Norwegian Mountains, Møre og Romsdal

Litlekulten from Blø, Dec 23 2007

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

The routes to Bløkallen/Litlekulten

The day before the day before ..

.. Christmas, I visited Ådalstinden. That trip just blew my mind (late evening with beer and pictures), so on the day before Christmas, I was not mentally geared for a long drive and another high mountain. I chose to go on a lazy trip to Midøya and walk Litlekulten on foot. Along with my little buddy Troll. Now, as it was Sunday, the ferry routes to and from Midøya were not tailor-made for my needs. Given that I arrived Midøya 11:25AM, I could choose between the 14:15PM or 17:25PM return. The first was a bit too early, the other a bit too late. However, I chose to go for the first.

Once more, the roads were ..

icy and dangerous. However, I enjoy the challenge of not killing myself before the mountain hike begins. The debate in the media is ridiculous. The answer to all problems seems to be to lower the speed limits. On these roads, my car is spinning in fourth gear, how fast do they think I'd like to drive? You can't even walk on foot on these roads. A 1200Kg car, however, gets a firmer grip, allowing me to reach my destination without any more bother than a dripping wet sweater. 'nuff said.

Puh puh..

The original plan was to ascend Litlekulten from the south. But since I was in a hurry, I decided to follow the path from Blø. I knew this path from my hike to Bløkallen in the beginning of the year. With my dog in the backpack, I was on my way up the mountain 11:44AM. The ferry would leave in 2,5 hours, and while knowing I had plenty of time, I still kept a fair pace.

I reached the top of Litlekulten 12:32PM, after having ascended 420 vertical meters. That's not an "åsåm" pace, but given the dog, an icy path, and some search after a path to Litlekulten, the time was fair. Litlekulten offered OK views, although Bløkallen blocked for some interesting mountains in the Sunndalen/Romsdalen region. It was chilly on top. I had problems keeping the 300mm lens steady. Some of the pictures got blurred, but that's life.

Back down again

Looking at the clock, I realised I might have time to visit Rossfjellet (118m) before the ferry left. Not on the account of letting the dog get his exercise, though. Once back on the path, Troll was rolling. Sometimes literally, due to the ice. I make jokes about his vision, which I call twenty-twenty. Meaning he can see twenty cm ahead and twenty cm to the side. Poor buddy, almost blind. But that seems to be enough. I am not complaining about his pace.

Rossfjellet

We were back at the trailhead 13:30PM. The ferry harbor only being a 15 minute drive away, I had time to visit Rossfjellet. The plan is to visit all of the Midsund tops before I move to Gurskøya in '08. Only 4 tops to go...