Norwegian Mountains, Møre og Romsdal

Skålaksla - Skåla roundtrip, Aug 6 2006

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


Trip report, Aug 6 2006

My on-call duty this week was over, and I was no longer citybound. I had thought about visiting "new territory" this Sunday, and I finally decided to visit the highest point in Molde kommune. I got on the 09:45AM ferry to Molde, and I followed the excellent road description provided in Turbok for Molde og Omegn (Olsen/Pedersen), which guided me gently from Molde to the trailhead.

The dog ("Troll") and I headed out 11:05AM. That is, Troll enjoyed yet another start of a hike from his "second home" in the back-pack. After a rather boggy start of the route, the forest path was more enjoyable. I caught up with a party of three, and rather than giving way, they increased their pace, perhaps a fraction faster. They had no intentions of letting me pass, and this comedy amused me for a minute until I decided to pass them. This situation humored me all the way to Lake Trollvatnet.

After passing the others, I had increased the pace in order to avoid having them on my tail. The pace, combined with the weight of the backpack and the 20+ degrees temperature made me steaming hot from head to toe. I ran my head into the lake and cooled of for twenty-some seconds before soaking my shirt in the lake. This small break did wonders, and when I headed up the steep hill towards Skålaksla, I felt like a whole new person.

Normally, Troll would have walked by now, but the terrain didn't allow for this. It was too rocky, and I realised I would have to carry him all the way to Skåla. And then some. We reached Skålaksla summit 12:45PM, and only stopped for a few pictures before moving on towards Skåla. We reached Skåla summit 13:10PM, knowing I was on one of the very finest of viewpoints in Møre og Romsdal county.

Opposed to normal, I had brought a few slices of bread, and the dog and I enjoyed summit lunch. It felt a bit sad on being on this fine viewpoint on such a "gloomy" day, but I already looked forward to get back home and work on the panoramas. I knew many of the mountains, but this was a different angle. As such, some research would need to be applied.

After a 30-minute break on top, I began the descent. I let Troll walk from 1000m elevation, and due to the rocky terrain, progress was slow. The pace improved the further down the mountain we came. At 800m elevation, I passed the party from the forest, but they were only two by now. They seemed tired, but I hoped that they didn't give up, only 300 vertical meters below the summit.

Lake Trollvatnet once again provided necessary water before we continued down the forest. Troll's pace was excellent on the forest path, and he looked funny with his rabbit-act in the boggy part closer to the trailhead. 14:55PM, the trip had come to an end, and the 15:45PM ferry took us across Romsdalsfjorden.

Pictures from the Aug 6 2006 hike

On the ferry

1. Skåla (268KB) 2. Remmemstinden, Ytstetinden and Trolltinden (167KB) 3. Lauparen and the Tresfjord panorama (190KB)

To Skåla

4. The route for the day (171KB) 5. The trailhead (447KB) 6. On the way to Trollvatnet (247KB) 7. Drain from Trollvatnet (294KB) 8. Skåla above (348KB) 9. Trollvatnet (398KB) 10. Towards Skålaksla (244KB) 11. On top of Skålaksla (294KB) 12. Skåla ahead (305KB) 13. The saddle (354KB) 14. The first cairn on Skåla (231KB) 15. The second cairn on Skåla (292KB) 16. Troll on Skåla (177KB)

360 deg. wide-angle panorama from Skåla

17. 360 deg. wide-angle panorama from Skåla (1779KB)

360 deg. 50mm panorama, 2 parts

18. 50mm panorama from Skåla, part 1/2 (1698KB) 19. 50mm panorama from Skåla, part 2/2 (1054KB)

Zoom panorama towards Romsdalen peaks

20. Romsdalen mountains seen from Skåla (559KB)

Descent

21. Fannefjorden (426KB) 22. The route (457KB) 23. Zoom towards Molde (431KB) 24. Small bird on Skåla (169KB) 25. Troll leading the way (420KB)

In Molde

26. Oystercatcher (196KB) 27. Ferry arriving (412KB)

Panorama research

28. 6 hours panorama research (698KB)

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