Back again, 25 years later…
| Date | Peak | Height | PF | Location | WCP/FP | MAP |
| 31.05.26 | Hornstinden | 885m | 215m | Vevelstad, Norway | WCP | MAP |
Sunday: Today, I planned to stand on top of Hornstinden in Vevelstad, 25 years after my first (and only) visit.
I parked my car at Horn and took the bike onboard the 8:50am ferry. There, I chatted with a French guy, biking from France to Nordkapp (North cape). I told him he had something to look forward to, along the Helgeland coastline. I told him – “this is where the fun begins!” He looked happy!
There wasn’t much point in bringing the bike. It was only 0,7km to the trailhead.
I left the ferry 9:13am and the plan was to be back in time for the 12:30pm ferry. If I missed that ferry, I would have to wait almost two hours. But 3 hours for hiking this mountain should be enough, even if was almost 900 vertical meters straight up. I put on Friday’s episode of National Rap Show, which is 3 hours long. The goal was to return to the ferry before the show ended.
Just before the trailhead was a fence. There was no way to get the bike through and so I had to lift it across – only to discover that the trailhead was just 20 meters away.
But OK. The time was 9:20am and I was eager to get going on the slabs, find a good rhythm and keep a good pace.
The slabs were slippery in places and required the use of hands in places.
And then I lost track of the marked route. I had a notion about where it went, but as I enjoyed the slabs I just continued straight up until I rejoined the route.
I took a short pause on Høyvikfjellet (388m) where I had a big portion of Hornstinden in clear view. But I reckoned I only saw up to 600m elevation and there would be almost 300 more beyond what I could see. Better get started…
I was quite happy that I wasn’t completely fogged in. There was surely fog on top, but at least I could see something during the ascent.
I was feeling quite good. Even the pain from the pulled tooth was not overwhelming. Mostly because of the pain killer cocktail I took in the morning. And then there was the antibiotics – which is also doing stuff to the body. But I felt the flow was just fine.
10 years ago, I could do 900 vertical meters in an hour. That’s not the case anymore, but speed isn’t everything…
Then followed a series of “if I get up there, I will probably see the top” moments, which never came true…
But eventually, I had the summit ahead of me. In the fog, the hillside much higher and longer than it actually is.
For the first time on this hike, I had to touch snow. Barely. I could probably have avoided it.
And then I was up! It took me 1h:22m to reach the top. 3 minutes ahead of my estimate when I started on the mountain path.
I didn’t remember anything from my 2001 hike, which also included Stortinden and Saltkartinden. But 25 years ago, is a long time ago, at my age.
I didn’t hang around for too long. I had a ferry to catch.
I thought the fog would be lifting completely, but now the fog was coming back. But my route was clear and I didn’t care about it.
I met a couple on their way upwards. I could see from a long way that they were not interested in smalltalk so we just nodded.
The trail was well marked. The red markings were discreet and never excessive, but they were always there when you needed them.
Arriving back at Høyvikfjellet, I decided to stop by the high point. As the prominence seems to be < 20m, I didn’t bother registering it on peakbook.org…
I was way ahead of schedule and already started thinking about which mountain to hike next.
Mosaksla was a candidate, but I did that on Tuesday and so I would have to think of something else.
The rest of the descent was uneventful. I stuck to the marked route, met two girls and 3 dogs near the trailhead. We had a quick chat. Then I had to lift my bike across the fence one more time and was back at the ferry a few minutes later. The time was noon sharp, and the ferry would be leaving in 30 minutes.
I biked a little along the bay, but the road soon ended and I returned to the ferry. I asked for permission to enter early, was granted and could relax with coffee and chocolate while listening to the remainder of National Rap Show…
Trip statistics: 9,1km on foot, 2,2km on bike, 950 vertical meters, 2h:56m
