Norwegian Mountains

Grønlinutane, 738m
Helleknappen, 692m (Heleknappen)

Fylke/Kommune : Hordaland/Fusa
Maps : 1215-III Fusa (Statens Kartverk, Norge 1:50 000)
Primary factor : Grønlinutane: 95m
Hiked : Dec 2005
See also : Våganipen
See also : Lukefjellet
See also : Senafjellet
See also : Steinen
Grønlinutane seen from Våganipen

Grønlinutane seen from Våganipen

Introduction

Grønlinutane and Helleknappen are located in Søre Fusa's highest mountain region. Grønlinutane (738m) is the third highest prominent top in this region, only outranked by Våganipen (819m) and Lukefjellet (767m). Helleknappen is a merely a distinct viewpoint and is not considered a mountain.

As Grønlinutane's primary factor (95m) does not meet my 100m criteria, Grønlinutane does not make it to my list of independent Fusa mountains. To reach a primary factor of 100m, the lowest point on the Våganipen - Grønlinutane saddle would have to be 638m, but the lowest point lies within the 641m and 645m contours (source: Økonomisk Kartverk - Ø.K.).

Assuming that Helleknappen is the 692m viewpoint (32 V 322864 6673732), the maps are misleading; Both Norgesglasset and the 1215-III Fusa map have "Helleknappen" across Grønlinutane's high point (32 V 323551 6673525). On the other hand, Ø.K. shows "Heleknappen" on point 692m and "Grønlinutane" close to the 738m high point, and I believe this is correct. For some reason, "Heleknappen" also appears NE of Grønlinutane on Ø.K., which I choose to disregard for now.

The shortest route to Grønlinutane runs from Markhus and follows the Aldalen valley (Ø.K.) up to Revneseter and then up (on path) Grønlinutane's northwest ridge. From Aldalen, you will see two distinct tops. The rightmost top is Helleknappen, while the leftmost top (point 698m - Ø.K.) has no name. Some locals believe this top is known as "Brurasåta", but according to Ø.K., "Brurasåta" (737,5m) is located approx. 250m NE of point 738m. The Grønlinutane ridgetops can not be seen from Aldalen.

While Helleknappen is an excellent point for southern and western views, make sure you also visit Grønlinutane where you can take all the central and southern Folgefonnhalvøya mountains into view.

Grønlinutane (right) seen from Steinen

Grønlinutane (right) seen from Steinen

Primary factor:

Grønlinutane (M711: 738m, Ø.K.: 738m) has a primary factor of 95m towards the higher Våganipen (819m). The saddle is found W of Lake Fagravatnen. Ref. Økonomisk Kartverk (5m contours), you cross the 645m contours on the high route, but not 640m. The saddle height has been interpolated to 643m.

Over a 5-minute period, I averaged (GPS) Helleknappen's (32 V 322864 6673732) elevation to 692m. Over a 3-minute period, I averaged (GPS) Grønlinutane's (32 V 323551 6673525) elevation to 736m, while being confident that I was at point 738m. I also measured another point (32 V 323407 6673585), 154m W of point 738m to be 736m. On sight, the two tops seemed to have the same elevation. I did not see any tops towards the north that seemed higher.

Trail descriptions:

Note: Class ratings are in reference to YDS (Yosemite Decimal System).

Note: The trail described below is not necessarily the easiest trail to this mountain.

Markhus - Helleknappen/Grønlinutane (summer/autumn)

Difficulty : Class 2
Exposure : None
Comments : Mostly on road/path
Distance : Approx. 5,5Km to Grønlinutane
Time : Approx. 2-3 hours to Grønlinutane
Starting Elev.: Approx. 140m
Vertical Gain : Approx. 700m (total)

Map of the area
Map of the area
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Detailed map
Detailed map
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Trailhead

From Bergen, follow highway E16 towards Oslo. At Trengereid, turn right onto highway RV7. Follow RV7 down to Samnangerfjorden, pass Bjørkheim and then two tunnels before you turn right on highway RV48 (Tysse/Mundheim/Rosendal). Follow RV48 approx. 34,6Km to Kilen. Turn right onto highway RV549 and follow this road approx. 7,1Km. Turn left onto the "Markhus 1.3" road and follow this road to road end in Markhus.

