Just local hikes…
| 10.08.26 | Huldrehornet | 271m | 113m | Herøy, M&R, Norway | WCP | MAP |
| 11.08.26 | Hasundhornet | 533m | 93m | Ulstein, Norway | WCP | MAP |
| 12.08.26 | Røddalshorn | 563m | 103m | Sande, M&R, Norway | WCP | MAP |
| 13.08.26 | Garnestua | 654m | 417m | Ulstein, Norway | WCP | MAP |
| 14.08.26 | Hasundhornet | 533m | 93m | Ulstein, Norway | WCP | MAP |
| 15.08.26 | Øyrahornet | 417m | 42m | Herøy, M&R, Norway | WCP | MAP |
| 15.08.26 | Sandvikhornet | 352m | 14m | Herøy, M&R, Norway | WCP | MAP |
| 16.08.26 | Årvikveten | 458m | 205m | Sande, Norway | WCP | MAP |
Huldrehornet (271m), Aug 10 2026
Monday: With a weekly goal of 3500 vertical meters (to save you from bringing up the calculator – it’s 500m per day) Mondays are always important. Either I get an OK start or I don’t.
With the pouring rain we had all day, it seemed I might not get a good start. But I would give it a try and drove to Geilane (Hareid) to hike Skafjellet (573m).
But it was just relentlessly pouring down, and – in the end, I just gave up and drove back home.
Back home, it was raining less, and I decided to hike Huldrehornet instead.
After the hike, it had stopped raining and I decided to go for another round.
After a rough start, I was delighted to start the week with 500 vertical meters…
Trip statistics: 4,4km, 510 vertical meters, 1h:16m
Hasundhornet (533m), Aug 11 2026
Tuesday: Anne came up on an “unplanned visit” and so I delayed my afternoon exercise until she arrived. Then we went for a bicycle trip from Haddal and up to Hasundhornet. It’s a route I’m doing more and more. I like it.
The first 7,8km and 310 vertical meters are easy enough. It’s the final 200 vertical meters that are pure murder. On a regular bike, that is. Anne could put her E-smile on.
It’s been a while since I managed to bike all the way up this road, but I managed to do it today. Even with a worn-down back tyre. I was extremely happy about that…
On top, we could look forward to 9,3km of (almost) consecutive downhill.
But first, we had to take in the views…
Then we began our trip back to Haddal…
Unfortunately, there was a lot of traffic so we couldn’t go as fast as we wanted. There were lots of hikers on the trail and there was some dog training ongoing, on the gravel road in Ringstaddalen. Plus, cars on the asphalt road. But all in all – very enjoyable!
Trip statistics: 18,6km on bike, 530 vertical meters, 1h:30m
Røddalshorn (563m), Aug 12 2026
Wednesday: Anne went on a bicycle trip with some friends and so I decided to do a bike-and-hike trip to Røddalshorn.
I parked my car at Leikong and headed up Leikongbakken – a notable hill on this island…
2,4km later, I was at the Røddalshorn trailhead and headed upwards, listening to the P3 music channel…
I was not in the mood for a round-trip hike today. I just looked forward to a bike-trip down “Lysløypa”.
The forecast said it would rain this afternoon. But so far it hadn’t, and I was quite content about that. The “100% cloud coverage” also meant that I wouldn’t be able to see the solar eclipse. But I’ve never been so intrigued by eclipses. I wish I did though. It’s definitely a reminder about “things going on up there…”
I finished my round of pictures, went down the way I came, picked up the bicycle and sat course for “Lysløypa”. It’s a lit course. Very popular in winter, the few days we actually have skiable snow out here. It’s also popular the rest of the year and I have to expect people around “every corner”. Today was no exception, but I managed to get some decent speed on the pitches where I had full overview.
Trip statistics: 7km on bike, 3,4km on foot, 590 vertical meters, 1h:39m
Garnestua (654m), Aug 13 2026
Thursday: Anne left in the morning, but I appreciated the unplanned visit. Being distant lovers is a funny thing. But it has worked for 16 years…
The forecast for the evening was rain, so I better had to make the afternoon count. I decided to go for a bike-and-hike trip to Garnestua and drove up to Løset in Ringstaddalen and parked my car. I normally hike first and bike afterwards, but if the rain came sooner than expected, I’d rather be on foot.
In strong headwind, I biked down to Haddal and headed out along my most usual route to this mountain.
It was raining almost from the get-go and I was a little bit confused. Was the forecast that wrong?
There was however little I could do about it, as my car was on the other side of the mountain. I hoped that this was just the very front of the incoming weather and that the rain would pass.
And sure enough, 10 minutes later, there was not a drop of rain…
But it was still windy. My cap (hat) was still on my head, only thanks to my headphones.
Having a daily goal of 500 vertical meters is also a funny thing. It doesn’t come without effort. I don’t remember exactly when this became “a thing”, but I’ve been hiking as good as daily since I started hiking – back in 1998/1999. I didn’t count vertical meters back then, only new tops.
One would think that at some point, it would take its toll. And it will. But after almost 30 years I am still holding up. I am not saying that I always look forward to the afternoon hikes – or ski-trips – but if the weather is OK, I always do.
