Norwegian Mountains, Nordland

Anddalshatten (968m) from Okneset, July 14 2009


To the main Anddalshatten page (maps, route descriptions, other trip reports, etc.)

Note; If you haven't read the main page: Anddalshatten is the common name for this massif - where Innerhatten is the highest top. Anddalshatten (point 919) is located 600m west of Innerhatten.

 

 
The route from Okneset

The route from Okneset
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Anddalshatten is a special mountain to me; By various means of transportation, I travelled between Oslo and Velfjord every year between 1970 and 1998. Sometimes, several times a year. Since then, I have continued visiting Velfjord, but setting out from my various habitats in western Norway. It's a long journey from Oslo (close to 1000km) and I could easily become a bit bored along the way. As such, I needed something to look forward to, and that something was Anddalshatten.

First and foremost, seeing the mountain meant that I was back "home". The 45 minutes that would be left of the journey were just a parade. But Anddalshatten also stood out as high, mighty and completely unreachable. It was only in the later years that I realised that one day I would actually get to the top of this mountain.

The summer of 2009 took me to several places that I had dreamt about as a child. On my way to the north, I visited Snøhetta - almost in the same category as Anddalshatten. And 3 days after Snøhetta, I went up Hardangsfjellet - one of the Velfjord mountains I used to consider "just too remote". It wasn't of course, and it was nice to cross the boundaries I set during my childhood. And less than 14 days after visiting Hardangsfjellet, I stood on top of Okstindan - the highest mountain massif in northern Norway. This summer was truly memorable - from its beginning right until its end.

 

Anddalshatten

Anddalshatten
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While planning for the trip to Anddalshatten, I decided I wanted to get there by boat. Hiking around the Andalsvågen bay would be the last option. As I didn't know anyone who could take me there, I asked mom for help. She did some research and came back to me with a name.

The name of this person was Roger and I gave him a call; "Anddalshatten - no problem", he said. When did I want to go? "As soon as possible, I replied", and so the trip was on for the next day.

Roger picked me up in Brønnøysund and drove to Salbu where his boat was moored. He and I were the same age. He had been in the same class as some of my friends and I vaguely remembered his name.

Man, it was great to be on the way! The weather was absolutely gorgeous and Anddalshatten got closer and closer by the minute. Nothing could prevent me from standing on top of this mountain today! The 4km trip across Velfjorden took only 15 minutes. I got on the shore and watched Roger leave. The deal was that I would call him 30 minutes prior to returning to Okneset, and he would come and pick me up.

Everything had happened so fast, and it was a bit surreal to suddenly find myself "stranded" on Okneset, but I quickly got back to reality. I had a super-cool mountain to hike and I better get started.

 

On the way to Okneset

On the way to Okneset
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I left Okneset 12:50pm and had 968 vertical meters ahead of me. I expected the hiking time would be approx. 2 hours, unless there were some "surprising" flats along the way. The terrain was fairly easy - lots of rocks and slabs that gave me momentum and progress wasn't half bad.

There were indeed a couple of "surprising" flats, but I still thought I could reach the top within 2 hours. When I got to point 514m, I took a good look in the direction of Brønnøysund. My heart skipped at least two beats when I saw the carpet of fog that was moving in from the south. Not that I would be in any shape or form of trouble on the mountain, but would Roger be able to find Okneset? I couldn't remember seeing a petrol gauge onboard his boat, let alone any navigational equipment. As the fog still hadn't reached Brønnøysund, I decided to deal with the problem later on. Better hike fast now and perhaps be back down before the fog hit the fjord..

 

Upper part of the mountain

Upper part of the mountain
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I cursed myself for leaving a bag of dry clothes at Okneset. What is my first rule of  mountaineering? "N e v e r  leave things temporarily behind". And still I find myself doing just that. If only I had brought the clothes, I would have been free to descend to Andalsvågen in case Roger couldn't get across the fjord. Well, that was still an option of course, but I really didn't want to lose (or have to come back for) this bag.

I have to admit, the fog became a bigger mental issue than a) I had expected at first and b) it needed to be. I kept a fast pace up the mountain while I really wanted to take it slow and easy and enjoy the day. I reached Innerhatten summit 2:26pm, 1h:36m after leaving Okneset and concluded that I still had some time before the fog would hit Velfjorden.

