Norwegian Mountains, Hordaland

Nipahøgdi from Floskefonnsdalen, Aug 31 2008


To the main Nipahøgdi page (maps, route descriptions, etc.)

 

The route

The route
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The day before, I had been up Storeflåtten with Liv Nygård, and on this Sunday I would drive back to Ålesund. But first, I wanted to visit a new Hordaland top. I could spare only 2-3 hours for this top, so it would either have to be a low one, or a high one with a high trailhead. The choice fell on Nipahøgdi (1375m), allowing me to start from 1050m. With roughly 4Km each way, I should be back on the road in a couple of hours.

The first ferry didn't leave Utne until 8:25am. That's just simply a very lousy service, and I looked for alternatives. The first ferry from Brimnes left 7:30am. That was slightly better, but it would mean a 1,5 hour drive (opposed to 10 minutes to Utne). In any case, I decided to drive to Brimnes, although I had driven that road twice the day before. It was dark as the night when I left Liv's place at Jåstad, but day was dawning when I passed Lofthus on the other side of Sørfjorden.

Hardangerfjorden, early morning

Hardangerfjorden, early morning
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Arriving at Osa, I just couldn't figure out the road to Austdalen. Having been up this road at least 5 times in the past, didn't help a bit (I made a mental note about checking out that vitamin stuff). Quite embarrassed, I had to turn on the GPS. The drive up this beautiful valley was just as nice as always, and after a little while, I had parked down by Rundavatnet. The road went on for another 1500m, but it was too rough.

This landscape isn't very characteristic. In fact, some could call it slightly boring. But I like it. The polished humps and bumps can have many surprises in store for you. And Nipahøgdi didn't let me down. Just to get on with the hike, I scrambled up one of the nearest cliffs. Soon, I found myself above a lake, and I instantly knew that this plateau would try to challenge me. As expected, my first and second attempt of descending to the lake, failed. But after a minor detour, I was on the right course.

Nothing much really happened on this trip, but I was taken by surprise how radically different Nipahøgdi was, compared to the plateau I had traveled in. Slabs turned into scree and the colors changed. This was almost Icelandic terrain, but as my knowledge about geology is close to zero, I won't explain any further. But I should definitely look more into geology. Perhaps 2009 will be my the year I learn something about it. Liv - this is a pre-warning: you'll get emails.. 

 

Geology stuff I should learn about..

Geology stuff I should learn about..
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As a small comfort, I recognized the Starry Saxifrage below Nipahøgdi summit. But only because Liv showed me this flower on Storeflåtten the day before. But hey.. still!

Although it was very nice to be on top of a Hordaland mountain again, my visit on Nipahøgdi was short. It had taken me 1h:15m to get there. I took some pictures and headed down a different route, slightly north of my ascent route. Round trips are good. One never knows what pops up around the next corner. Nothing much popped up on the way down, but seeing the river draining into Floskefonnvatnet through a mountain tunnel was cool. Don't think I've seen that before.

11AM, the 2h:15m hike was over. The final challenge was to the 1050m car descent to Osa in low gear. Unfortunately, the Tiger doesn't have a gear designed for these types of roads, and the engine screams like a wounded ... (hark) .. Tiger. That's when the really loud music comes on. And it's still better than the smell of overheated brakes..

 

River tunnel in Floskefonndalen

River tunnel in Floskefonndalen
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Pictures

The pictures were taken with a Canon EOS 300D + Canon EF-S 17-85mm IS USM F 4-5.6

 
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On the way to Osa and Floskefonndalen

1. Leaving Odda 2. Solnuten 3. Along Sørfjorden 4. Lutranuten, Kinsarvik 5. Hardangerfjorden 6. Skorafjellet above Ulvik 7. Midtfjell 8. Ulvik 9. In Austdalen 10. Waterfall from Kyrelvfjellet 11. Roadforks 12. View from the road

To Nipahøgdi

0A. Trip tracks 0B. Route profile 13. Going off-trail 14. Passing a lake 15. The same lake, now passed 16. Slightly awkward terrain 17. Patterns 18. Nipahøgdi zoomed in 19. Just a rock 20. Sheep grassed by this lake 21. Different rock, different colors 22. Stjernesildre - Saxifraga stellaris - Starry Saxifrage 23. More patterns

Wide-angle view from Nipahøgdi

24. Wide-angle view from Nipahøgdi

Zoom views from Nipahøgdi

25. 66m zoom view from Nipahøgdi 26. 85mm zoom view from Nipahøgdi 27. 85mm zoom view from Nipahøgdi 28. 85mm zoom view from Nipahøgdi

Descent

29. Fjelltjæreblom - Lychnis alpina - Alpine Catchfly 30. Towards Floskefonndalen 31. Floskefonnvatnet 32. River tunnel 33. This road will not fully open in 2008 34. Austdølnuten 35. Back at the trailhead 36. Descending Austdalen

To Ålesund (most pics taken by a camera randomly pointed out in the air..)

37. Skeisnipa near Fjærland 38. Blånipa near Fjærland 39. Bøyabreen 40. Kjøsnesfjorden 41. Våtedalen 42. Våtedalen and Eggjenibba 43. Skåla above Loen 44. On Storfjorden. Almost home 45. On Storfjorden

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