Last week home before summer break
| 15.06.26 | Melshornet | 668m | 560m | Hareid, Norway | WCP | MAP |
| 16.06.26 | Hasundhornet | 533m | 93m | Ulstein, Norway | WCP | MAP |
| 17.06.26 | Sneldelida | 633m | 104m | Ulstein/ Hareid, Norway | WCP | MAP |
| 18.06.26 | Sollia | 661m | 661m | Herøy/Sande, M&R, Norway | WCP | MAP |
| 18.06.26 | Syrebakkane | 455m | 42m | Sande, M&R, Norway | WCP | MAP |
| 19.06.26 | Høgskjerva | 317m | 9m | Ulstein, Norway | WCP | MAP |
| 20.06.26 | Huldrehornet | 271m | 113m | Herøy, M&R, Norway | WCP | MAP |
| 20.06.26 | “Boknatta”, Fjærland | – | – | Sogndal, Norway | – | MAP |
Melshornet (668m), June 15 2026
Monday: Neither Anne nor me felt the inspiration for hiking after our working day ended. But the “job had to be done” and when I proposed Melshornet (Hareid), she agreed to come along. Most of the 3,5km route from Ulset to the top is a gentle climb.
It was quite windy on the upper mountain and no particular views, due to fog. We were just there for the exercise and the vertical meters.
We were discussing our upcoming vacation, early in the year for us. I was not even close to be in the mood for a vacation and realized I would have to put in the mental work the coming week, in order to find inspiration for that.
That may sound weird, but it’s like that every summer. I’m too wound up in work – like every year, but I also know that I start winding down 2-3 days into the vacation.
Prior to the hike, I had been thinking about leaving my bike in Hjørungavåg, but now I was glad I didn’t. It was windy and I would probably have gotten headwind all the way from Hjørungavåg and back to Ulset.
There were not many people on the mountain – just us and a jogger with a doodle-looking dog, completely without hair. He said it was the summer cut. “Gone wrong?” I added. He just laughed…
Trip statistics: 6,7km, 560 vertical meters, 2h:08m
Hasundhornet (533m), June 16 2026
Tuesday: After pulling a molar in Brønnøysund at the end of May, I’ve had some varying degrees of pain. Lately, something didn’t feel right, and I was happy to get an appointment with my regular dentist the day after calling in.
He concluded what I suspected – that there was an inflammation where the tooth had been. He poked around in the wound and asked me to keep a cotton ball soaked in antibiotics for a minimum of two hours, in addition to putting me on yet another antibiotics course.
I definitely saw the point in the cotton ball, and I would definitely deliver on the two hours, and then some. As Anne had returned to Sogndal (including an overnight stay in Stryn) I rested a bit after work, then I decided to bike to Hasundhornet from Ulsteinvik.
The weather was gorgeous, I was listening to the last episode of “National Rap Show” and everything except for the cotton ball – which started to choke me a bit – was great.
I had taken some pain killers and should probably have been resting, rather than going for a bike-trip that included 600 vertical meters. But I was happy to be here.
On my way up towards the Hasundhornet trailhead, I had enough of the cotton ball. It had now been inside my mouth for nearly 4,5 hours.
The road to the top was brutal as always, but the upside is that being on it means that the top is not far away.
I met one guy coming down on his bike and there was another guy on top. I would have thought this top would be packed on such a wonderful afternoon. Or maybe it was evening. It was 7:30pm so maybe all the hikers had gone home.
I did look very much forward to the descent. That would be just awesome.
I still hadn’t figured out what to have for dinner. I had a few options. All of them easy on the teeth…
My summer vacation was just days away and I was not mentally ready. But, I decided to worry about the vacation later and just enjoy the return trip to Ulsteinvik…
Trip statistics: 18,1km on bike, 600 vertical meters, 1h:50m
Sneldelida (633m), June 17 2026
Wednesday: I woke up more tired than usual. Of course, I had to stay up to watch Norway’s first match in the (FIFA) World Cup in 28 years. The game was a bit like watching paint dry, but we beat Iraq 4-1. A good start, and I hope the quality will improve.
I had to take a nap after work, which was a bad idea. I just didn’t understand how I would be able to get out of bed. I was so tired.
But I forced myself up, got dressed for hiking and decided to go to Sneldelida, using the bike most of the way.
I headed out from Flø and biked up the Midtflødalen valley. I expected fog on the mountain, but it didn’t rain, like the forecast had predicted. As such, I was more than happy!
I could bike all the way to 420m elevation, leaving just 213 vertical meters to hike.
My mouth felt better. The antibiotics were seemingly helping on the inflammation. Pulling a molar isn’t walk in the park.
As expected, there was fog on top, but that was OK. It was still not raining.
I took an off-trail shortcut back to the bike and looked forward to the descent.
In less than 15 minutes after reaching the bike, I was back at the car. The combination of bike-and-hike is just great and is something I will continue to do. It will most likely be help me hiking longer ( have a bad meniscus) than I could if I was only hiking.
Trip statistics: 9km on bike, 2,6km on foot, 620 vertical meters, 1h:42m
Sollia (661m), Jun 18 2026
Thursday: Quite an intense working day. I barely noticed that it was raining outside. After work, I had to rest a little bit, but when I got back on my feet, the weather was OK and the asphalt was dry. I decided to go to Sollia from Moltudalen.
