Norwegian Mountains, Møre og RomsdalHeida & Kleppeåsen, Nov 30 2008To the main Heida page (maps, route descriptions, other trip reports, etc.)
I was in the middle of making a new home for myself on Gurskøya, and didn't have time for any major mountains on this Sunday. I took a look at my Herøy yet-to-do list, and picked Heida. Heida is just a few minutes drive away, which was very convenient. While looking at the map, I noticed Kleppeåsen. After checking Økonomisk Kartverk too, it seemed that this top had a primary factor of 98m. Smoking trout! I had overlooked this one. Now I'd better go and visit it.. I drove up to Sletta and wondered if there was a path to Heida. I noticed a couple enjoying their morning coffee on their balcony. I decided to pay them a visit. I was smiling when I was heading towards their house. They seemed sceptical about this stranger, heading in their direction. I've been in this situation many times before, and knew roughly how things would turn out. No exceptions this time, either. Morgen!, I yelled before arriving at the house. According to plan, I received a polite nod. After the initial greeting, it is important to quickly state your business, to avoid being mistaken for a sales person, a con artist or just someone you don't want visiting you early Sunday morning. Is there a path to Heida?, I quickly asked (in Norwegian, of course). This seemed to settle the situation. Indeed, I was a stranger. But I was wearing hiking gear and asked questions about their mountain. I was home free. The rest would be a parade. After a long and nice chat, the couple had learned the names of the mountains they could see from their balcony. They had also learned that the pointy peak they had been wondering about was Skårasalen, and not Slogen. I had learned that their son had a link from his website to my website, and now I know that there is a path to Heida. It's always nice to talk to people. We could do that more often, could we not?
It is raining snowballs on Heida
The hike up to Heida was quite ordinary. I didn't have the patience to follow the trail that never seemed to climb the mountain, so I went off-trail up the north-east side. This brilliant move took me to one of the most aggravating meadows I've ever been to. On three occasions, I stepped into quicksand-like holes and stared at mud halfway up to my knees. The views were surprisingly good, for a top as low as this one. I didn't stick around long, and started looking for a path. I found one, but it was going in the wrong direction. Then I found the correct one, and followed it back down. I was back at the car 1h:45m after leaving it. Route to Kleppeåsen
It was now time to visit Kleppeåsen. The start wasn't so nice. I had to climb a fence, fight my way through some dense forest and cross yet-another-aggravating meadow before I found a faint path that I followed to the top. The hike from the trailhead only took 15 minutes, and Kleppeåsen was now officially in the bag. I was completely soaked when I returned to the house. But since I still had my hiking gear on, I could just as well visit Rambjøra (132m) - the top closest to my house. I'm not sure there will be a Rambjøra trip report, but at least the top will be documented..
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The pictures were taken with a Canon EOS 300D + Canon EF-S 17-85mm IS USM F 4-5.6
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To Heida
Views from Heida
Descent (along the path)
Views from Kleppeåsen
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