Norwegian Mountains, Møre og Romsdal

Bergehornet, Grøthornet, Liahornet, June 10 2006

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The weather was gorgeous this Saturday. A heatwave blessed the country and I had to figure out how to spend the day. As I was going to Saksa by Urke the following day (long drive), I was looking for a hike near Ålesund. The choice fell on Bergehornet. I took the ferry to Festøya and drove to Vartdal. As I had brought my dog ("Troll"), I asked around for a path. A local guy recommended me to hike across Kornfjellet.

Bergehornet:

At noon, we headed out for Kornfjellet, and Troll quickly refused walking. I didn't blame him, as it was a killer-hot day. I carried him all the way to above the tree-line and was sincerly relieved about leaving the flies in the forest, behind. I hate flies. My route for the day wasn't quite clear yet. What should I do after visiting Bergehornet? Descend along the pipeline? I decided to make up my mind once I reached the top.

I noticed that Bergehornet still offered 300m of fine skiing, but only ski-nerds would carry their skis all the way just for a few minutes of pleasure. My route along the east ridge was however free of snow. This was a steep ascent, and Troll had to work hard on his way up the mountainside. We reached the top of Bergehornet 13:55PM and were blessed with a mighty fine panorama towards many of the fine Sunnmøre mountains. Troll begged for lunch, but it wasn't lunch-time yet. He entered "power-save" mode and fell to sleep in the shade of a rock.

Grøthornet

The ridge towards Grøthornet looked quite easy, and the new plan was to see if I could make it across. Furthermore, I knew that I could get to Liahornet without problems, but then I would end up in Liadal. Hiking back Liadalsdalen towards Vartdal was not an interesting option, as I'm not much of a valley man. So far, the plan was to visit Grøthornet and descend down to Risaskarvatnet.

The ridge, which seemed trivial at first, contains a series of obstacles that had to be bypassed. Sure, they could be scrambled, but not easily while carrying a dog. Before starting the ascent up to Grøthornet, I had to find a way around the roughest part of the ridge. After two attempts on the high ridge, I had to bypass on the west side.

The route up to Grøthornet had rough boulder, but we reached the summit 15:05PM without any further inconvenience. It was time for lunch, and I discovered (to my slight despair) that I had forgotten my nut-mix lunch back home. I had not forgotten Troll's lunch, and while he was merrily chewing his lunch-meal, I finished my 0,5L water bottle, slightly annoyed about not having brought more.

Liahornet

Having come this far, I decided to go all the way. I put the dog back into his "second home" and headed down Grøthornet's west ridge. Near Skålaskaret (the saddle between Grøthornet and Liahornet), I came across running water. We were both very thankful and satisfied our thirst before moving on towards Liahornet. I remembered reading that Liahornet's east ridge was steep, but I found it less steep than the ridge to Bergehornet. Troll walked all the way from Skålaskaret and up to Liahornet summit, which we reached 16:15PM.

There were no signs of people on these mountains, which was OK. I had this good feeling of solitude even if the road was just a "1000m fall" away. I looked down on the river in Liadalsdalen and wondered if there was a bridge. I could see the end of the forest road, and wondered if I should head towards it. I put Troll back in the backpack and picked a steep route down from Liahornet.

Above the tree-line, I discovered cabins higher up in Liadalsdalen. I assumed that cabin+river would equal a bridge, and headed towards the cabins. I found no path in the forest, and decided to follow the river from Skåla. The forest got steeper and steeper, but didn't offer any (particular) problems. At one point in the slippery grass, the ground "disappeared" under me, and I entered an aesthetic, horisontal position before I fell flat on the ground, with the dog under me. A deep "mmmmmmppffff" from the backpack indicated that there was still life. Healthy, but soaking wet, I completed the descent to the cabins (Leitet), very curious about any potential bridges.

I found none, and had to cross the river. After two LONG jumps (with fine precision), I concluded that I didn't want to cross here during the peak of the snow-melt. I found a path that led down the forest road and started to think about how I could get back to Vartdal. Walking was out of the question, but should I call for a taxi, or bug a local? For a fee, obviously, but my choice fell on the taxi.

We reached the main road 18:10PM, and I called Ørsta taxi. They arrived after 10 minutes and drove me back to Vartdal for the price of NOK 500,-. I decided not to let the HIGH FEE spoil the trip and told myself it was all worth it. Back in Vartdal, the local I had spoken to, came out and wondered "where in the world" I had been, since I was returning in a taxi. After explaining the route for the day, I headed home, already looking forward to the hike the next day.

Pictures from the June 10 2006 trip

To Bergehornet

1. Bergehornet seen from Vartdal (202KB) 2. On the way up the forest (305KB) 3. Kornfjellet and Bergehornet (361KB) 4. The open space on the Kornfjellet ridge (306KB) 5. Bergehornet (281KB) 6. Vartdal and Årsetdalen (386KB) 7. Troll on Kornfjellet (331KB) 8. The pipeline in Risaskaret (418KB) 9. My ascent route to the right (408KB) 10. Up Bergehornet west ridge (230KB) 11. Risaskarvatnet (255KB) 12. View into the bowl (438KB)

360 deg. wide-angle panorama from Bergehornet

13. 360 deg. wide-angle panorama from Bergehornet (1145KB)

50mm panoramas from Bergehornet

14. 50mm panorama from Bergehornet (1509KB) 15. 50mm panorama from Bergehornet (782KB)

Misc. views from Bergehornet

16. The Vartdal trailhead (315KB) 17. Kolåstinden seen from Bergehornet (183KB) 18. Vassdalstinden seen from Bergehornet (166KB) 19. Saudehornet seen from Bergehornet (114KB) 20. Molladalstindane seen from Bergehornet (202KB) 21. Romedalstinden seen from Bergehornet (145KB)

To Grøthornet

22. Across Raudetindane (266KB) 23. Ridge features (220KB) 24. Looking for a way out (378KB) 25. Lake 761m (147KB) 26. Raudetindane (287KB) 27. Grøthornet ahead (167KB) 28. Liadalsnipa (155KB) 29. Liadalsdalen (288KB) 30. Grøthornet summit (268KB)

360 deg. wide-angle panorama from Grøthornet

31. 360 deg. wide-angle panorama from Grøthornet (1453KB)

50mm panorama from Grøthornet

32. 50mm panorama from Grøthornet (1525KB)

To Liahornet

33. Grøthornet northwest ridge (248KB) 34. Liahornet ahead (534KB) 35. Grøthornet (293KB) 36. Liahornet summit (184KB)

360 deg. wide-angle panorama from Liahornet

37. 360 deg. wide-angle panorama from Liahornet (1020KB)

Zoom panoramas from Liahornet

38. Zoom panorama from Liahornet (419KB) 39. Zoom panorama from Liahornet (799KB) 40. Zoom panorama from Liahornet (1028KB) 41. Zoom panorama from Liahornet (688KB)

Descent to Liadal

42. Rjåneset (255KB) 43. Liadalsnipa (165KB) 44. Lake below Liahornet (190KB) 45. Grøthornet (246KB) 46. Leitet cabins (269KB) 47. Crossing the river (388KB) 48. Leitet and Grøthornet (309KB) 49. Liadalsnipa (218KB)

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