Loftet, 1236m
Gjønakvitingen, 1213m
Kvitingsnibba, 1142m
Selfjellet, 591m

Mountain area: Kvamskogen S.

Fylke/Kommune: Hordaland/Fusa

Map:

Hiked: Sep 2001

See also: Gavlen

See also: Ottanosi

See also: Våkefjellet

Click for larger image

Gjønakvitingen
seen from the air

Primary factor:

Loftet (M711: 1236m, Ø.K: 1238m) has a primary factor of 85m towards the higher Gavlen (1251m). The saddle is found between the two tops. Ref. Økonomisk Kartverk (5m contours), you cross the 1155m contours on the high route, but not 1150m. The saddle height has been interpolated to 1153m.

Gjønakvitingen (M711: 1213m, Ø.K: 1218m) has a primary factor of 30m towards the higher Loftet (1238m). The saddle is found between the two tops. Ref. Økonomisk Kartverk (5m contours), you cross the 1190m contours on the high route, but not 1185m. The saddle height has been interpolated to 1188m.

Kvitingsnibba (M711: 1142m, Ø.K: 1142,45m) has a primary factor of 34m towards the higher Gjønakvitingen (1218m). The saddle is found between the two tops. Ref. Økonomisk Kartverk (5m contours), you cross the 1110m on the high route, but not 1105m. The saddle height has been interpolated to 1108m. There is also a fixed point (1107,5m) in the saddle.

Gjøn - Gjønakvitingen - Loftet trail


Difficulty: Strenuous and steep Click on thumbnail to see map
Risk: Boulder sections dangerous when wet
Distance:
Time: 6-8 hours round-trip
Starting Elevation: About 50m


Introduction:

Gjønakvitingen is the common name for a large massif, located in the southern part of Kvamskogen. Continuing north through Vetlaskardet pass, one can access Tveitakvitingen, 1299m, the highest in mountain in southern Kvamskogen. After Tveitakvitingen, Gjønakvitingen massif is the second highest mountain in Fusa Kommune. Surprisingly, Gjønakvitingen, 1213m is not the highest point on this massif. The highest point is Gavlen, 1250m, but you will find the summit log at 1213m.

Access:

On highway 48 (Tysse - Mundheim), exit towards Øvre Hålandsdalen/Holdhus church, a few kilometres east of Eikelandsosen. Follow the Holdhus road for a little while, and at the Hammersland junction, continue straight ahead. After 3Km, you arrive another junction. Follow sign to Gjøn. After a couple of hundred meters, you arrive the Gjøn/Tveita junction. Exit towards Gjøn and drive 3Km to the end of the road.

Where the road ends, in the middle of a few houses, notice a wooden sign towards Gjønakvitingen. Find a place to park without trespassing private property.

The trail:

Follow the sign onto a forest road and follow this road (it's not really a road) almost to the end. Just before the end of the road, notice some "stairs" made by rocks on the right hand side of the road. Above the stairs, you can spot a gate. If you arrive a sealed-off gate, you need to backtrack about 150 meters.

Go through the gate and follow a vague trail upwards to another gate. From this point, the trail leads you into a small valley, and soon you run into a sign towards Gjønakvitingen. Red paint on trees here and there indicate that you're on the right way. Head on, you see a steep pass that you will climb. So, after the sign, you will cross a small stream, and here you will most likely lose the trail. But head straight north, towards the pass.

Up through the pass, you will again find the vague trail. Stay on the left-hand side of the river, and to the right of the left mountain (Selfjellet). Halfway up, the trail could lead you left up to Selfjellet. If you go this way, you will have to go all the way up to a great viewpoint, and from there walk over a ridge - and down - back to the pass. But you can also continue up the pass, in the same manner as below. On your way up the pass, you will have to cross a few boulder sections. Be very careful after rain. The rocks are extremely slippery.

On top of the pass, follow the trail on the west side of the mountain until it turns northeast and takes you up Horgdalen valley towards lake 808. In the middle of the valley, before any trails take you down to the lake, turn north and climb up the southern side of Kvitingsnibba. This is a hard 300m climb, but there are many ways up. From this point, there are no more trails.

From Kvitingsnibba, you will see a little hat mountain in north-west direction. It's nearby - just a 10 minute hike. Pass this hat on the right-hand side and you are at the Gjønakvitingen foothills. Try to locate small cairns that show the way up. Anyway, it's easy to get to the top. At the summit, a little "mailbox" holds the summit log.

From Gjønakvitingen, continue down north-west. Ahead of you is a small pass. Follow this pass to the north-west end. It's easiest to cross the pass there. Once over, and you have some view, you see a cairn in south-east. This is Loftet point 1218m. To get to the highest point - 1236m, look up to your left. Loftet is an anonymous summit, and in good weather, I suggest you continue north to Gavlen, 1250m - the highest point on the massif.

Notes:

Plenty of small streams for water refill. After rain, expect your trousers and boots to get soaking wet. And, show extreme caution while hiking up the pass over the boulders.

Trip report:

Saturday, Sep 1 2001 8:00AM: I get up and don't expect that the rain has stopped. I am right. Last night's rain was of the type that doesn't vanish easily. But the weather forecast suggested better conditions in the afternoon. So I decide to take the (almost) 2 hour drive to Gjøn. Loaded with magazines, I'm prepared to wait for a break in the rain.