There is no public parking in Markhus, so you should ask for permission to park up there. Also note that the road to Markhus is very steep, which means that chains may be required if the road is icy.

The route

Head up to Markhusskardet by following a path from the uppermost house at Markhus that runs on the west side (your right-hand side) of the stream from Markhusskardet. As you cross the top of the pass, you will see red paint on birch up to your left. This is the path to Våganipen, should you want to visit this mountain in the future. Descend on forest road down to Aldalen and when you see the "Revneseter/Baldersheim" trailsign, turn left onto the Aldalen forest road.

Follow the Aldalen forest road to its end at the base of Grønlinutane's northwest ridge. Cross a creek just after road end and look for the start of the forest path, marked by red paint on the trees.

Once you have passed the lowest birch forest, you enter an area with steep cliffs above. Seek right. It is easy to lose the trail up here, but it runs between two huge rocks that you cannot miss. Continue southwest up the forest until the forest levels out. Try to locate a cave ahead of you (32 V 322992 6674291). This is where I lost the path. I went to the left here, and had a fairly steep ascent up the last section of forest. I recommend you turn right by the cave, and you are bound to find a better way.

Next, you find yourself below point 798m with Helleknappen further ahead. You should see the top of the Helleknappen trig. point soon. Aim for a small valley between the two tops and ascend up to Helleknappen. You will find a trig. point here and a box that may or may not contain the visitor's register.

From Helleknappen, follow a path towards Grønlinutane. The direction to the high point is east. There are two tops with approx. the same elevation. Go all the way to the easternmost point, at least for the views. None of the Grønlinutane tops are marked in any way.

Descent

Descend your ascent route, or via Våganipen and the Våganipen southwest ridge (Dyrfjellet) that takes you back to Markhusskardet.

Trip Report Dec. 9 2005

I had completed my list of independent Fusa mountains already in February 2005, but I also attempt to visit the tops that have a primary factor in the 90-99m range. Some of these tops MAY end up on the main list if the defining saddle is lower than anticipated. This was however not the case for Grønlinutane, as Økonomisk Kartverk is normally regarded as a trustworthy source.

I had been under the impression that the mountain name was actually named Helleknappen, but in late November 2005 I received an email from Hein Bondevik from Søre Fusa I.L. He explained that the high point was known as Grønlinutane, and he recommended that I should visit these tops.

So here I was on my way to Fusa again, this early December morning. I figured Markhus would be the best place to start, if only I could get the car up the steep hills. While there were no signs of winter in Bergen, things looked quite different as I passed Gullbotn. But as Fusa is located further south, and as Markhus is facing west, I was optimistic. Snow covered the ground when I drove up from Eikelandsosen, but when I passed Sævareid, the Håvikamulen - Rødsfjell range was snow-free.

The road up to Markhus was snow-free as well, giving me a 140m "headstart" in terms of elevation gain. It was roughly two years since I visited Markhus to hike Steinen and Øygardsåsen. The man in the uppermost house remembered me as "the guy with GPS and a dog in the backpack". Some things don't change and both the GPS and the dog were in the backpack as I headed up to Markhusskardet 10:10AM.

The Markhusskardet path and the forest road in Aldalen were tremendously icy, and overall the "hardest part" of the entire route to Grønlinutane. At Markhus, I had been given various recommendations on how to ascend the mountain, but I settled for the path from the end of the Aldalen forest road. The thick spruce forest wasn't something I felt much for exploring, but I was very curious about how steep my ascent route would be. There was a lot of ice in the hillsides. Would this become a problem?

At road end, I didn't quite know what to do. I had no view towards the upper terrain, and just I had decided to head towards "messy" terrain below the ridge towards Våganipen, I noticed footprints on the ground. I followed the tracks, which led me towards a marked path up the forest.

