For Information, maps, trailhead and route descriptions, click HERE.
February evenings are excellent for completing the low tops on my mountain lists. This Wednesday, Eikenakken on Eika was awaiting. I popped another hour from my flexi-account, and left work around 15:00PM. I was under the impression that - now that there was a bridge - I could drive onto the island. I was a bit puzzled when I saw Access forbidden signs "all over the place". An old man came walking from the island, and I asked him what the house rules were.
He told me that he was the landowner, and that he granted me access to the island. He repeated one more time that he owned the island, but he failed to impress me. Just like any other person emphasizing "all of this mountain/forest is mine". A sincere thanks to those who introduced the public right of access (allemannsretten) in Norway. A national treasure, indeed.
Entering the island, I had a distinct feeling of being in the way of trucks moving gravel from the island. I stopped by the construction company's office and asked once more about the house rules. As gratitude for asking (apparently, most visitors don't), I was given access and instructions on where to drive.
15:20PM, I was at the trailhead and ready to go. My dog Troll and I followed the tractor road until it turned southbound, and then followed a forest ridge up to the top. It had taken us 25 minutes up to the top, and I had to carry Troll from the point where we left the tractor road.
The views were limited (trees), and after a couple of pictures, I descended norhbound. After a steep descent down a gully, I was back on the tractor road. The time was now 15:55PM, and I realised that if I wanted to escape the ferry nightmare that the Hurtigruten Group was currently offering, I'd better hurry.
Troll didn't mind running, and we were back at the trailhead 16:05PM. I ignored the construction company's advice about taking it slow on the dirt road, and was soon back on the main road. I was well aligned with the 16:30PM ferry. But a ... male driver, doing 60 in the 80 zone - from Dimna to Eidet, put the arrival time in danger. I was able to pass him at Eidet, after giving him a few friendly honks with the horn and blinking lights. There was now quite a queue of joyful drivers. Even a semi-trailer passed this car while sounding merryful trailer horns.
I arrived the ferry harbor 16:25PM, and ended up far back in lane 7 - expecting NOT to get on the ferry. But I did. By a tiny margin. A huge compensation from the day before, where another .... driver, doing 60 from Eidet to Hareid - made me miss the ferry by 1 minute. And the next departure was in 1 hour.
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