I get my break immediately, at noon, and start the hike. Light rain sets in almost immediately, but I'm not stopping now. The rain finally gives in, and I wonder about the conditions on the mountain, enclosed in fog. The dog is not co-operative, and the backpack gains additional 8Kg. It took me 1,5 hours to 600m (Selfjellet), and finally the dog decided to act like one. The climb up the boulder area was hard. Slippery, almost like ice. And with the dog high on my back, I lacked balance.

Just before arriving lake 808, I looked up the 300m climb to Kvitingsnibba. I didn't look forward to this. The dog once again decided that a rest was in order, so things looked miserable. But all of a sudden, the fog lifted, and I had clear sky above me. Very inspired, I quickly hiked up to Kvitingsnibba, only to find that the fog was back in place.

Without seeing much, I set coarse for Gjønakvitingen. The dog noticed that it wasn't all that steep anymore, and decided to walk. I assumed a direction, and decided to let the compass stay in the backpack. The fog started to give in, and I was able to spot shadows of something higher ahead of me, and I quickly found the summit cairn. I reached the top exactly 3 hours after I started. After a short break, I quickly hiked to Loftet before returning to Gjønakvitingen summit. That took 1 hour.

On the way down, the weather cleared up, making the hike down very pleasant (except through the boulder area). Down in the pass, I lost track of where I came up, and pulled the dog out of the backpack. He's really good at finding the way home, so when he immediately set a coarse, I happily followed. After a minute, I figured that this couldn't be right, but the dog was very focused. And when he presented me a pack of sheep in the middle of a dense forest, I decided to follow my own instincts. After a short backtrack, I quickly found the trail and the dog stayed behind for the rest of the hike down. Two hours after I left Loftet, I reached the car at 18:00PM. A nice, long and strenuous day hike was over.

Pictures: (move cursor to read notes, and click on the images to see full version)

Gjonakvitingen as I found it at noon (140KB) Gjonakvitingen as I left it in the evening (150KB) Arriving the first steep climb. Boulder pass is on the far left-hand side. (200KB) High up in the pass, making a detour to Selfjellet. Kvitingsnibba in the background (247KB) Almost on top of the boulder pass. Kvitingsnibba west side in the background (278KB) Upper boulder pass seen on the way down (222KB) Kvitingsnibba west side seen on the way down, in much better weather (130KB) From Selfjellet, I saw this nice rainbow on the west side of the mountain (135KB) Finally in Horgdalen valley. Loftet comes thumbling down. One climbs up to the left here (219KB) And this is where you climb Kvitingsnibba (210KB) Eastern view from Kvitingsnibba (159KB) Ottanosi seen from Kvitingsnibba (159KB) A nice place to rest on Kvitingsnibba (137KB) South view from Kvitingsnibba (308KB) Vaaganipen seen from Kvitingsnibba (104KB) Gjønakvitingen summit seen from Kvitingsnibba (245KB) Almost on top of Gjonakvitingen (164KB) On top of Gjonakvitingen summit, 1213m (137KB) Gjønakvitingen summit seen from north-east (148KB) Loftet trig. point and Hardangerfjorden seen from Gjonakvitingen (206KB) Vesoldo and Torvikenuten seen from Gjonakvitingen (174KB) Interesting rock patterns on Loftet (150KB) Loftet high point (1236m) and trig. point (1218m) (175KB) Gavlen, 1250m, was within reach, but I decided to stop here (93KB) On the way down, weather turned great. Troll even decided to walk! (158KB) But I felt more comfortable carrying him down the boulder pass (173KB) This funny view makes the long drive home more fun.. (136KB)

Pictures from other hikes:

Gjonakvitingen and Tveitakvitingen seen from Vesoldo (163KB) Gjonakvitingen and Tveitakvitingen seen from Ulvanosa in Uskedalen (108KB) Gjonakvitingen and Tveitakvitingen seen from Melderskin in Rosendal (223KB) Gjonakvitingen seen from Storehorga/Fusafjellet (215KB) Gjonakvitingen seen from Daurmaalsegga (394KB) Gjonakvitingen seen from highway 48 (143KB) View from Roedsfjell (905KB) Wide panorama from Bergsfjellet (540KB) 14. Gjonakvitingen seen from Saata (324KB) 38. High mountains seen from lake Gjonvatnet (111KB) Fusa mountains (120KB) Close-up of Ottanosi and Gjonakvitingen from Snerta (444KB) East view from Moesnuken (332KB) Ottanosi, Gjonakvitingen and Vaakefjellet (106KB) Ilefjellet summit view (541KB) Gjonakvitingen (186KB) High Kvam and Fusa mountains seen from Melderskin (373KB) Fusa mountains (292KB) Bergsdalen-Kvamskogen-Fusa mountains (339KB) Fine Fusa mountains (345KB) Tveitakvitingen & Gjønakvitingen (343KB)

Links:

Fjell og Fjord av prof. Kolderup


Other hordaland mountains Other Fusa K. mountains westcoastpeaks.com