Norwegian Mountains, Møre og Romsdal
From Voldnes to Drageskaret, June 25 2009
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Most of the route
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My colleague Rune and I had been planning this hike for quite some time, and on this beautiful late-June evening, the hike was ON. We were to head out from Voldnes, hike across Laupanips, Laupskeipen, Vasshornet, Fyre, Keipen, Veten and then descend to Drageskaret. Essentially a hike across the southern part of Gurskøya island.
According to plan, we headed out from Voldnes 6:15pm. Rune put up an incredible pace, and I told him that (when continued) this would not have a happy ending. Halfway up the mountain, he finally agreed to this, and we arrived on Laupsnipa at a normal pace - 7:07pm. The road ahead seemed long. Our destination was no longer Drageskaret - it was the horizon.
Part of our route, ahead
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We moved on to Laupskeipen - the name is important in order to distinguish it from the other Keipen - which we would pass later on. Laupskeipen is perhaps the most scenic point along this route, and Rune posed - reluctantly - on top, after I told him that the rock has a hollow sound to it. I was kidding of course. It was the other rock on Laupskeipen that didn't seem trustworthy when I went up here the last time.
On Laupskeipen
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Flies became a significant part of our journey. Despite my words of comfort, Rune resisted becoming friendly with them. Moreover, he had some trouble with blisters, and it seemed that his morale was diminishing. As we got to Vasshornet (8:05pm, and approx. halfway) I couldn't help myself and asked him if he wanted to turn around....
Passing Vasshornet
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But not even flies and sore feet could take away from the fact that it was a stunning afternoon. And not to mention the landscape! We washed off some of our sweat in Tødenesvatnet before we began a strenuous (it was a warm evening..) ascent towards Fyre. We reached the top of Fyre 8:50pm, and we were now definitely more than halfway - after having been on the road for 2,5 hours.
Rune and the flies
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After visiting Keipen (9:30pm), we agreed that we should take the direct route towards Drageskaret, which meant that we would bypass Veten. We went past the beautiful Middagsvatna lakes and passed Langvetevatnet on the north side before joining the Drageskaret - Veten path.
We reached Drageskaret 10:36pm, 4h:20m after leaving Voldnes. The walking distance was 14km and the elevation gain was approx. 950m. A decent afternoon walk! Sunset was in progress and the view was just ... outstanding!
Gursken sunset
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