Norwegian Mountains, Sogn og Fjordane
Stålet (122m), Mar 4 2012
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The route, as seen in Google Earth
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After having visited Svartehornet, I sat course for Stålet - the northernmost point on the Stadlandet peninsula. I wasn't quite sure how I should approach it, so I drove to Honningsvågen, picked a random house near the logical starting point and rang the door bell.
A man opened the door, and he knew everything I needed to know about Stålet. He told me to follow the red sticks in the direction of Vardane, and then stay with a marked trail - all the way to Stålet. Excellent news! And by 1:50pm, I was on my way to Vardane. On my way upwards, I reflected on the name. The logical translation would be "the steel", but I had no idea if that would be correct.
My Stålet round trip route
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It took me 8 minutes to reach Vardane. From here, I had a good overview of the route to Stålet. I concluded that the route looked interesting and sent a warm thought to those who had built and marked it.
The route above the shore
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The route to Stålet didn't include any difficult sections, but there was one place where I made really good sure I didn't do anything stupid. I could possibly go so far to say if you totally lack a head for heights, then this might not be your favorite route...
An exposed section
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I reached the top of Stålet 2:37pm - 47 minutes after heading out. I had a great view towards Vestkapp (the west cape of Norway), the nearby ridge called Egga, as well as some of the coastal tops on Ytre Søre Sunnmøre. The man in the house had told me about Egga, and I had some hopes about being able to scramble it (he had never done it). But after looking at this steep ridge/wall for a while, I decided not to even give it a try. Most of the route upwards would be perfectly doable, but there was one spot that I know would make me feel very uneasy...
Egga
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I felt good up here. There was a certain peace in being so close to the ocean and far away (relatively speaking...) from people. If I had set my mind on it, I could probably have spent 30 minutes (I am a restless soul...) out here without going crazy...
Going crazy?
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Upon leaving, I decided to take the first and best route up to Egga, and after 400 meters, I found a good route up to the ridge. I headed in the direction of the ocean until I reached the steep drop. I scrambled around until I realized I could easily get myself into trouble if I didn't stop. I turned around and followed the ridge up to Storevatnet, where I sat course for a ridge that would take me back to the trailhead. I soon ran into a yellow-marked trail that I followed back to the trailhead. I returned to the car 3:56pm, and got ready for the 101km drive back to Gurskøya.
Stålet seen from above
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If the eager westcoastpeaks reader is wondering why I didn't visit Varaldsfoten, the answer is that I visited this top back in 2009. A trip report will (hopefully) soon be published...
