Norwegian Mountains, Sogn og Fjordane
Flistrahornet, Sandvikhornet & Venøya, Mar 3 2012
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The Flistrahornet route, as seen in Google Earth
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This was the 5th weekend in 2012 that I headed in the direction of Vanylven/Stadlandet/Selje. Lots of tops still to do down there. The goal for this weekend was to make some serious progress on my list of Selje tops, and I had my eyes on Flistrahornet, Sandvikhornet and Venøya.
The weather was just great, and I decided to start with the highest top (Flistrahornet) first. I drove to Øyra and after having a nice chat - asked a couple of (senior) locals if there was a path up the forest. I got a long answer which contained, yes, no, maybe, good trail, hard to find, etc. etc. I decided to try my luck along the river and after walking 5 meters I found a most excellent path and a fat T. It was probably some years ago they were up on the mountain....
It was a most impressive rock face I had above me, and the man I spoke to said that B A S E jumpers had come here to check out the mountain, but concluded that the local winds were too dangerous.
Flistrahornet
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I left the trailhead 11:30am and had a nice walk up the forest and arrived at a rocky bridge which gave me a good fjord view. I did not cross the bridge, but continued upwards through a boulder area. The path gradually faded away, but I didn't really need one. I followed the ridge above the valley floor, passed a small lake and aimed for the first place where I could get to the flank above me. Once on the flank, I found a path which I followed upwards. After a little while I reached snow, but it never amounted to anything more than being a beautiful layer in the sunshine. 12:50pm - 1h:20m after heading out, I reached the top of Flistrahornet.
On top of Flistrahornet
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From the top, I had a good view towards my next goal - Sandvikhornet. I descended along my ascent route and was back at the trailhead 1:31pm - 2 hours after heading out. The locals I had spoken to said that if I also wanted to visit Sandvikhornet, I ought to drive to Sandvik and try my luck there.
At Sandvik, I drove up to a house and was met by a German Shepherd which did NOT seem to be inviting me into the house. I decided not to leave the car, and as no one came out for the first couple of minutes, the situation felt a bit silly. Eventually, a woman appeared and I could state my business. The woman told me to where I should start but also said that I would most likely not be able to follow the path up the mountain. I decided to give it a try...
My route down Sandvikhornet
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I headed out 1:46pm and learned after a few minutes that the woman was right. I was not able to follow the path and decided to just go straight up the west ridge. The terrain was a bit cumbersome, but not difficult. I crossed a number of tracks - all probably used by deer. 2:26pm, I arrived on top of Sandvikhornet. There was no cairn on Flistrahornet and no cairn here either. Very odd...
Jumping for world peace on Sandvikhornet
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My day was progressing according to plan, and now I had only one stop on my to-do list - Venøya. I returned to my Sandvikhornet trailhead 2:50pm and drove 1,1km to Langeneset - the place I figured would give me the shortest route to the island high point.
I reached the top of Venøya 3:07pm - 14 minutes after heading out. I was probably the most aggravating 14 minutes I've had outdoors in 2012. If you're eager to know why, take the trip!
My route to Venøya high point
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At 3:15pm, I had 3 new Selje tops in the bag, and looked forward to a nice drive back to Gurskøya - with the top down!
Going home!
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