Norwegian Mountains, Nordland
Malmsfjellet & Amundsgjerdfjellet, Aug 22 2008
To the main Malmsfjellet page (maps, route descriptions, etc.)
Route from Bjøru
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This was my third day of my short vacation up in northern Norway. The weather was so and so, and I didn't find the necessary inspiration to go into the high country. Fortunately, Helgelandskysten (the Helgeland coast) has many cool coastal mountains, and the Malmsfjellet - Amundsgjerdfjellet massif is one of them. Most of these tops are indeed easy on the easy routes, but they have also rugged and wild sides. In other words; they're easy to hike, and cool to look at.
I drove to the place Bjøru and asked around for a path. A woman on a bike pointed out the trail to Malmsfjellet, or Bjørufjellet as she called it. I then asked about the other top (I didn't know the name at the time), and she said the name was Dølmørtfjellet. At least that's what I thought she said. She pronounced it something like Døllmørttfjille, and my version is a normalised one. I had a vague feeling that the name meant something like "bloody dark mountain". But I'm not 100% sure. Later, I found the name Amundsgjerdfjellet on a map...
Amundsgjerdfjellet - a bloody dark mountain
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The woman granted me parking by the "Logopedisk Senter" building, and 10:50am, I was on my way up the forest. This was a short hike, and I reached the top of Malmsfjellet/Bjørufjellet 11:20am. It had begun to rain, but there wasn't any wind. I decided to continue the hike.
The route up to Amundsgjerdfjellet was a bit steep, but otherwise unproblematic. I reached the cairn 11:50am, and decided to completely traverse the mountain. I moved over to the cliff edge and had a good view towards Bjøru. I then headed towards the southwest ridge and had to fight some bush before joining a tractor road near Urdtannberget. And soon after, I was down by the southernmost farm.
A couple of ill-tempered cows didn't want me to pass the farm. In fact, they were quite angry about my presence. Should I walk up to them with a calm voice (goood cow...) and pet their heads? After thinking about it, I decided not to. I headed back into the forest, only to witness this one cow patrolling the whole field below me. When I reached the next farm, the cow came running towards me, but stopped in front of a ditch. "What's your problem?", I yelled. The cow responded by stomping around. I was back at the trailhead 12:30pm, 1h:40m after leaving it.
Angry cow
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Leaving Bjøru, I called my good friend Torill, who knows everything there is to know about cows. She basically told me that if a cow seemed angry, I shouldn't approach her. It was still early in the day, and even if it was raining, I figured I could hike Sæterfjellet (599m) before heading back to Brønnøysund. But when I arrived at the Sæterfjellet trailhead, a bunch of cows (and perhaps bulls?) made me call it a day. There were no ditches, no fence and no forest to hide in. And as I had already been to Sæterfjellet a few years ago, I didn't struggle with the decision to leave...
Oh no, not again...
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Next day: Nordre Høyholmstind
