Norwegian Mountains - Route Descriptions

Norwegian Mountains, Møre og Romsdal

Varden from Dyrkornvatnet, Aug 8 2006

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

Trip report, Aug 8 2006

This turned out to be a lazy, nice afternoon hike. I wasn't quite sure where to go when I headed towards Stordal this afternoon. I had plenty of options, but most of the higher tops were fogged in. I settled for Varden, which I pretty much assumed would stay fog-free.

I parked by Dyrdalsvatnet and was immediately surrounded by sheep who were well accustomed to humans. The ones in front immediately laid down in the shade of the car, forcing me to get my stuff out on the passenger side. The "stuff" included my dog ("Troll") who didn't pay any notice to the flock. The flock did however pay notice to the dog, and while I was changing clothes, a dozen sheep, behind my back, kept staring at the dog. The time was 16:15PM when I left the car and the sheep.

I found the path right away, and as usual, the dog refused to walk. When I'm not in the mood to carry him, I execute the "emergency plan", which involves simply walking on. Of two evils, being stuck in sheep-land is the obviously the least, because he was soon on my tail. And as the forest path up to Vikahornet was gentle, he had no problems keeping up.

It was altogether an easy and nice walk across the ridge towards Varden. Along the way, I passed a pointy rock (pointing towards Dyrdalsvatnet) which looked like a face, when seen from the south. I tried to resist stepping out on this rock, but failed. As expected, I got dizzy and wondered what the hell I was doing there.

We reached the top 17:35PM. I wondered why the cairn was located 90m SW of the high point. The views were better from the high point, but there is always a reason, I guess. I hadn't brought anything to eat, and with a certain envy, I watched Troll enjoy his lunch-box. He had certainly earned it. I laid down on the grass, enjoying total silence and felt the wind tickle my hair. Then the dog came over, laying his head on my chest. That fine moment ended suddenly when the dog started licking my nose, still with lunch-leftovers on his tongue.

We headed back down, and to satisfy my hunger, I enjoyed a few cloudberries and heaps of blueberries further down the forest. We reached the car 19:00PM, and yet another enjoyable evening hike had come to an end.