Norwegian Mountains

Middagstinden, 1005m

Fylke/Kommune : Nordland/Brønnøy
Maps : 1825-I Tosbotn
(Statens Kartverk, Norge 1:50 000)
Primary factor : 235m
Hiked : Aug 2005
See also : Middagstinden
See also : Rismålstinden
See also : S & N. Snøfjellet
See also : Straumsfjellet
See also : Breidvasstinden
See also : Kjelviktinden

Middagstinden

Middagstinden

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Introduction

Middagstinden ("Mid-day peak") is a landmark above Tosenfjorden - stretching more than 35Km from Tosbotn until it becomes Terråkfjorden in Nordland county. The starting point is Tosbotn and there are no established trails to the mountain. From the top you see most of the interesting mountains in Brønnøy kommune and mountains well into Børgefjell National Park in Grane kommune.

The summit is not as sharp as one may expect from mountains that end with "tind" (sharp peak) but you will surely appreciate the distinct west ridge that runs from 1000m and down to the fjord. This would have been the default route to the mountain, had the base of the mountain been more accessible. Those with access to boats surely have a fine walk up this ridge.

Primary factor:

Middagstinden (M711: 1005m, Ø.K: -) has a primary factor of 235m towards the higher Kjelviktinden (1088m). The saddle is found W of Storfjelltjørna and there are two potential saddles. Ref. the 1825-I map (20m contour maps), you cross the 780m contours on the high route, but not 760m. The saddle height has been interpolated to 770m.

My GPS reported 1009m over a 10-minute period (top of cairn), on point 33 W 405646 7242883

Trail descriptions:

Notes: Class ratings are in reference to YDS. Click here for more information.

The trails described below are not necessarily the *easiest* trails to this mountain.

Tosbotn - Middagstinden (all seasons)

Difficulty : Class 2 (YDS)
Exposure : No
Comments : Routefinding among slabs
Distance : Approx. 3,6Km to the top
Time : Approx. 3 hours to the top
Starting Elev.: Approx. 100m
Vertical Gain : Approx. 900m

Map of the area
Map of the area
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Detailed map
Detailed map
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Access

Locate the place Tosbotn between Brønnøysund and highway E6. Find parking near Sørmarka, approx. 2,4Km from Storelvbrua bridge (if you come from Brønnøysund) and 2Km from the western end of Tosentunnelen (if you come from the east).

The route

I have not walked the lower parts of this route, but the terrain is quite gentle. Head southwest-south across Sørmarka and follow the terrain where it seems natural.

Above 700m you enter slab terrain and routefinding is required. The mountain is not steep but steep enough to make wet and slippery slabs a challenge. Take time to find a good route towards a col that separates the summit area from the east ridge.

Once in the col, walk to the south side of the col for best access to the summit. The main summit is marked by a large cairn. Another viewpoint cairn is found 410m NW of the summit. From this point, proceed yet another 130m towards the west for fjord views. Descend your ascent route.

Trip report Aug 1 2005

It was day 2 of my vacation in northern Norway. I had been to Trælneshatten with my mom the day before, but now it was time to visit a mountain that I had admired since I was a little boy. At age 14, a sweet girl made me visit Tosbotn as often as I could during my vacations up there. Every time I took the bus to Tosbotn I looked up towards Middagstinden and admired its mighty appearance. While the other mountains were steep and wild, I felt that Middagstinden had a certain "grace". After 27 years, it was high time that I stood on top of this mountain.

I looked at Kjell Iver Johansen's web page and saw that his route suggestion was the same as the route I had in mind. But once there, I decided to look for more "dramatic" terrain. I drove a bit up the road and then noticed the Stordalen valley in the sharp S-curves before the tunnel and parked there.

I left the car 08:50AM and headed up the stream (dry in the beginning). I was mentally prepared that this might be a dead-end route, but I had the entire day to spend on this mountain. Early on, I noticed a steep but doable route that could take me away from this valley. Curiousity drove me further inside the valley. The walls got steeper and the valley more narrow. And the stream wasn't dry anymore. Small waterfalls required light scrambling. Nothing difficult, but some focus was necessary. The rocks were slippery.

The "dead-end" feeling increased by the minute and at the inner basin, I saw that there was no natural way out of this valley. Still, I decided to climb the last waterfall to be 100% sure. This was a good idea, because up to my left, a steep but indeed doable "escape route" presented itself. After a long, but easy scramble, I was standing above the valley and had Middagstinden ahead of me. I decided that this would not be my descent route.

Well, actually, I couldn't see the mountain just yet. More meadows had to be crossed before the mountain really stood up from the terrain. Slabs were the dominating features, but for the most part, the rock was dry and walking was easy. Still, some routefinding was needed. I reached the summit ridge but had to scramble up to the summit block. I should have continued to the other side of the ridge to look for the easiest route, but wanted more to reach the summit. The scrambling had its challenges as I didn't want to fall between the snow and the mountain. That would have been problematic. After chopping away bad snow, I found a good access point and by 10:35AM I was standing on the summit.

I had a good view down to Tosbotn and all surrounding mountains. It felt good to be up here. I felt for descending the west ridge, but wasn't sure if I could make it back to the road along the shore. I let the idea go and headed over to better viewpoints. I spent a good while up there and enjoyed every minute of it. Good childhood memories came and went.

But good things come to and end and one hour later, I was on the way down. At noon, the sun was shining directly down on the mountain. I assumed this was the reason that the mountain was called Middagstinden - or "Mid-day peak" in English. The plan was to follow the normal route all the way back down, but by the time I was close to the car, I decided to break away and head directly towards the car. When I got the car in view, my first thought was "there's nothing to it". There was only a meadow between me and the car. My next thought was "where are the 100 vertical meters in-between?" I soon found out. The hillside above the road is very steep and unfriendly. But being so close made me give it a go. With "things normally work out in the end" as the working concept, I jumped from ledge to ledge only to find that it got steeper the further down I got. But things often work out in the end and by 12:35PM the hike was over. I looked back up the unfriendly hillside and sort of knew that I wouldn't come back down this way again.

Pictures from the Aug 1 2005 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.

To the summit

1. Middagstinden comes into view (172KB) 2. Entering Stordalen (401KB) 3. Possible escape route (281KB) 4. Deeper inside Stordalen (303KB) 5. Light scrambling in Stordalen (242KB) 6. My way out of Stordalen (285KB) 7. View down to the inner basin (421KB) 8. Stordalen seen from above (297KB) 9. The mountain stands out (209KB) 10. View towards Tosbotn (577KB)

Summit views

11. Middagstinden summit views (1898KB) 12. Middagstinden summit views (1200KB) 13. Breidvasstinden seen from Middagstinden (667KB) 14. Tosbotn (193KB) 15. Tosbotn (795KB) 16. Borgefjell mountains (188KB) 17. Visttindan seen from Middagstinden (207KB) 18. Tosenfjorden (606KB) 19. Middagstinden summit views (1252KB) 20. Kallklavtinden (396KB) 21. A nice little island in Tosenfjorden (143KB)

Descent

22. The trailhead is near (337KB) 23. Rough route down to the trailhead (206KB) 24. Saying goodbye to Middagstinden (153KB)

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Pictures from other hikes:

1. Zoom view from Hardangsfjellet 2. Wide-angle view from Straumsfjellet 3. Tosbotn 4. Tosbotn 5. Middagstinden 6. Zoom view from Nordre Snøfjellet 7. Wide-angle view from Nordre Snøfjellet 8. Middagstinden, Kjelviktinden and Kallklavtinden 9. Middagstinden 10. Middagstinden 11. Passing Middagstinden

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