Norwegian Mountains, Møre og Romsdal

Kammen from Bøstølen, Sep 1 2007

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


Yesterday's trip to Midmorgonshornet was a welcome break from the miserable autumn weather. This Saturday, they grey sky was back in its place and the forecast said it would start raining in the afternoon. I decided to visit Kammen. At the time of the decision, I thought Kammen was 1004m, and given a high start at Bøstølen, it would be a quick hike. I expected to walk in snow from 900m, and the 100 remaining vertical meters would be nothing to worry about. I hadn't studied the map, but I expected that I would reach the top within an hour or less.

So I drove to Innfjorden, got on the road to Bøstølen and paid the toll. Well actually, I didn't. The beauty about this toll road is that you can pay later, on the internet. If you're Norwegian, that is. Foreign visitors will have to leave NOK 50,- in hard cash. I had only been to Bøstølen once before. That was last autumn when we visited Nonstinden. I find this valley simply astounding, with tall and wild mountains all around. Since then I've been wondering about the name of the valley. So I stopped and asked a local.

Innfjorden, the old man said. "This valley?", I asked, and he nodded. "But a valley can't have a fjord name?", which was a mix between a question and a statement. He looked at me for a while and then laughed. He saw my point, but had never really given it a thought. I had also been wondering about the valley between Bøstølen and Pjusken. "That's not a fjord, is it?", I asked the old man. After a longer pause, he told me that valley was called Seterdalen. On my way up to Bøstølen, I was wondering if the old man was beginning to feel the pressure from this nosy tourist, and invented a valley name on-the-fly.

Never mind. I drove to the upper parking, and the dog and I were on our way 10:30AM. 10:35AM, the dog was in the backpack, and I was heading off-trail towards the Kammen ridge. The weather was holding up so far, but "something" was on its way. Locating a vague path on the ridge made walking a bit easier. I could see that the higher part of the mountain had snow, but that didn't worry me. After all, the mountain height was only 1000m. Or so.

We reached snow at 870m, and the summit seemed SO far away. It was time to look at the map. The mountain was approx. 1100m high, and the (actual) remaining distance to the summit was 2,1Km. And now, bad weather was moving in. Oh well, nothing could be done about that. Just move on.

The snow became an issue at 960m elevation. I hadn't brought gaiters, and I kept stepping into holes. My boots and socks got wet and a bit cold. Progress was slow, and it was snowing. The snow got deeper by the minute, and on the summit ridge, the snow depth was at least 40cm. That's not a big concern when you have solid ground below, but when you don't...

By 12:15PM, I was finally on the summit. I could hardly see the surrounding mountains anymore, and this wasn't a place where I wanted to hang out for a while. I turned around and followed my steps back to point 904m, where I left the ridge and descended direct down to the valley. 12:59PM, I was standing in snow on 900m elevation. 13:14PM, I was on the valley path at 580m, and it was just like cyber-speeding into a completely different season.

The dog was now all up for walking. Especially since another dog just had passed. 13:36PM, we were back at the trailhead in light rain. It didn't feel good leaving this valley. So much undone. I promised myself that next time I would bring a tent and spend days up here. That will probably not happen in 2007, so I have something to look forward to, during winter.

 

My Sep '07 Kammen route, as seen from Nonstinden Oct '06. Contrasts!!!

Pictures from the Sep 1 2007 trip

Slideshow:

To the snow

1. Kammen ahead (264KB) 2. At the trailhead (341KB) 3. About to enter the ridge (493KB) 4. Passing a cliff (345KB) 5. Middagstinden (330KB) 6. Tall mountains all around (798kB) 7. The trailhead (364KB) 8. The ridge ahead (733KB) 9. Lake Storvatnet (272KB) 10. Hammartinden (285KB)

To the top

11. View from the ridge (860KB) 12. Sun! Come out! (209KB) 13. Traffic! (98KB) 14. Ouch.. (90KB) 15. Summit ridge ahead (315KB) 16. Looking back on point 974m (175kB) 17. Spooky ground (123KB) 18. Snow depth on the summit ridge (93KB) 19. On the top (199KB) 20. Limited views from Kammen (541KB) 21. Limited view towards Fokhaugstova (191KB)

Descent

22. Descending the summit ridge (161KB) 23. My ridge exit point (taken upon ascent) (322KB) 24. My descent route from the Kammen ridge (312KB) 25. On the valley path (256KB) 26. A cabin with a view (241KB)

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