Norwegian Mountains, Møre og Romsdal

Storhornet and Lesten from Gjuv, Dec 27 2005


Back to the main Storhornet page for maps and route descriptions.

Trip report, Dec 27 2005

After spending Christmas with friends in eastern Norway, I was now back in Ålesund - my new home town. I had just been able to get my stuff moved up from Bergen before I headed eastbound. Once back, one of the first important tasks was to get myself a regional overview. As such, I needed to get to an elevated point and Godøya was a good place to start.

On my flight towards Ålesund, I talked to a guy who knew all about Godøya, which gave me a good start to my first hike in the Ålesund region. The day was downright outstanding, and this weather would last for several days. Unfortunately, I wasn't at liberty to head up to the spectacular "Sunnmørsalpene" - the Sunnmore Alps - as there were things to take care of in my new appartment.

By 10:50AM, my four-legged buddy "Troll" and I were on our way from Gjuv up to Storhornet. There were two hikers ahead of me, and I could see them high on the Storhornet ridge. Although Storhornet isn't among the sharpest peaks in this vast mountain region, I still found it utterly beautiful. What a way to begin "a new life".

In a normal life, Troll would sit down at the trailhead and refuse to walk, but today, he was just like a rabbit on the mountain. Christmas had offered little or no exercise, and he was "steaming"!

We reached the top 11:45AM, and to my big surprise, the GPS went completely nuts. reporting elevation between 175m and 850m! The device sort of stabilized after a while, but jumped between 500m and 550m. I saw two possible scenarios; a) I had triggered a bug by using the AVERAGE function, and b) WW3 had begun, and somebody had started to take out the satellite systems. On the probability scale, I had more faith in the bug theory and turned the device off and on as we headed down Storhornet's northeast ridge.

I think I had decided to do a roundtrip already at the trailhead, but I can't say for sure. In any case, I was on my way to Lesten, taking the long way around. I gazed intensly at Storhornet's west face, trying to spot this ledge named "Johan Skytt". Afterwards, I realised it was on my right-hand side, and that I couldn't see it from the path I was following. Troll was still walking, and it was a grand day as we walked along Lake Alnesvatnet. At the far end of the lake, I was able to capture a near-perfect reflection of Storhornet. I felt fortunate to have passed this very spot at this very moment, getting this very special view.

To get to Lesten, I chose to go off-trail from the lake, but ended up on a vague path soon after. Another hiker was sitting on a rock, looking out on the sea and obviously enjoying the day just as much as I did. We reached Lesten 13:15PM and spent a little time taking pictures of the steep cliffs above the southwest shore. Some pinnacles fascinated me, and I was considering if I should try to climb the sharpest one sunny day.

The allowed time for hiking was coming to an end, and we headed back down. We arrived the car 14:10PM and Troll went immediately to sleep. He had certainly put up his share of the legwork. My first day out in Ålesund was indeed something for the album, and I kept admiring the wild Sunnmøre alps on my way back to the city. An activity far more hazardous than talking into cell phones. I guarantee that!

Pictures from the Dec 27 2005 hike

1. Sunnmøre sunrise (69KB)

To Storhornet

2. On the way to Storhornet (146KB) 3. Havsteinen (170KB) 4. Havsteinen (210KB) 5. Approaching Gjuv (224KB) 6. Sunnmøre alps (142KB) 7. Trail map at Gjuv (143KB) 8. On the forest trail (293KB) 9. Hareidlandet (258KB) 10. Storhornet (279KB) 11. Lesten - Storhornet pass (226KB) 12. On the Storhornet ridge (303KB) 13. Obstacle (309KB) 14. The Coastal Express (240KB) 15. Lesten and Alnesvatnet (315KB)

Summit views

16. Storhornet summit (299KB) 17. Storhornet wide-angle panorama 1/2 (524KB) 18. Storhornet wide-angle panorama 2/2 (369KB) 19. Erkna (163KB) 20. Lighthouse (86KB) 21. Ålesund seen from Storhornet (210KB) 22. Ålesund seen from Storhornet (423KB) 23. Vassdalstinden seen from Storhornet (95KB) 24. Molladalen peaks seen from Storhornet (274KB) 25. Eastern mountains seen from Storhornet (624KB) 26. Runde seen from Storhornet (218KB) 27. Sulafjellet zoomed in from Storhornet (526KB) 28. Ellingsøya seen from Storhornet (138KB) 29. Gjuv seen from Storhornet (375KB) 30. Havhesten (221KB) 31. Troll on Storhornet (198KB) 32. Troll is enjoying the day (228KB)

To Lesten + descent

33. Alnes (246KB) 34. Vigra airport (246KB) 35. Alnesvatnet (246KB) 36. Jet trail (69KB) 37. Trail junction by Lake Alnesvatnet (120KB) 38. Troll is busy looking around (183KB) 39. Storhornet and symmetry (111KB) 40. Lesten high point (318KB) 41. Godøya cliffs (335KB) 42. Godøya cliffs (293KB) 43. Pinnacle below Lesten (370KB) 44. Godøya cliffs (320KB) 45. Saudehornet seen from Lesten (121KB) 46. Vassdalstinden seen from Lesten (136KB) 47. Lesten panorama (550KB) 48. Descending Lesten (298KB) 49. Storhornet (317KB) 50. Troll and Storhornet (157KB) 51. Sunset (122KB) 52. Blåskjerdingen seen from my house (89KB)

No Javascript:

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52


westcoastpeaks.com Other Møre & Romsdal mountains Other Norwegian mountains