Sogndal, and a lot of bicycling…
| 27.07.26 | Slakkafjellet | 855m | 242m | Sogndal, Norway | WCP | MAP |
| 28.07.26 | Kammen | 764m | 51m | Sogndal, Norway | WCP | MAP |
| 29.07.26 | Amlaholten | 508m | 265m | Sogndal, Norway | WCP | MAP |
| 30.07.26 | Hesteggi | 905m | 148m | Sogndal, Norway | WCP | MAP |
| 31.07.26 | Storhaug | 677m | 27m | Sogndal, Norway | WCP | MAP |
| 01.08.26 | Kyrkjedalshaug | 929m | 36m | Sogndal, Norway | WCP | MAP |
| 02.08.26 | Lidaveten | 592m | 439m | Volda, Norway | WCP | MAP |
Slakkafjellet (855m), Jul 27 2026
Monday: I decided to stay in Sogndal for a few more days, maybe the whole week. I was planning another trip to the north in August, but first, I had to get my head around a planned trip to Vietnam in September. There is a thing called “Vaccines” that required some planning.
After work, the weather was like the day before – rain showers that came and went. I hoped that I would get luckier than the day before and drove to Asbjørnhaugen (184m) to bike up to the Skardsbøfjellet transformer station and hike Slakkafjellet off-trail from there.
Opposed yesterday’s bike trip to Storehaugfjellet, there would be no problems in biking up this service road. Other than the hard work involved in the 5,5km, 550 vertical meter ascent.
The weather was OK at first. I was just wearing a shirt, and I really hoped it could stay that way.
But it didn’t. A rain shower came in from Sogndalsdalen, and I had to get my rain gear on.
1h:09m after heading out (the ascent did not go fast!) I had parked my bicycle on the very highest point on the road (721m).
The off-trail terrain was tedious but not all that bad. I considered going further west to join the path from the Øvstedalen side, but I didn’t know how far away it was (I was just 300m away from it) and decided to stick to my current course.
Clearly, I wouldn’t be getting any views today. But that was OK. At least I got a half-decent afternoon trip.
I only stayed on top long enough to get a picture, then I turned around.
I had forgotten to bring gloves. Those were very useful when we biked down Storehaugfjellet the day before and I wished I had them today. When I finally returned to the car, my hands were VERY cold. Normally, I secure the bike in an upright position in the load compartment, but I was too cold and just “threw” the bike in…
Trip statistics: 10,7km on bike, 720 vertical meters, 2h:10m
Kammen (764m), Jul 28 2026
Tuesday: After work (in Sogndal) I wanted to go to a place I don’t go to too often. Kammen – 764m above Barsnesfjorden – came up as a good candidate. I had been to the top 5 times in the past, but never on a regular bike.
“Regular bike” in this context means that I did a loop across Kammen on Anne’s E-bike in 2024, but that doesn’t really count as a bike trip.
I assumed it would be hard, and I had slight time pressure, as I had to be back for dinner and the 6:30pm The Odyssey movie. But I assumed I had the time and then some.
I parked at the start of the “Kvamsvegen” road, down by Barsnesfjorden.
Just as I started biking, a guy on his bicycle passed me, in an incredible speed. I thought he had an E-bike. He disappeared quickly.
A bit higher up, the guy was checking his cell phone (probably studying a map). We nodded and I passed him.
After that, he never caught up with me until I stopped for a rest. We chatted. He was from Finland and he had already done a 70km bike trip before coming here. Clearly, he biked a lot.
He complained that his gears and tyres were not fit for this steep road. I don’t understand gears, but I also had a problem with my back tyre. It’s worn out and I can’t bike standing up. Which – in this kind of hill – is a problem.
He was behind me all the way to the upper gate, where I let him pass while I locked the gate. After that, I didn’t see him anymore.
I had been biking for an hour and the time was 4pm. According to my plan, I would be on top 4:30pm, back at the car at 5pm, take a shower at 5:20pm, dinner at 5:30pm and be at the cinema 6:15pm.
But this hill never seemed to end!
The big question was – would I get rain? The forecast said it would rain all afternoon, but it hadn’t rained so far.
I reached the top 1h:20m after heading out. That was 10 minutes ahead of plan.
I really looked forward to the descent. Not because the road was nice to bike. It wasn’t. But it was downhill! No more hard work. I reached the car 21 minutes after leaving the top, only stopping for one picture.
And it still hadn’t rained when I reached the car…
The timetable held up and at 6:15pm, we drove to the local cinema. We watched the 3-hour (!) movie (The Odyssey) together with our friend Jannike and we all felt the movie was terrific. No point in analyzing. We just wanted to be entertained and we were!
