My 1st visit in the summertime
| Date | Peak | Height | PF | Location | WCP/FP | MAP |
| 22.07.26 | Haugabreen | 914m | – | Sunnfjord, Norway | WCP | MAP |
Wednesday: Our friends Eva and Bjørn – and their daughter Elisabeth (and her dog Lune) was coming over from eastern Norway to spend some days with us in Sogndal.
The plan was to visit the Haugabreen glacier arm this afternoon, and the only issue was the timing on when I should leave home. We kept on touch via a Messenger group and the plan was that our friends would send a message when they were on the Fodnes – Mannheller ferry. That would give me enough time to drive from Sunnmøre and meet them in Stardalen.
The Messenger group went ding-dong like the Taxman all morning and then it went quiet. I took that as a sign of that they were driving.
Around 3pm, I texted Anne and told her that I was tired of waiting and would begin my journey to Stardalen. She called me and asked me if I hadn’t seen the messages? Eh… no? I had not gotten any further Messenger notifications and I was *late*.
Fortunately, I had already packed the car so all I had to do was to start driving. It was probably the worst day to be in a hurry, because the overall (tourist) traffic was bad. Google Maps told me I needed 2h:45m to get to Høyset in Stardalen. That meant that I could not afford being stuck behind tourists driving 20-30km/h below the speed limit.
Which was the case from the very get-go. I had to switch to active driving and long story short – I arrived in Stardalen less than 10 minutes after the others.
The toll road up Haugadalen (NOK 75, – per July 2026) was long, dusty, narrow and bumpy. I “prayed” that I wouldn’t get any traffic against me, this late in the afternoon. But of course, I did. I met a car with tourists in a sharp hairpin curve (albeit redundant, I kept “sharp“). Their faces looked like they were staring into death. But eventually, we got past each other, and I could continue upwards and join the others. It was nice seeing them again. They’re good friends!
A few minutes later, we got going.
This valley wasn’t new to me. I had come down Haugadalen in 2020, together with Sogndal Turlag, starting from Oldedalen. In addition, we came down on spring in skis, after skiing across Myklebustbreen glacier and Snønipa in May 2012. But I had never hiked up to Haugabreen before. I was really looking forward to it.
For the first part of the hike, we followed the same path as in 2020. Everyone was happy to be on the trail, and we all were looking forward to reaching the glacier.
At the trail fork, we turned left and aimed for Haugabreen.
Then we followed a well-worn trail towards the drain from the glacier.
I noticed for the first time that Jostedalsbreen glacier was actually pretty close by…
The walk along the river was very nice! This was also Lune’s (15 months) first hike in the mountains, ever.
Then we started on the ascent up to the glacier.
Almost there…
And then we were there…
Time to pose…
Anne had some work to do in front of glacier, so we over there while the others turned around.
The old sign had to be replaced with two new signs…
Eventually, she was happy.
Another nice days in our lives…
Then, we had to catch up with the others…
Anne was struggling with Plantar fasciitis and had to cool down in the Driva river.
Back at Anne’s place on Stedjeåsen, Elisabeth and Lune had a huge tent all to themselves.
The evening meal was a delicious, creamed carrot soup and everyone was happy except Elisabeth, who didn’t get to pour wine before I took the photo…
Trip statistics: 5,6km, 400 vertical meters, 2h:16m
