Norwegian Mountains, HordalandNipahøgdi from Floskefonnsdalen, Aug 31 2008To the main Nipahøgdi page (maps, route descriptions, etc.)
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.
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..
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.. |
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
To Nipahøgdi
Wide-angle view from Nipahøgdi
Zoom views from Nipahøgdi
Descent
To Ålesund (most pics taken by a camera randomly pointed out in the air..)
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