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Lake Kvingedalsvatnet and Bergdropen (right) |
The Masfjorden mountains comprise steep mountains and dramatic nature, where Ådneburen (797m) is perhaps the most characteristic landmark. Bergdropen is a smaller mountain plateau near Austfjorden, but has a great view towards the higher neighbours, such as Ådneburen, Blådalsnipa and Storevasseggene.
The Bergdropen plateau has two named points - Storefjellet (489m) and Blåfjellet (515m). The mountain is quite accessible thanks to a good trail from Kvingedalen that takes you onto higher ground.
You will see 5-6 private cabins below the summit plateau, nicely located by a small lake. I don't know what the name is meant to represent. "Berg" means a mountain, while "dropen" could be a dialect form "the drop". As the mountain is steep above Kvingedalen, perhaps drops of water are falling down the mountain side. But this is a guess from my side.
Primary Factor
Bergdropen has a primary factor of 105m, towards the higher Illestigfjellet (663m). The "saddle" is NE of the summit. The last adjacent 20m contours on the high route are 420m, giving an interpolated saddle height of 410m. Thus Bergdropen is ranked under the assumption that the saddle is at least 410m.
Note: Class ratings are in reference to YDS (Yosemite Decimal System).
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Kvingedalen - Bergdropen (summer/autumn)
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Access
From Bergen, follow E39 northbound. You have to go through a tool booth on the other side of the Nordhordalandbrua bridge. From the toll booth, follow E39 for xxKm and exit left towards Masfjorden just before the Eikefet tunnel.
Follow the road to Masfjorden for xxKm and exit right towards Kvingedal. Follow the road on the left hand side of lake Kvingedalsvatnet, to the inner houses. A road goes up to the first house. You will need to follow this road for 100m up to a barn in order to find the trail. You might ask for permission to park near the houses.
The route
From the house, go towards the barn and locate a visible trail that curves up to the left. In the meters to follow, the trail can be difficult to distinguish from the terrain. The trail runs towards a fence, before turning gradually away from the fence. Do never cross the fence, if you lose the trail. It is vital that you locate the trail.
The trail turns into a narrow path where you get wet legs after rain, but is very easy to follow unless there is snow. Higher up, the trail turns into a nature trail, and the rock can be extremely slippery when wet. When you descend this way, you are probably best off hiking in the grass next to the rocks. This is flat, smooth rock. Not boulder.
Either the M711 map is wrong, or there are two trails as you move up into the forest area. But I never saw any trail forks. The first thing you notice when moving into the forest area is the ruins of an old building on your right. Maintain east direction (the trail is almost nature trail 100% of the way) as you move into the open forest. The mountains up to your right are steep, but if you look further to the left, you will see a pass with a hump in the middle. If you manage to stay on the trail, the trail will lead you to the leftmost pass.
If your reach a stream with a large flatbed rock as the bridge, you're on the right way. Moving on, you will come to a steep forest section. The trail crosses the stream again, and runs up to the right before it crosses another stream. Now, you are almost at the bottom of the pass. The trail up to the pass runs in the middle of a stream.
On top of the pass, you see mountains appear, a small pond in front of you, and a cairn to your right. Move over to the other side of the plateau, and you will see a couple of cabins. Do not descend to the cabins, but locate the trail that runs up to the right. This trail will take you to more cabins, and a lake. On the other side of the lake, you will see a distinct cairn. There might be a trail leading towards this point, but that was in any case covered in snow when I visited the area. It is a trivial hike to move around the lake (to your left) and gain the ridge leading to the cairn. From the cairn, cross the summit plateau in the southern direction towards two humps that seem to have the same height. The leftmost hump is the summit.
From the summit, you have tremendous views towards Ådneburen (behind you), Illestigfjellet and Storevasseggene. Below, you will have a clear view towards lake Blådalsvatnet, and the hat-shaped mountain towards the fjord is Melshovden.
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Troll's back was clearly improving, and I decided that he could be brought along in the backpack. And so I could go to some mountains a little further away from Bergen. I chose Bergsdropen, because I wanted a) A short hike, in case Troll didn't feel comfortable, b) because the weather seemed to be unpredicatble higher up and c) because I wanted to examine Illstigfjellet, Blådalsnipa and Storevasseggene. I drove to the first house at the end of lake Kvingedalsvatnet and asked an kind, older lady about the trail. She pointed to the trail and gave me permission to park. And so I was on the way. I quickly lost the trail but discovered it again when I decided to cross the valley in the east-west direction. Through this method, one always find the trail in the end, even if you have to mess around in bushes. The trail wasn't wide, but wide enough. Higher up, the trail turned into a nature trail, but it was still quite easy to follow. Somewhere up in the forest, I lost the trail completely, and decided to find my own way up. Parts of the trail was covered with snow, and it wasn't all that easy anymore. I aimed for a pass in the distance, and made my way through the forest. At the bottom of the pass, I was back on the trail, and within minutes I was on a plateau with an amazing view to the neighbour mountains. Suddenly, a big buck took off like a rocket, 30-40 meters away, and I sensed a big riot in the backpack. I kept Troll from jumping out, but he was obviously looking for the buck for the rest of the hike. We then reached the small cabin village, made our way around the lake and reached the summit. The wind on the summit plateau was quite wild, and Troll was shivering in the backpack. I decided to only stay for a round of pictures. It also started raining, and I was glad I hadn't set off for a higher mountain. But I got a chance to get a good view of the neighbour mountains, which the purpose of the trip was for. I would recommend the hike to Bergdropen to anyone. Perhaps it's most enjoyable in summer, where one can follow the trail all the way to the cabins. The route up to the summit is a simple hike in open terrain, even if the route still climbs a little.
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Other hordaland mountains
Other Masfjorden K. mountains
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