Norwegian Mountains - Route Descriptions - Igesundhetta on Bergsøya

Norwegian Mountains, Møre og Romsdal

Igesundhetta, Mar 30 2007

For Information, maps, trailhead and route descriptions, click HERE.

After three consecutive evenings on Sukkertoppen in Ålesund, I needed variation. The weather was still gorgeous (and had been so for a week), and today I would be working in Ulsteinvik. I decided to go on a short hike this Friday evening, and chose Igesundhetta as the destination. I asked my colleague Vidar Kvalsund to come along, as he lives at the foot of the mountain. One of my very finest trips in 2006 was to Keipen on Skorpa island. Skorpa is a desolated island, and can only be reached via private transport. Vidar was kind enough to bring me there by boat, and come along up to the top.

After work, we headed to his place and began the hike from there. We were on our way 16:10PM. My dog "Troll" was of course a part of the group. As always, when friends come along, Troll shows himself from his best side, and there would be no riding the backpack today.

We headed up Storehornet's southeast ridge. Storehornet (Big horn) is a brave name for a 196m hilltop with no particular horn-y characteristics. Igesundhetta - the main goal - has a more "low-key" name (hetta = cap). The top has its name from the place Igesund by the Bergsøya - Nerlandsøya sound. On the ridge, a white-tailed eagle was circling above us. I thought the circling was because of the dog, but according to Vidar, this was a familiar scene.

We broke away from the ridge and headed down to Vikevatnet, crossed the east drain and headed up to Igesundhetta, which we reached 17:00PM. It was quite chilly on the top. Perhaps it was an Arctic wind. I forgot to check, as I was more into the views.

On top of Igesundhetta, with the circling white-tailed eagle fresh in mind, I had a small "revelation". We've all heard about those who live in the "outskirts", (Der ingen skulle tru nokon kunne bu), born there and sworn to die there. I never quite understood this state of mind. I've always been a "where my hat is" kind of guy, a global dude, adaptable, flexible, "bring it on" kind of guy. But more and more, I've become addictive to the coastline, and on Igesundhetta, I realized there's no turning back. I'm bound out here for life. Oslo one more time? Kill me now...

Yet, I don't feel good onboard boats, and I don't mean seasick. I don't get seasick, I just feel unsafe. I looked up the word Vertigo, assuming it had something to do with altitude, and hoping to nest myself to an equivalent word for "boat fear": Vertigo: a dizzying sensation of tilting within stable surroundings or of being in tilting or spinning surroundings. . Seems to be good for boats, too. So, I've become a coastal person with a general fear of "tilting". The coming years will be interesting...

We headed back down, and followed the popular path towards Myklebust. 17:43PM, we were back at Vidar's place, and I was in tremendously good shape for the 18:30PM ferry to Sulesund. Yet another fine evening in the Herøy region was coming to its end. Thanks to Vidar for guiding and good company.