it is. Not nicer than anywhere else on the Norwegian coastline but nice enough.
Soon, I had the top in plain view.
I took a moment by the summit cairn…
… and enjoyed the views.
I descended my normal route to Haddal, where I had the bike awaiting. It was only 1,1km back to the car, but it was much easier to bike than hike.
Trip statistics: 4,5km on foot, 1,1km on bike, 760 vertical meters, 1h:55m
Rjåhornet (421m), Storevarden (430m), Apr 17 2026
Friday: This trip is featured on a separate post…
Grøthornet (1046m), Apr 18 2026
Saturday: The morning hours were spent by a good breakfast and then a few hours of washing the car and the winter tyres. It felt nice to prepare the car for summer.
Winter has been long as always, but also not so long. Meaning, most of winter on the coastline has not been winter at all. It’s just knowing the fact that winter is not over, that keeps winter going. And now that I have put my summer tyres on, it’s almost guaranteed that there will be another snowfall.
Afterwards, I decided to hike Grøthornet in Ørsta, knowing that I could get to the top without hiking in rotten snow.
I drove up to the upper parking in Liadalen (fee NOK 30,- VIPPS only) and headed out.
Over the years, there have been quite a number of hikes from this trailhead. To Grøthornet. Or Liahornet. Or Hyningane. Or Liadalsnipa, although the latter from the Halse parking further down the valley.
I wasn’t too sure about the weather. It was raining a little bit while driving to Ørsta, but now I had a combination of dark clouds and blue sky above me.
I always lose the path at some point, but today, I had steel focus and never got astray from the vaguely marked path up the bush and forest.
I really looked forward to reaching the boulder. To some, this would be pure nightmare. To me, pure heaven.
The next time you’re in a boulder field, try this: See if you can hike for 60 seconds without causing a single sound as you step on the rocks. Sounds trivial? It’s not. But if you’re able to do it, it means you’re reading the terrain well and: a) it’s a very nice feeling and b) it can save you from an accident one day.
I injured my leg in two places 12 days earlier, in a skiing accident. Both injuries (which for certain were related) were healing nicely and much faster than I had anticipated. But this morning, I noticed a black bruise on the back side of my leg, just below the knee. That was a bit surprising, as I didn’t think I had injured anything below the knee. The muscle behind the bruise felt a little sore and it will be interesting to observe the development of this…
Eventually I got up. This 800m ascent wasn’t as effortless as I had remembered it to be. But it had nothing to do with my condition, but my legs were tired. Maybe I should cut them some slack, given the recent injury. After all, I had done 3200 vertical meters in the 5 past days.
There isn’t much exciting to photograph on the way up. The reward comes when you reach the top.
Then I decided to descent straight south. It was a consecutive steep route and the start of it was slippery due to snow and I could see it got even steeper further down. I was no longer so optimistic and decided to cancel the plan. Worst case scenarios were: a) I would have to abort and climb back up many, many 100’s of vertical meters or b) take chances I really shouldn’t. Next time, I’ll hike that route up and see what it’s really like.
Going back up gave me the opportunity to enjoy some fun scrambling…
On my way down, I was looking long and hard on Liadalsnipa. I’ve been there 11 times, and I know the mountain quite well. Still, it has always scared me. And that’s exactly why I need to go back up there. The last time (in 2020) was not pleasant, but I don’t want to let any mountain intimidate me. At least the ones I’ve already been to.
Trip statistics: 6,2km, 930 vertical meters, 3h:00m
Helgehornet (623m), Apr 19 2026
Sunday: This trip is featured on a separate post…
