Norwegian Mountains - Trip reports

Norwegian Mountains, Møre og Romsdal

Leknesnakken (529m), Feb 1 2015

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Leknesnakken
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Having completed my list of tops in Volda, Vanylven, Selje and Vågsøy last autumn, my focus is now (a.o.) on the Ørsta tops. So far in 2015, I had only done new tops on La Palma (Canary islands) and I was eager to get started with the local peaks. But the strong winds suggested that I should perhaps get started with a lower peak and the choice fell on Leknesnakken.

I visited Saksa in 2006, and I had simply forgotten about the lower neighbour. Until now. So early this Sunday morning, Anne and me drove to Sæbø and took the 10am ferry to Leknes.

The route to Leknesnakken
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We started out from Urke 10:46am and followed the road which leads to Haukåssætra 0,7km until we saw the Saksa signpost. The path was visible for a little while until we reached the snow. Fortunately, the snow was hard enough to carry our weight and the ascent was easier than we had anticipated. The general direction was however crystal clear; straight up!

On the forest path
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When we reached the Saksa - Leknesnakken pass, we had to look for the best route up to the ridge. If the snow had been harder then crampons would have been necessary. But Anne had poles and I had an ice-axe so we faced no difficulties but decided to keep Karma in a leash. We didn't want her to run around in this steep terrain. From the ridge, the view was simply breathtaking!

Welcome to the Norangsfjorden mountains!
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We arrived on the summit 12:09 and we agreed that 529m was high enough (the 1:50,000 map height is 526m, but Økonomisk Kartverk says 529m). We looked up to Saksa and it looked windy and a bit hostile.

I had been looking forward to the view from the top, and remembered very well the beautiful panorama from Saksa in 2006. And while this Sunday was cloudy, we both loved the view;

Leknesnakken panorama
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We took the same way down and were back at the car 12:52. From the ferry we enjoyed the views to the Hjørundfjorden peaks. Søre Grøtdalstind looked particularly stunning today!