Norwegian Mountains, Møre og Romsdal

Tverrbotshornet via Kniven and Omnen, May 22 2007

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Trip report, May 22 2007

While looking for interesting routes in my nearby region, I came upon a ridge called Kniven, that would - possibly - take me up to Tverrfjellet from Hildredalen. The name itself - "The Knife" was intriguing. Moreover, the ridge looked narrow on the 1:50,000 map, and even more so on the Økonomisk Kartverk map. I decided to explore this route.

Up Hildredalen

It had been raining most of the day, but the weather had somewhat settled when I drove to Haram on this afternoon. As I drove up Hildredalen (toll NOK 20,- per May 2007) I met a guy on the way down, on a bike. I asked him if he knew anything about this ridge. After explaining precisely where I aimed to go - to Lake Tredjevatnet, then past the lake, and then up to the right, to Tverrfjellet, the dialogue (translated) went something like this:

him: That's a very steep route..
me: Ouch..
him: We call it Svarthammaren (Black Hammer)
me: Really?
him: Because it's so black.
me: wow...
him: You need to climb if you want to get up there.
me: Climb? The map does not suggest...
him: At road end, it's up to your left.
me: Left?? That's not where I'm heading
him: Oh? Where are you going?

At this point, I reminded myself not to ask questions if I don't want the answer, so with extreme patience, I answered his question. I simply wondered how this dialogue would end.

me: Tverrfjellet, via Kniven ridge, past Tredjevatnet and up to the right
him: But Svarthammaren is on the other side of the valley..
me: Yes, you told me..
him: I would never go there!
me: Let me take a wild guess. To Svarthammaren?
him: Yes

At this point, I found it necessary to move on. I thanked him for his time, and when he replied "oh, it was nothing", I silently agreed.

Up Kniven

I reached a small parking area, noticed that the road continued, but got rougher, and decided that my dog Troll would appreciate walking on a road for a while. So I parked the car and we were on our way 16:40PM. The road went all the way to Lake Tredjevatnet. It was now pouring down. I put Troll in the backpack, and followed the path towards the Grytavatnet lakes. At Litle Grytavatnet, I left the path and begun my ascent of Kniven.

I scared up a big deer (hjort), but did not succeed getting a picture. I moved up the steep forest, back and forth, following the best route. Half-way up the ridge, the terrain got much steeper. But never too steep for comfort. I felt quite safe all the way. Not knowing was ahead was the nerve of this hike. Most likely, there would be no problems along the way, and afterwards it could have been just another hike. But not knowing what was ahead, was the "moment" I took away from this walk.

Once I got on the actual ridge at 580m elevation, I was quite confident that I would reach Tverrfjellet without any problems. The narrow section of the ridge was more than wide enough for comfort. As the ridge suddenly rose steep towards the mountain, I wasn't too happy about following the ridge proper. There would be some exposed scrambling, and since I was carrying a dog, I was less flexible than usual. Fortunately, I could walk around the awkward section, and get back on the ridge a bit higher up.

To Tverrfjellet and back down

The rainshowers paused while I headed up the mountain, but once I got on Tverrfjellet, it started to rain again. On a sunny day, I might have considered heading up to the highest point, but today, I settled for the Tverrfjellet cairn. Troll was doing some legwork on Tverrfjellet, but when I headed down the Omnen ridge, I had to put him in the backpack.

The Omnen ridge had lots of big rocks, but I found a grassy route on the Grytakopen side of the ridge. When the terrain let me, I left the ridge and took a direct route down to the road by Tredjevatnet. Troll was able to walk down this hillside, and got a lot of exercise from it. We were back at the car 19:00PM. An interesting hike, which I certainly would recommend to those who look for something else than the normal hiking trails.

Pictures from the May 22 2007 hike

To Kniven

0. My GPS tracks (449KB) 1. Up Hildredalen (177KB) 2. Up Hildredalen (196KB) 3. My trailhead (264KB) 4. Gamlemsveten (218KB) 5. Kniven ahead (255KB) 6. Kniven - a fine profile (266KB) 7. Rainshowers (144KB)

Up Kniven

8. Steep hillside (275KB) 9. Grytavatna lakes (461KB) 10. Snake face (375KB) 11. Hildredalen (268KB) 12. Gamlemsveten (202KB) 13. On the Kniven ridge, looking down (477KB) 14. On the Kniven ridge, looking ahead (444KB) 15. The steepest section (245KB) 16. Haramsøya (163KB) 17. View down the ridge (380KB) 18. A look around (681KB)

To Tverrfjellet and down

19. On Tverrfjellet (382KB) 20. The Tverrfjellet cairn (251KB) 21. Tverrbotshornet (243KB) 22. Godøya (128KB) 23. Looking back on Tverrfjellet (182KB) 24. Kniven ridge (374KB)

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