Norwegian Mountains - Route Descriptions - Mekknøken / Meekknoken on Averøya

Norwegian Mountains, Møre og Romsdal

Mekknøken, May 26 2007

For Information, maps, trailhead and route descriptions, click HERE.

I had just visited Melen (768m) and Sjurvarden (667m), and now I was on my way to Mekknøken on Averøya. As I descended Sjurvarden, the fog was gradually lifting from Mekknøken, and when I entered Averøya, Mekknøken was completely free of fog. Things were looking good!

I had no clue where to hike from, so I asked around at Ba. I guessed that they would send me up along the north ridge, across Dyrsetlia, but they recommended me to hike from Nekkstaddalen. And so I did. The dog and I left the trailhead 15:30PM, but the path was too rocky (small rolling rocks) for the dog. He entered the backpack. A situation not uncommon for any of us.

The weather deteriorated as we headed out of the forest, and by the time we entered the mountain plateau, fog enclosed the summit, and it was hailing! As we took on the final hill, we met a woman coming down. She reported "4 seasons up there, all in 20 minutes". The hailshower passed, but the fog stayed.

We reached the top 16:50PM and didn't see much else than the summit marker. This was sort of disappointing. This was the second top I reached in fog during the day. If it hadn't been for the fog-lift on Sjurvarden, then things would have been very disappointing. I had more mountains on my to-do list for this weekend, and I wondered if I should just as well return to Ålesund.

Back at the trailhead, 17:50PM, I decided to carry on with the tour. I drove to Bremsnes and noticed that the fog had left Mekknøken. Naturally! I took the ferry to Kristiansund and checked into a hotel in the middle of the city, which is not a smart thing to do, if you wake easily and it's Saturday night. No complaints, though. I'm sure there are hotels which doesn't welcome a dog. And that's why I always ask if they've got a room for me and my little dachs. There's always a chance that the receptionist might think that the dachs is the girlfriend, and no further questions are asked. On this hotel, however, my dachs was welcome once the receptionist finally made up his mind about it.

Next stop on this tour was Freikollen on Frei island.