On the very Nordland – Trøndelag border
| 05.09.26 | Løytnantsklumpen | 624m | 281m | Grane/Namsskogan, Norway | – | MAP |
| 05.09.26 | Stormulen (Finnvolfjellet) | 725m | 450m | Namsskogan, Norway | – | MAP |
| 05.09.26 | Grenneåsen | 212m | 105m | Levanger, Norway | – | MAP |
Løytnantsklumpen (624m), Sep 5 2026
Saturday: I left Brønnøysund in the morning and ended up not taking the Vennesund – Holm ferry. Basically, because that they take a break in the morning and there was no ferry departure between 9am and 11am. Very inconvenient…
So, I drove via Tosen, which was not bad at all. I enjoy this drive.
Sausvatn was gorgeous today. I had to stop for a picture of my childhood paradise.
Driving Tosen forced me to “recalibrate” in terms of where I wanted to go hiking. It didn’t take me long to find that Løytnantsklumpen (“The Lieutenant knob”) was a good candidate. Not too high, not too far away and most importantly – it is located on the very Trøndelag – Nordland County border.
But where should I start from?
I decided to drive to Utheim. The couple living there seemed surprised to get a visit, but they were very helpful and described the best route to the mountain and they let me park by their house. Which was very convenient, as there was no nearby parking along the main road.
According to the man, the mountain was named after a lieutenant who came here to determine where the county boundary should run. I haven’t been able to verify the story but given that the boundary runs directly across the summit, it is certainly an intriguing explanation.
I followed a – barely visible – tractor road in the direction of the creek from Hallsetmyra.
I could probably have managed to cross this creek with a short jump, but a bridge is always practical…
Now it was just a matter of picking the best route to the top.
40 minutes after heading out, I reached the top.
This was a really good start to the day!
I had a good view towards Majaklumpen – a top I had wanted to visit for many years. Not sure why, but it was one of the – few – mountains my parents mentioned when we drove from Oslo to Brønnøysund in my childhood days.
I took the 100mm for a spin before heading back down.
I just aimed for Utheim and then the route would just present itself…
The autumn colors were just stunning!
This was a really enjoyable hike!
Bye, Lieutenant Knob! It was nice to meet you!
Trip statistics: 4,4km, 340 vertical meters, 1h:19m
Stormulen (725m), Sep 5 2026
Saturday: From the Nordland – Trøndelag border, I continued to Namsskogan. I hadn’t eaten all day and was really hungry. I figured I had deserved a Cheeseburger at the local cafe.
I checked the map for local tops and Stormulen (aka Finnvolfjellet) looked interesting. The normal approach seemed to be from Bjørhusdal and from what I understood, there would be a marked route.
There was no parking along the main road, and so I found parking along the Bjørhusdalsveien road.
I followed E6 ~80m to the north and found the forest path. It was properly marked for sure! This hike looked like it be easy. Just 500+ vertical meters up the forest and there’s the top…
I enjoyed the forest hike…
Then, it all went sideways. Literally!
The route now went south, while the mountain top was to the east. But I followed the markers, thinking it would all make sense in the end.
And it started to rain! Not a lot though…
After 0,7km in the wrong direction, the markers led me to this … thing. And the markers seemed to continue south! Very confusing!
That’s it! Now – off-trail to the summit!
After some easy meadows, I ran into more cumbersome terrain.
The bush was quite annoying, but it didn’t last for too long.
I was almost up and felt a great sense of relief…
It had stopped raining and the rainbow reminded me that the rain could return at any given time…
I was very happy about having reached the top. The ascent was much more strenuous than I had imagined it to be.
Now I looked forward to taking pictures.
The landscape was just beautiful. Further north, I could see mountains in the Børgefjell national park.
To the west, I could see mountains that I didn’t know at all. But beyond those mountains – and then some – is the Tosen fjord.
Nice scenery, all around…
As I felt the rain showers were rather close, I decided to get off the mountain.
No rush, though. The weather was still lovely up here.
I sat a direct course to the point where my route turned south. I would not do one more meter in the wrong direction. But first, I had to get through the bush jungle.
Not everything in the bush was green and nasty…
On my way down, I tried to look closely where the route turned south – had I missed a fork? But I couldn’t see a second path.
Besides the fact that the markers led me astray – I really liked the implementation. No lasting paint on trees. This route could be totally decommissioned within a day.
Trip statistics: 6,5km, 550 vertical meters, 1h:59m
Grenneåsen (212m), Sep 5 2026
Saturday: After two good hikes (Løytnantklumpen and Stormulen) I was happy to change into dry clothes, and I decided that these two hikes would be all I did today. I looked forward to get to Stav Hotel and have a good night’s rest. I had a bad headache all day and all that hiking didn’t cure it. On the contrary.
The weather was quite interesting…
In fact, despite the headache, this was one of the most fun drives I’ve had through Trøndelag county…
In the car, I tried to stretch my neck against the headrest. Gradually, the tension headache let go and I started thinking about one final walk before calling it a day. But it had to be an easy hike, as I would be hiking in my dry clothes and I didn’t want them to get wet.
Let me clear – I was NOT operating a cell phone while driving!
Grenneåsen near Åsen looked like a good candidate. A road would take me close to the top and this could look like a 3–400-meter walk.
Near the road end, I could see a “private road” sign. But I decided to go over to the house and ask for permission to park. I could see people inside, but they didn’t hear me knock and there was no doorbell.
While the people didn’t hear me knock, the dogs did. And they were plentiful. Immediately, I was surrounded by ~10 barking dogs. That didn’t stress me at all. They were just doing their job – to sound the alarm when intruders were present. Apparently, this was a dog hotel. Finally, a woman came out. I apologized for the inconvenience and was given permission to park.
I decided to go around the fenced-in outdoor area, while trying not to damage the corn – which I felt should have been harvested at this time of the year.
I didn’t expect to find a path inside the forest – which was a bit chaotic.
As I approached the top, I was a bit surprised to see a rope for aiding the ascent up a small cliff. There was also a vague track.
I located the high point, not marked in any way…
… and returned the same way I came up.
This was a bit of an odd hike, and I was happy when I got back in the car.
An hour or so later, I checked in at Stav Hotel – for the 4th time in 2026.
I’ve been going to Stav regularly since the 90’s and getting onto the E6, north or south is still confusing to me. It doesn’t help that the signposts are indoors…
Trip statistics: 1km, 70 vertical meters, 0h:20m
