Norwegian Mountains, Sogn og Fjordane

Hornelen & Svartevassegga from Hunskår, June 28 2009


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Hornelen and Svartevassegga

Hornelen and Svartevassegga
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Hornelen had been on my "VIM list" (Very Important ... drum roll... Mountains) for a long time. Still, the perception of a long drive had been keeppaing me away from it. But on this fine day, late June, I decided to finally visit this mountain. The weather was forecasted to be beautiful, which is a must when I visit a brand new mountain region. I left Gurskøya early morning, and learned that Måløy was much closer than I had imagined it to be.

The town of Måløy was absolutely dead when I got there - still quite early on this Sunday morning. The ferry wouldn't arrive for yet another hour, but fortunately - a couple from Johannesburg pulled up behind me, and all of a sudden, I had company for the next hour...

 

In Måløy - waiting for the ferry

In Måløy - waiting for the ferry
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I had chosen Hundskår (instead of Berle) as the starting point. A small group of people were also about to head out, so I decided to walk fast to avoid being "stuck" in the middle. I left the trailhead 10:24am and had successfully passed the entire group 10 minutes later. Now I just had to pace it a little, to get some distance in-between. This wasn't exactly the easy start I had in mind, but twenty minutes later, I was completely alone on the trail (just like I like to be alone on the road..). I could now fully relax, enjoy the scenery, stop for pictures before being overtaken by the group again. A compulsive disorder, perhaps, but it keeps me calm..

The view above

The view above
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This calm state of mind lasted 5 minutes - until I discovered that another group (more than 20 people) was ahead of me on the trail.

 

Oh-no!

Oh-no!
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There was only one thing to do - pace it some more. It was a notable effort to pass everyone on the outside. By the time I passed the leader of the group, talking without making a whining noise wasn't easy. I slowed down a bit, the pulse got back to normal, the whining noise went away. It turned out that Flora Turlag had organized this trip, and that they were (obviously) headed for Hornelen.

I decided to go back to solitude, still covering ground quickly, and when everyone stopped for a break at 540m elevation, I was alone again. By the time I reached the lake at 630m, I was thirsty, thirsty, more thirsty and exhausted. I threw my top half into the lake, let the cold water work on my sick brain and mumbled something. I stopped mumbling when it dawned on me that I hadn't checked if this lake was draining. I normally try to avoid drinking still water. The time was now 11:15am, and I had ascended 600 vertical meters in 50 minutes. Which is not bad - given that this trail isn't particularly steep. A few minutes later, I found running water, and gradually, energy came back.

 

Running water

Running water
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Half an hour later, I topped out on the mountain plateau. The plan was to visit Svartevassegga first. I was convinced that this top was up to my right. I had a look around. Yup - there was a mountain up to my right, and a slightly characteristic top up to my left that just had to be Hornelen. Easy job! Those tops would be done in less than one hour!

Once on top of "Svartevassegga", I was very surprised when I saw that the elevation was only 842m. I could have sworn it should be closer to 900m! I checked the GPS, and the GPS said I was on Svartevassegga. Well then! I took a good look towards "Hornelen". The group leader I had spoken to earlier said Hornelen had two tops. And I was looking at two tops. So I decided to visit the lower first.

The plateau was so rocky that walking was difficult. I was better off jumping the rocks. When I reached the smaller top, the picture became clearer. In the distance - 1,5km to the northeast - was Hornelen. I looked at my GPS again, and it told me that I now was on Uraheia. After a closer look, I saw that the Svartevassegga map name had been put on the wrong top. But OK - now that there was no more confusion, I would just have to continue on. First stop would be the real Svartvassegga.

 

Hornelen - first view

Hornelen - first view
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Svartevassegga was reached 12:30pm - after a 650 metre walk from Uraheia. I then headed towards Hornelen, and had a steep and rocky descent into the valley between the two tops. With Hornelen now in front of me, I took the shortest route possible and reached the summit 1:03pm. There were only 6-7 people on top, which was a bit strange. I had expected to find the 20+ group up here by now.

I moved over to the north top, where the interesting views were. And after a little while, the first people from the big group arrived. Soon, everyone was up here, just as fascinated by the awesome drop down to the fjord as I was. Some were more fascinated than others...

 

That old desire of wanting to FLY

That old desire of wanting to FLY
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I went back up to the main summit to check if the group leader knew the names of the local tops. He told me that the top I had first visited was known as Slettheia. This was useful, and I thanked him for the information. On my down from the main summit, I passed three people - just sitting down for a chat. "Aren't you staying for the Service?", one of them asked. "What Service?", I replied. "The Sunday Service". "Really", I said - "so that's what's going on here!"

The priests were already in place, but the men's choir hadn't arrived yet - so the service was a bit delayed. I asked them where they were from. And soon I learned that one of them was the aunt of one of my colleagues! Small world..

It was time to move on. I decided to follow the marked route, and passed the men's choir after a little while. I was back at the trailhead 3:36pm. The descent took 1h:45m, which gave me about an hour to kill at Oldeide, before the ferry to Måløy arrived. On the ferry, I chatted with a guy with a very charming dog, and all of a sudden - I was back in Måløy. And the drive back to Gurskøya was just nice!

 

View from the north top

View from the north top
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Pictures

The pictures were taken with a Canon EOS 450D + Canon EF-S 17-85mm IS USM F 4-5.6

 
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To the trailhead

1. Hornelen and Svartevassegga 2. Hornelen and Svartevassegga 3. Waiting for the ferry in Måløy 4. Leaving Måløy 5. Passing the Måløy bridge 6. Hornelen

To Svartevassegga

0. Trip tracks 7. The trailhead 8. View along the path 9. Heading out 10. Looking back at the trailhead 11. View up the mountain 12. Waterfall 13. The path changes direction 14. Rugsundøya 15. View up the mountain 16. Big group of people ahead 17. Having passed the big group 18. At the lakes 19. Running water 20. The final hill up to the plateau 21. Måløy 22. View from Slettheia 23. Svartevassegga summit 24. View from Uraheia 25. Hornelen 26. Slow versus fast

Panoramas from Svartevassegga

27. Wide-angle view from Svartevassegga 28. Zoom view from Svartevassegga 29. Zoom view from Svartevassegga 30. Zoom view from Svartevassegga 31. Rugsundøya

To Hornelen

32. To Hornelen 33. Hornelen summit 34. Hornelen summit 35. Marøya 36. The southeast corner 37. Leirgulen 38. Bortnepollen 39. Storøya 40. Helicopter 41. More people moving in

Panoramas from Hornelen

42. Wide-angle view from Hornelen 43. Zoom view from Hornelen

The north top

44. The north top 45. Ridge below 46. Mona Lisa 47. The north top 48. See if you dare.. 49. Hornelen was busy today 50. Cool viewpoint 51. View from the north top 52. Curvy nose 53. View down

Wide-angle view from the north top

54. Wide-angle view from Hornelen north top

Descent

55. Yet another face 56. Petrified fish 57. Looking back on Hornelen 58. Looking back on Hornelen 59. Below Svartevassegga 60. Looking up the mountain 61. Berleporten 62. At Oldeide - waiting 63. Klovningen 64. Veten above Måløy 65. Charming buddy on the ferry

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