Norwegian Mountains, Nordland
Mardalsfjellet, Aug 20 2008 (w/mom)
To the main Mardalsfjellet/Sømnesfjellet page (maps, route descriptions, etc.)
Mardalsfjellet and Sømnesfjellet
(Click for larger image)
The days prior to this hike were spent in the UK, where friends and I visited the highest peak in Scotland, England and Wales in less than 24 hours. The driving distance from Birmingham to the Ben Nevis trailhead was 681Km (I was only a passenger), but the 772Km drive from Ålesund to the Mardalsfjellet now ranks as #1 on the 2008 distance-from-base-to-trailhead list, given I ever make such a list.
However, Mardalsfjellet was not really the primary goal for this long drive. I made a sudden decision to visit the family up north for a few days, and I was on my way to the north only 36 hours after returning from the UK. As I passed the Nordland county border, I called my mom (living in Brønnøysund) and asked if she could join me at the Mardalsfjellet trailhead for a hike.
Leaving Møre & Romsdal, early morning
(Click for larger image)
Mom and I arrived at the trailhead at about the same time. We drove up to the
waterworks building, as no signs told
us not to. We headed out 4:40pm. After an easy hike up the mountain, we reached
the southeast top 5:18pm.
The visitor register said "Mardalsfjellet 435m", but already on the way up, I
had warned mom about the
fact that the path might lead us to the wrong top. Seen from the road, it was
evident that the north top
was higher, and when standing on the southeast top, there was just no doubt. The
GPS said we were approx. 405m above the sea, and the high point was 800m to the
north.
At first, mom didn't know what to think. How could *I*, who hadn't been to this mountain before, just conclude that everyone else was wrong? A reasonable question, I suppose. But after a while, she acknowledged that the north top seemed higher, and that the GPS was probably right. I suggested she discussed this with the Fjelltrimmen group, having marked this path. This was a very stupid error, and it should be corrected. Another top to the northwest could be slightly higher than the top we were on, but it was difficult to tell for sure. I suggested that we should make a round trip, and visit all of the tops.
We arrived on the high point
5:47pm. The GPS reported the same height as the official height (435m), and
we now signed in to
the "Baustadfjellet" visitor register. My mom said there seemed mainly to be
just one person signing
this register. I took a *wild* guess about where he lived, while giving a
silent thought to the
number of hikers who had signed the register on the southeast top, thinking they had
been to the highest top.
The Coastal Express is passing
(Click for larger image)
On our way down from the summit, I led us into an easy scrambling route. Mom has no love for anything resembling steep terrain, and was quite unwilling at first. But she gave in after a little while and had her first scramble ever. And she enjoyed it too! She couldn't admit to that, of course, but the ear-to-ear smile gave her away. We stopped by the southwest top before heading back to the southeast top and our ascent route. We were back at the car 7:18pm, and drove to Brønnøysund where a pizza and a 6-pack were awaiting. Indeed a good start to my short vacation up north.
Next: Sømnesfjellet
