Norwegian Mountains, Møre og Romsdal

Lesten from Alnes, via "Lestagjølet", Mar 18 2007

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Those who know me well, would ponder on why I went to the same (nearby) mountain two days in a row. On a week-end! Well, The day before, I turned around on a fun route, and I hate unfinished business. If I had trusted the weather, I would have considered a long travel to a new mountain, but I didn't trust it. It was a gorgeous day, but according to the weather reports, it was snowing. My colleague Terje had planned to go to the Skjonghellaren cave with his family. I decided to join them, as I hadn't been to the end of the cave. Besides, it was on my way to Godøya.

After visiting Skjonghellaren, I suggested they should bring the kids to Alnes, and enjoy themselves down by the shore. After a small picnic, Terje decided that he would come along with me. His family would return home in their car. We left the trailhead approx. 12:40PM and kept a swift pace along the shore, only stopping for some pictures of the waves and a fishing boat.

After the initial ascent of the mountain, we crawled though the hole that marks the beginning of the gully. Then followed a short, but steep section up to the shelf where I turned around the day before. Being clever, I had brought a skyhook and a foot-sling, but this concept didn't work out very well. Instead, I just climbed up, using grass as handholds. It wasn't very difficult, after all. Terje followed, and I was curious about the rest of the route.

The gully, seen the day before

The gully, seen the day before

The rest of the route was indeed trivial, and soon we arrived a slanting plateau, from where we could proceed in any direction. We chose to traverse the hillside, aiming for the top of the Måsagjølet couloir. During this traverse, we enjoyed observing 5 eagles, riding the wind, whereas one was curious about our precense. If I only had brought along my 300mm objective, I might have got myself some fine eagle pictures. Some awkward scrambling was needed in order to get onto the plateau, and the ground was covered with snow. Talk about moving from one season to another...

The weather wasn't all that great anymore, and the wind was picking up. We followed the path across Rosethaugane (a part of the Lesten plateau) towards Lake Alnesvatnet, and then to the Alnes/Storhornet trail junction. From this point, we headed straight down to the car, saving us from a detour via Alnes. We walked on nice grass all the way down, zig-zaging to avoid the juniper. We were back at the car 14:50PM. One can only feel gratitude about all the marvels, within 2 hours, that nature has to offer.

Post-note

After talking to people who know this side of the island well, it seems that very few people walks this route. Infact, the locals had problems understanding exactly where this route was. While more prominent gullies have map names, this one hasn't. Not even on Økonomisk Kartverk. I therefore take the opportunity to give it a name - Lestagjølet. The name "Lesta" is obvious - Lestanakken (the west ridge), Lestabukta (the bay), Lestaskjeret (the reef), and so on. "Gjølet" (the gully) is the common suffix for gullies on this side of the island - Kjerringgjølet, Måsagjølet, Moldagjølet, etc.

Pictures

Terje and family in Sandvika bay

1. My colleague Terje (243KB) 2. Andrine (227KB) 3. Markus (225KB) 4. Family picnic (282KB) 5. Waves (241KB) 6. Alnes Fyr (176KB) 7. More waves and a fishing boat (197KB) 8. Little Markus and a big ocean (251KB)

Along the shoreline

9. Our route (195KB) 10. Along the shoreline (205KB) 11. Close encounter (200KB) 12. I smell troub... (203KB) 13. He he, dry as a .. as a .. (186KB) 14. Definetly some tough folks out there (174KB) 15. Måsagjølet (253KB)

Ascent

16. Eagle (126KB) 17. A significant obstacle on this route - thorns (544KB) 18. The gully ahead (406KB) 19. Terje crawling through the hole (396KB) 20. In the gully (399KB) 21. The shelf problem (340KB) 22. Easy does it .. (380KB) 23. Near the top of the gully (389KB) 24. Monkey face marks the top of the gully (230KB)

Eagle observations

25. 3 of 5 eagles (196KB) 26. Eagle - front view (198KB) 27. Eagle - side view (124KB) 28. Eagle - rear view (150KB) 29. Eagle - cruising mode (187KB) 30. Eagle - fast pace (160KB)

Up to the plateau, and down again

31. Terje saves the day (220KB) 32. Traversing the hillside (282KB) 33. The cliff above Måsagjølet (302KB) 34. Sudden, but temporary fog (125KB) 35. Direct ascent to the trailhead (269KB)

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