It made sense to bike the 1,9km leg from the Moltudalen trailhead and to lake Mørkevatnet.
When I left the bike at the lake, I already knew that this would be a round-trip hike, and that I would be returning via Syrebakkane.
I hiked on the rocks by the lake, instead of following the path, which can be wet and unpleasant after rain. After the first hill, I got Sollia in view.
I hadn’t checked the weather forecast, but the weather looked stabile and I didn’t feel I had to rush anything. It was a bit windy, that’s all.
I took a couple of panorama pictures, then headed back.
I followed the path leading to Syrebakkane.
Then I hiked around the lake and returned to the bike.
Halfway down on the gravel road, I felt raindrops and seconds later, a proper rain shower came upon me. I had to get the headphones off and get a rain jacket on. It was properly pouring down!
When I returned to the car a few minutes later, it wasn’t raining anymore. That was one of the weirdest rain showers I can remember.
Trip statistics: 3,9km on bike, 5,7km on foot, 510 vertical meters, 1h:58m
Høgskjerva (317m), June 19 2026
Friday: The second last trip back home before the summer break was not that pleasant. The forecast said rain all afternoon, but peaking between 4-5pm, when I had planned to do my outdoor activity.
I wanted to do a bike trip across Høgskjerva (Ulsteinvik), as I had never been there on bike before. I needed a couple of minutes to gather the mental will to do this trip.
But once I got started, I was able to forget about the rain. Eventually, I reached 335m elevation and could get on the path towards Høgskjerva.
Biking to Høgskjerva was fairly easy.
But it was harder to bike down towards “Mørdarbakken”. The path and rocks were incredibly slippery. Once back on roads, I biked down to Skeide, before returning to my starting point at Osnessanden.
I was wet to the bone, and then some.
Trip statistics: 8,9km on bike, 350 vertical meters, 1h:05m
Huldrehornet (271m), June 20 2026
Saturday: The main goal for the day was to get to Fjærland and attend “Boknatta 2026” and subsequently – Sogndal, where Anne and I would have to figure out what to do for our summer break.
I decided to do my daily walk on Huldrehornet – in the morning, before leaving for Fjærland. That turned out to be a very good call. It was raining a little and there was fog on the mountain. I didn’t care much about it. I just wanted some vertical meters. Not my daily dose of 500, but 250 was better than none at all.
The path was slippery and on my way down, I paid extra attention so that I wouldn’t start my summer break with an injury.
Trip statistics: 2,2km, 250 vertical meters, 0h:36m
“Boknatta 2026”, Fjærland, June 20 2026
The drive to Fjærland was memorable for all the wrong reasons. I don’t think I’ve seen rain like this before. The heaven was truly opening up. I felt bad for the Fjærland festival, but then Anne called me and said the weather wasn’t that bad down there.
I got to Fjærland around 2:30pm, ready for a long evening at the “Boknatta” festival.
Boknatta (The Book Night) is Fjærland’s most famous literary event. Once a year, the bookshops of Norway’s Book Town stay open late into the evening, offering a magical mix of books, culture, and social gatherings in a beautiful fjord-side setting.
The biggest surprise of the evening was undoubtedly the appearance of Sophie (Elise) Isachsen. Best known as one of Norway’s most influential bloggers and social-media personalities, she is also a bestselling author whose books have attracted tens of thousands of young readers. Seeing her as the headline act in the quiet fjord village of Fjærland was not something many would have predicted – which is precisely why her visit became such a talking point.
(Summary by ChatGPT)
But she was not on stage until 6pm. At 3pm, the mountaineer Cato Risløw held a presentation about his quest for the “seven summits” at Meieriet, Bøyum.
Cato did not reach Everest, but the story about why he decided to turn around was more interesting than a successful ascent.
It was very interesting to hear him talk about Mt. Blanc. I felt that we had something in common – letting Mt. Blanc be the place for rookie mistakes and educational ground.
Back in Fjærland, the weather was not so great but the forecast for the evening was not too bad.
I spent a little time with Anne – working as a volunteer. She is also a Bokbyen board member. I helped out with carrying benches, but still had to pay the entry fee 😉
I also got a tour in one of the book stores, where we had a nice talk with Torje Bjellaas – the Cinematographer in the popular TV serie “Der ingen skulle tru at nokon kunne bu“
At 6pm, Sophie Isachsen took the stage, together with her interviewer Jens Kihl. I was moderately interested. I’m not much into literature and I am definitely not into social-media personalities. But hey, she has discovered literature, writing books on her own and was praising “Nynorsk”. Good for her.
I skipped the next event, went back to my car and watched a World Cup soccer game on my mobile. I am not a guy that is glued to the TV when a soccer match is on, but right now – this was the better choice for me.
After the event, we drove to Anne’s place in Sogndal, enjoyed a pizza and watched TV. I looked forward to planning our vacation the next day.
Not according to plan, June 21 2026
Sunday: I woke up with a killing headache at 4am. What was this? After a couple of pain killers, the headache didn’t go away.
Long story short, I spent most of the day in bed. Hiking was totally out of the question. I didn’t feel sick, but I had absolutely no energy. I guessed it was related to my second round of antibiotics (after removing a molar) in a short period of time. And maybe I had caught something in a room full of people at Bøyum, the day before. Not sure, but I was really hoping I would feel better in the morning.