High up in the forest, I lost the path near a cave and chose the hardest route (icy) up to the plateau below Helleknappen. On this plateau, the wind made me quite cold, but I waited until I reached Helleknappen (11:50AM) before putting on more clothes. This was clearly a great viewpoint, but the weather was grey and not favorable for pictures. After 5 minutes, I moved on towards Grønlinutane and reached the high point 12:20PM.

This was an even better viewpoint, and I was happy to see the Folgefonnhalvøya mountain range again. Only Lukefjellet obscured some of the views. The best viewpoint in this region is of course Våganipen, but Grønlinutane high point wasn't bad either. I returned to Helleknappen, as I had forgotten to sign the visitor's register. But no register was found. Obviously, the registers are collected in autumn. My recommendation is that the registers should be left in place and that a digital camera is used to capture the contents of the visitor's register.

I descended my ascent route. It was tempting to find a better route down from the upper part, but I didn't bother searching. I let Troll out of the backpack. There wasn't much snow, so he had no problems walking. We reached Markhus 14:05, nearly 4 hours after we left. A herd of goats had occupied the trail and seemed spooked by strangers. I took a detour and received compliments from the owner. The goats had come down from the forest "for a break". These goats stayed out as long as they could find something to eat, and would return to the farm when the snow depth forced them down. Practical animals.

My Fusa list was now as complete as it could get, and I returned to Bergen with a good concience. Thanks to Hein Bondevik for giving me the "push" to visit this mountain.

Pictures from the Dec 9 2003 hike:

Move cursor to read notes, and click on the images to see full version.
Some of the thumbnails may have been cropped to fit the format.
Pictures are presented in the order they were taken.

The pictures were taken with a Canon EOS 300D digital camera with Sigma 18-200mm and Canon 50mm objectives. The Sigma does not perform well at all under less optimal weather conditions. Especially the zoom.

To Helleknappen

1. Markhus (292KB) 2. Markhus and Sævareid (275KB) 3. Helleknappen seen from Markhusskardet (210KB) 4. Passing Revneseter (386KB) 5. Large bird above Aldalen (93KB) 6. Curious about ice on the mountain (199KB) 7. The Våganipen - Grønlinutane ridge (293KB) 8. Heading up the forest (452KB) 9. The path runs between these large rocks (349KB) 10. Cave below Helleknappen (207KB) 11. Cave below Helleknappen (349KB) 12. Icicle tooth (130KB) 13. Våganipen (316KB) 14. Big rock below Helleknappen (290KB) 15. Big rock below Helleknappen (281KB) 16. On Helleknappen (195KB)

Helleknappen views

17. 50mm panorama from Helleknappen (1052KB) 18. 50mm panorama from Helleknappen (524KB) 19. Wide-lens panorama from Helleknappen (738KB) 20. Markhusskardet seen from Helleknappen (262KB) 21. Ottanosi seen from Helleknappen (225KB) 22. Hovlandsnuten seen from Helleknappen (143KB)

Grønlinutane

23. Grønlinutane high point ahead (215KB) 24. 50mm panorama from Grønlinutane (1563KB) 25. 50mm panorama from Grønlinutane (1054KB) 26. Gygrastolen-Melderskin range seen from Grønlinutane (688KB) 27. Ulvanosa/Englafjell seen from Grønlinutane (264KB) 28. Daurmålsegga-Vesoldo seen from Grønlinutane (616KB) 29. Wide-lens panorama from Grønlinutane (801KB)

Descent via Helleknappen

30. Våganipen seen from Grønlinutane (627KB) 31. Helleknappen (238KB) 32. Characteristic rocks below Helleknappen (349KB) 33. Helleknappen (251KB) 34. Sheep can find salt here in summer (244KB) 35. Giant rock below Grønlinutane (368KB) 36. Markhus goats (327KB)

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Pictures from other hikes:

1. 50mm view from Bløkallen (780KB)

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