Hovden, day 3
| Date | Trip |
| 08.07.26 | Otrosåsen |
| 09.07.26 | Storenos, Veggine, Syni, Mjåvasseggi, Stemtjørnnutan |
| 10.07.26 | Svånuten, Hovdenuten |
| 11.07.26 | Hartevassnutane |
| Date | Peak | Height | PF | Location | WCP/FP | MAP |
| 10.07.26 | Svånuten | 1367m | 355m | Bykle, Norway | – | MAP |
| 10.07.26 | Hovdenuten | 1119m | 244m | Bykle, Norway | – | MAP |
Svånuten
Friday: It was our 2nd full day at Hovdestøylen, Hovden. Our legs were tired after the long hike across Veggine, Syni and Mjåvasseggi the day before, but the nice weather and a new region created new energy.
For Anne, this energy came a bit later than it did to me. We agreed that I could do a hike first and then we could hike Hovdenuten when I got back.
My goal was Svånuten, a bit south of Hovden. The plan was to drive Løyningsvegen up to Nordstog – close to the dam by lake Vatndalsvatnet and hike from there.
At Nordstog, I felt all the “visitors are not welcome” vibes all over the place and as no one were home (I think) I wasn’t able to ask for permission to park. As such, I decided to try a different approach.
The other road to the lake was blocked by some object (can’t remember what it was) and now I got a bit annoyed. Fortunately, a local came to my rescue and said I could find parking (800m elev.) and a path up at Tverrfjellgrenda.
Lovely! Now I could focus on getting to the top of the mountain – 4km to the northwest. Of course, the actual hiking distance would be a bit longer.
The path was nice and the pace was good and I kept going until I reached the 972m trig. point (Knubben)
The path I was on, didn’t go up the mountain. As such I had to determine when it was wise to leave it.
Given the bush, it made sense to stick to the path as long as I could. But eventually, the direction didn’t make sense anymore and I went off-trail.
It was nice to be on the mountain. The terrain was fairly easy and the weather was gorgeous.
Svånuten was never on my “roadmap” for our Hovden stay, but now that I was approaching the top, I was very glad I got the opportunity to come here. It was far enough from Hovden to feel a bit different from the terrain we hiked in the day before.
4,3km and 1h:12m after leaving the car, I reached the top of Svånuten.
It was great to be up here! It was definitely new territory for me.
From the top, I could also see the slalom hill above Hovden, which we came down the day before.
I also took a wide Canon panorama, which I severely had to cut down to get WordPress to accept it…
Then, a last look around before returning to Anne…
I tried to – more or less – stick to my ascent route.
Approaching the trailhead, I took the wrong turn in a trail fork. I didn’t notice it and I didn’t feel that I was on the wrong path. But some instinct made me check the GPS and sure enough – this path would not take me back to the car. After a short off-trail shortcut, I was back on track and could return to Anne.
Trip statistics: 8,8km, 580 vertical meters, 2h:20m
Hovdenuten
I looked forward to returning to Anne and go for a hike across Hovdenuten.
She was good and ready for the hike!
And then we were on our way!
We had decided to hike from Hovdestøylen, as we assumed the parking options amongst the cabins would be limited. It turned out that there were parking options, but we didn’t really mind the extra 2km…
It was a really warm day and the hike up the forest was strenuous. But also nice!
We were not surprised to find a stone-paved trail…
Clearly, these stone steps were built by Sherpas. Craftmanship! But, I felt a sense of “fatigue” about yet another Stone pitched path…
Higher up, we were back in more natural terrain…
Along the way, we had to stop to enjoy the views…
… before moving on.
Almost up…
Finally, Hovdenuten got on our “been there” list…
Good views, all around!
Below the top was an interesting building that we had to check out.
Just across the valley, we were reminded of our sore feet from the day before…
Some other views:
Now – back to that building…
When I entered it, I was thinking – “wow! This is Norway’s largest Sauna“. The heat, the oven and the wood were the contributing factors.
But it is more than that. This day-use cabin, day-trip cabin, or perhaps mountain day shelter was built in 2024. It is a beautiful building, and the architecture is very clever.
The plan was to hike across the mountain, and so after a short stay, we moved on towards Skardet.
The trail was nice and we enjoyed ourselves.
Eventually, we returned to the cabin village, happy about the hike across Hovdenuten.
We were quite warm and so it was tempting to take a plunge into the Otra river. The best places were already taken but we found a place which was OK as long as we avoided the foam. We weren’t afraid that this was industrial fallout but quite natural processes taking place, but still it didn’t feel natural to dive through it…
In the evening, we drove up to Hovden Fjellstue to enjoy their pan-fried mountain trout. I wasn’t overwhelmed by the charm of the place, but not a bad word spoken about the fish. It was a nice meal!
Trip statistics: 8,4km, 410 vertical meters, 2h:52m