It’ll be interesting to see how long this can go on. There will hopefully come a time when I get a third interest in life, besides work and mountains. I have no clue what that could be, but I wouldn’t mind being a goat shepherd. Unfortunately, the job market for goat shepherds in Norway is not beaming…
Time – permitted – will show. Back to the present, I was happy that it still wasn’t raining. I had reached the top and now it could pour down for all I cared…
I met a couple of hikers on their way up from Løset. The guy was giving me a close look. Like, “who’s that guy wearing colors that were popular in the 80’s?” I don’t know, but it’s true. I wear coloured clothes. It pays off in the end. While driving back to Haddal, I threw 6 ticks out the window, just because I could easily spot them…
Unlike Johnny Cash, I don’t wear black for the poor, the hungry, prisoners, soldiers far from home, and those forgotten or mistreated by society. I want to see the army of little buggers crawling up on me for my blood.
Trip statistics: 3,8km on bike, 5,2km on foot, 600 vertical meters, 1h:48m
Hasundhornet (533m), Aug 14 2026
Friday: If I wanted to avoid rain on my afternoon hike, I’d be in a hurry. I decided to revisit Hasundhornet, but not on bike this time. I took the “express route” from Garsholhaugen.
The path was overgrown, wet and slippery. I expected a tick-o-rama on my clothes after the hike. But so be it. That’s how life is these days…
Normally, I would just have brought my Iphone on a hike with no fun light.
But today, I brought my new 100mm Macro lens, just to get a bit acquainted with it. I still have a way to go before I can turn dull RAW images into sparkling posters, but the crispness was on a different level from what I am used to…
It’s nice to have another tool in the “toolbox”…
During a recent tidy up job, I found a 16mm lens I had forgotten about. I brought it along on this hike, only to find that I might as well just stick to the Iphone for wide-angle pictures…
At least, with a system camera, I’ll try to shake the worry about getting dust on the mirror when swapping lenses. Old worries die hard…
I took the same route down and 3 minutes after getting into the car, it started raining…
Trip statistics: 3,9km, 480 vertical meters, 1h:48m
Øyrahornet (417m), Sandvikhornet (352m), Aug 15 2026
Saturday: I had to work from 8am to 1pm and that was the part of the day when it wasn’t supposed to rain.
When I finally logged off work, I considered hiking Rjåhornet. It was still raining, but not much.
But I really just wanted to get my vertical meters and get “it over with”. Øyrahornet would give me 400 vertical meters and I was already a little ahead on my weekly “plan”
So, then I drove to Tjørvåg and sat course for Øyarhornet…
It was still raining, but so light that I hardly felt the drops.
By the time I reached the top, it had stopped raining.
500 vertical meters would be better than 400, and so I continued (off-trail) towards the ridge between Sandvikhornet and Storehanen on the Moltustranda side.
Some people are hiking between Øyrahornet and Sandvikhornet quite often and a track is beginning to show. I know there is a request to have this route marked, and that would fall upon me. I already have enough trails to look after so I don’t know if I will take on one more route…
The Øyraelvi river was not possible to cross without fording it, and so I sat course for the outlet, but the drain called for some creative movements in order to stay dry.
After a while, I reached Sandvikhornet and followed the normal route down.
I brought the new 100mm lens today also, even if the weather wouldn’t do it justice. But the result is so darn good – in terms of crisp details…
Trip statistics: 7,1km, 540 vertical meters, 1h:59m
Årvikveten (458m), Aug 16 2026
Sunday: The weather was miserable this morning. On the upside, I got my backlog of blog posts reduced.
Past noon, it was time for the daily outdoor activity. But what to do in the rain? After thinking about it, I decided to drive to Drageskaret (on Gurskøy island), leave my bicycle there and continue to Årvika. Then I would hike to Drageskaret via Årvikveten and return on my bike.
When I got to Drageskaret, it was hardly raining at all. Bonus! Maybe I would be lucky in avoiding the rain today as well?
I parked the car down by the ferry harbor and headed up the marked route to Årvikveten.
I really like this forest. Likely, a hurricane or storm has created perfect conditions for a new microclimate. Chaos on the ground and very little light coming in. Dead trees and an explosion of life…
Higher up, it’s very nice to hike along the cliffs.
There is one OK viewpoint in this forest, and I showed it to Anne once. She immediately wanted to spend the night there in a hammock. We never got around to do it, but now something is happening here. I got confirmation that this will be a bench and a wooden platform. I will have to return next year and check it out.
Above the forest, a foggy Veten came into view.
This is serious tick terrain. I assumed that I would have buggers crawling all over me after the hike.
Eventually, I reached the top. Nothing much to see…
Then followed an uneventful hike to Drageskaret…
Eventually, Drageskaret came into view.
I had been dragging my Canon and my 100mm lens along, but there hadn’t been anything I wanted to use it for. But just to get “something back” from carrying it, I took a couple of pictures before heading down to the bike.
After 5,2km, I reached my bike and looked forward to the trip back to Årvika. It still hadn’t rained and I was mighty pleased with that! And – I found only one tick crawling on me. Bonus!
Trip statistics: 5,2km on foot, 6,6km on bike, 590 vertical meters, 2h:03m