Trip statistics: 9,7km on bike, 720 vertical meters, 1h:42m
Amlaholten (508m), Jul 29 2026
Wednesday: After work (in Sogndal) I wanted to hike Togga in Sogndalsdalen, but when I got to Sogndal downtown, I could see that it was raining up in Sogndalsdalen.
Plan B was then to bike across Amlaholten in Kaupanger. At least, I would be starting the trip without rain.
I parked at Amlabukti and headed out. No rain so far.
After 2,7km along the Festingsdalen road, I reached the tractor road that I planned to follow. This is one of the two most common routes to Amlaholten.
The final part on Amlaholten’s west ridge is steep. It was a struggle to get the bike up.
But I managed, and could take a pause and enjoy the view…
… before I continued up to the top.
For my descent, I took the other normal route, which is rough (for bicycles) but not steep. The 500 vertical meter descent from the top and back to the car took 15,5 minutes.
The forest trail was bumpy, but the biking the Festingdalsvegen road was very nice. I decided to put my hand on the brake when I passed 50km/h. Not that I could not have gone faster, but this road has traffic and I did not want to run into a truck heading for the recycling plant…
Back at Anne’s place, I spent a couple of hours in her outhouse, moving dried wood from the stacks in her backyard, into her outhouse. Useful labour, which will pay off when winter arrives…
Trip statistics: 10,3km on bike, 520 vertical meters, 1h:23m
Hesteggi (905m), Jul 30 2026
Thursday: I had a most excellent working day, mainly thanks to GitHub Co-Pilot. At the age of 62, it’s not easy to take the leap from being an expert on a legacy system to becoming a novice in a cloud-based development environment. But it’s fun.
After work, Anne wanted us to go Ølmheim for pizza. I had never been to this place before (15 minutes west of Sogndal).
They served one of the best pizzas I’ve ever tasted. It was just great.
Back in Sogndal, it was time for my daily exercise. After fog and rain all day, it seemed to be clearing up, and I decided to hike Hesteggi from Tjødnali.
I looked forward to a sunny hike.
The clouds above Sogndal were fascinating.
The fog in Geiskedalen (Jeskedalen) was expected. I just had to get above it…
Eventually, I got above the fog, but there wasn’t much to see…
At last, I reached the top of Hesteggi. This was actually a hard hike. June and July (well, the whole of 2026 to be honest) had been quite busy in terms of hiking and biking. My legs were actually tired.
To my disappointment, it was raining all the way from the top and back to the trailhead. And my legs were SO tired!
I looked forward to getting back to Anne’s house. I had planned to move more wood from the stacks outside and into her outhouse, but after that, I was just going to relax!
Trip statistics: 8,1km, 790 vertical meters, 2h:11m
Storhaug (677m), Jul 31 2026
Friday: This trip is featured on a separate post…
Kyrkjedalshaug (929m), Aug 1 2026
Saturday: This trip is featured on a separate post…
Lidaveten (592m), Aug 2 2026
Sunday: I slept until 9:30am, then enjoyed a nice breakfast before going into Anne’s backyard to restack wood – reorganizing the stacks so that the wet wood could dry up faster.
When I was finished, I sat course for Sunnmøre. The drive was OK. I was constantly catching up with cars and campers doing 20km/h below the speed limit. But the overall traffic was no longer so bad so that it was easy to get past the slow moving vehicles.
For the life of me, I cannot understand why it’s necessary to drive 60km/h on a straight road with an 80km/h speed limit. This is one of the unanswered questions that will follow me to the grave…
It was raining all the way from Sogndal and to Volda. I thought about just driving home and skip hiking. But when I had Lidaveten in view, my windshield wipers didn’t move. An omen!
I made a quick decision and drove to Eideim to hike Lidaveten.
It was tempting to take my bicycle and save myself from the 1,1km boring walk along the forest road. But the car was packed full and getting the bike out wasn’t worth it.
I do like this mountain. This would be my 29th visit. I normally hike up from Berkneset and descend to Eidheim, but today I wasn’t interested in the wet bush that the Berkneset route had to offer and settled for a hike up and down the same way.
The last part up the forest is quite steep. But fun!
When I reached the top, it still wasn’t raining and I wondered how I could be that lucky. Should I buy lottery tickets also?
I hurried down the same way and minutes after getting into the car, it was pouring down again…
Trip statistics: 4,2km, 460 vertical meters, 1h:13m