 

View down the south ridge

View down the south ridge
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That time could be spent on visiting Forneshatten! After a round of pictures (and battling hundreds of flying ants) I left Innerhatten 2:35pm and - 1,6km later - reached Forneshatten 3:11pm. I took a round of pictures before heading back the same way. 3:49pm, I was back at Innerhatten and re-evaluated the situation. The fog was definitely getting closer, but if I just ran down the mountain then there *could* be time to visit Anddalshatten also.

The truth of the matter was probably was that I wasn't paying all that much attention to the fog anymore. It would surely come, but I also wanted to do what I came to do. And then I would handle the situation as required. I made my decision and headed west towards Anddalshatten.

 

On the way to Anddalshatten

On the way to Anddalshatten
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Anddalshatten was a fun walk. The ridge was narrow (yet more than wide enough for comfort) and the view down on either side was fantastic. A surprising - and deep gap made me think that I would not get to Anddalshatten, but I found a way around the cliff below me, got into the gap and scrambled up on the other side. 4pm, my last target was "in the bag", and now everything revolved around beating the fog.

On the way back to Innerhatten, I called Roger and told him that serious fog was quickly moving in. "No problem", he said (again). "Got a GPS!". Really? If so, it had to be a portable one, because there was certainly not one onboard the boat. I told him to come and pick me up, and he asked if I was 30 minutes away from Okneset. "Yup", I responded, still not being back on Innerhatten...

Knowing that Roger was on his way, I'd better hurry up. I passed Innerhatten 4:10pm and began my 960 vertical meter descent to Okneset. The fjord was considerably rougher by now, and I assumed this would slow him down. As I expected to get a visual on him, I could control my descent time. But I didn't see him until I was just above Okneset, and we reached the rendezvous point at the exact same time (5:05pm). That IS timing!

"What a rush job", I thought to myself. Innerhatten up and down, including Forneshatten and Anddalshatten (back and forth) in 4h:15m. That was at least a couple of hours less than I had planned for. But no complaints; the goal had been met, I had been on top of my very special mountain, I got reunited with my bag and was now as good as on my way home.

 

Incoming fog

Incoming fog
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Once onboard, with my GPS, there should be no problems. I asked him where his GPS was, and then he just pointed to his head. "In here", he replied. Having left my share of full circle tracks on foggy mountains, I was not entirely convinced. But it didn't matter now. Besides, the fog didn't seem to get past the mountain tops above the fjord. "It normally doesn't", he replied to my observation, and I sort of wished that I'd known this when I was up on the mountain.

5:24pm, we were back at Salbu. After settling the tab, we were both pleased and that's the way it should be.

 

Next report: Gåsheituva (soon)

Pictures

The first set of pictures were taken with a Canon EOS 450D + Canon EF-S 17-85mm IS USM F 4-5.6.

 
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To Okneset

0A. Trip tracks 0B. Trip tracks 1. Ma and her ducklings 2. Another Ma and her ducklings 3. Anddalshatten 4. The upper route 5. Across Velfjorden 6. Approaching Anddalshatten 7. Alone on Okneset 8. On Okneset 9. Okfjorden

To Innerhatten

10. Okneset 11. View up the mountain 12. Fighter planes 13. Approaching the slabs 14. Torghatten and Ramntinden 15. Passing the slabs 16. Fjellbloddråpesvermer - Zygaena exulans - Mountain (or Scotch) Burnet 17. View towards Okneset 18. The south ridge 19. Skardåvatnet 20. Upper part of the mountain 21. The south ridge 22. View down the south ridge 23. Innerhatten summit cairn 24. Anddalsvågen 25. Summit register

Wide-angle view from Innerhatten

26. Wide-angle view from Innerhatten

Zoom views from Innerhatten

27. Zoom view from Innerhatten 28. Zoom view from Innerhatten 29. Zoom view from Innerhatten

Forneshatten

30. To Forneshatten 31. Forneshatten ahead 32. Wide-angle view from Forneshatten 33. Einåselva

Anddalshatten

34. To Anddalshatten 35. Incoming sea fog 36. Fjord view 37. A deep gap 38. View from Anddalshatten

Descent

39. Brønnøysund and the sea fog 40. Høyholmstindan 41. Storfinnkneet 42. The Coastal Express 43. Sea fog 44. Sea fog 45. Sea fog 46. Looking back on Anddalshatten

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