A memorable traverse!
| Date | Peak | Height | PF | Location | WCP/FP | MAP |
| 18.08.26 | Tverrfjellet | 850m | 178m | Ørsta, Norway | WCP | MAP |
| 18.08.26 | Hestefjellet | 799m | 30m | Ørsta, Norway | WCP | MAP |
| 18.08.26 | Levandehornet | 917m | 287m | Ørsta, Norway | WCP | MAP |
Tuesday: Oh my, what a gorgeous hike.
The hike across Hesteryggen (the ridge between Tverrfjellet and Hestefjellet) in Ørsta is a fun, relatively easy and quite airy ridge. I’ve only been there once before – the day I lost my dog “Troll”, June 22, 2008.
I remember being in some kind of “trance”, as I had no previous experience from losing a dog. I couldn’t speak to anyone. The words would simply not come out of my mouth, and so instead of mourning back home, I decided to do a hike in his memory. Typically, this was a kind of hike he would have enjoyed, from my backpack. As I had an opening to the side, he was quite comfortable.
I’ve thought about returning to this mountain, several times. While I couldn’t really remember much of the terrain, I remembered that there was something tricky about it. I just couldn’t remember what. Today, I would find out.
I decided to go the opposite direction. In 2008, I hiked from Fosshola, across Hestefjellet and Tverrfjellet and hiked out Skorgedalen – towards Busetsætra. Today, I would start out at Busetsætra (toll road, NOK 50,- per Aug 2026), hike across Tverrfjellet and Hestefjellet and then return via Levandehornet.
I enjoyed myself a lot. I really like this valley. I’ve been to Levandehornet a number of times, but the hike to Bukkedalstinden was most memorable.
The hike to Skorgestøylen isn’t long – only 1,8km. And then you can start the climb towards Hesteryggen.
I have yet to explore the Saudehornet massif from this side. Looking very much forward to it but expect that I will have to hike across Bukkedalstinden’s western shoulder to get there.
But the main focus today was Tverrfjellet and Hesteryggen.
I followed the path up to lake Heidavatnet before starting the ascent of Tverrfjellet.
On my way up, I came upon a common frog crossing my path. Its colouring provides remarkably effective camouflage against the forest floor. Luckily, it stood perfectly still while I swapped my lens…
The terrain up to the eastern top (822m) was easy enough.
Skorgedalen is truly a beautiful valley. I couldn’t get enough of it…
It was difficult to say for sure if there were any other way up to the Saudehornet massif, other than across Bukkedalstinden’s western shoulder.
There’s so much fun terrain up there that I really want to explore.
But now, the Hesteryggen traverse was awaiting.
The ridge seemed easy enough, but there seemed to be a rather steep section near the top…
For the sake of the balance, I had my camera in my backpack, but stopped now and then for pictures…
So far, the hike had been uncomplicated. I had stuck to the crest although there were bypass opportunities to my right.
I could see potential obstacles ahead. One “hammer” and I didn’t like how the ridge suddenly “skyrocketed” up to the summit.
The “hammer” turned out to be easy enough and I scrambled the crest without any difficulty.
I enjoyed the view towards Hyningane, which I visited in July…
As for the last pitch to the top of Tverrfjellet, I found it a bit daunting. If there had been no other options, I would either have gone for it or turned around. I am not sure. Knowing myself, it’s 50/50. I would have tried though. I was confident about the first push but then I wasn’t so sure if I could get a solid hold on the rock above.
I decided to explore another option – and that was to scramble up a little further to the right. It was a fairly safe route with one committing move. But then there would be no more problems and so I went for it.
I was a bit relieved when I reached the top. I didn’t expect there to be more problems now. I pulled out the camera, to “fire a few rounds”
And then a couple of Iphone panoramas…
Next, I continued towards Hestefjellet. Easy terrain…
On Hestefjellet, I took another series of pictures before I sat course down the northeast ridge, towards the westernmost Svartevatna lakes.
The ridge down to the lake was narrow, but wide enough for me and there were no obstacles…
Down by the lake, I could have just headed back to Skorgestøylen and followed my ascent route back to the car. But that was too boring and so I decided to stick to the plan, which meant hiking across Levandehornet.
My legs were really tired. Not from this hike alone, but from the 133,275 vertical meters I had hiked so far in 2026 (once I reached the top) That’s an average of 579m per day, which is not a lot per se, but decent if you have a full-time job…
But there is great motivation to be found on hikes like this…
I met a couple of hikers coming down from the top. They wondered if the route down to Skorgestøylen was OK. “Absolutely”, I told them. Not anything like what I just had hiked…
On top of Levandehornet, another set of panoramas…
I like Levandehornet a lot. It’s an easy top with massive views. I always meet people when I go to this top.
Now it was time to get back down and head home…
There was a time when I felt this ridge was a bit steep. I have no idea why. Nowadays, it doesn’t feel steep at all…
I took one last picture – of Levandehornet. Then I put my camera in the backpack and jogged back down to the trailhead.
It was a superb round-trip hike. I enjoyed myself every step of the way!
Trip statistics: 8,9km, 900 vertical meters, 3h:19m
