Norwegian Mountains, Møre og Romsdal
Hike from Sandvika to Moltustranda, via Sandvikshornet and Storehanen, Mar 25 2011
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Part of the route
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In the midst of the snow showers that has been hitting the western coastline lately, I decided to do a fairly long hike from Sandvika to Moltudalen, via Sandvikhornet and Storehanen. I have been on Sandvikhornet numerous times, and on Storehanen several times, but I've never done the whole ridge in-between.
I parked the car at Sandvika and headed out 4:50pm. Rather than following the normal route to Sandvikskaret, I went up the forest and joined Sandvikhornet's east ridge at 240 meters. I continued up the ridge and enjoyed the view towards Sandvik - one of my favourite views...
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Sandvik
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I continued up to point 425m, a place that I've visited once or twice before. I could see snow showers in all directions and hoped they would stay clear of the ridge I was on. It didn't take long before I realized that I would not be spared...
Overtaken by a snow shower
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With winter clothes on, I moved on in the direction of Storehanen. This was new territory for me, but it was just a matter of sticking to the ridge. With this little amount of snow on the ground, the path was quite easy to follow.
After a little while, the snow shower passed and I had visibility again. I reached the top of Storehanen 6:13pm, just as the "smoke" was lifting from Hidsegga/Veten. Quite a sight...
Veten/Hidsegga
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I descended into Moltudalen, and not a soul was in sight. It felt good to leave one-way direction tracks in the fresh snow, but soon I began to think about the return to Sandvik. I had assumed that I could catch a ride, but would there be any traffic at this time of the day?
Time would show. In the meantime, I enjoyed the sunset in progress...
Sunset in progess
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I reached the main road, and there was indeed traffic. At first, no one bothered to give me a ride. I had passed Moltustranda when two boys stopped. They were heading for soccer practice half-way between Moltustranda and Sandvika and when they dropped me off somewhere near Ryssevika, I decided to walk the remaining distance.
I returned to Sandvik 7:19pm - 2,5 hours after heading out. I had walked approx. 11,5km and 550 vertical meters. A good workout on a Friday afternoon...
View from Moltustranda
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