Norwegian Mountains

Vesoldo, 1046m
Tørvikenuten, 1028m (Tørviknuten)

Fylke/Kommune : Hordaland/Kvam
Maps : 1215-I Norheimsund (Statens Kartverk, Norge 1:50 000)
Primary factor : Vesoldo: 648m
Primary factor : Tørvikenuten: 95m
Hiked : Nov 2004
See also : Tveitakvitingen
See also : Torefjellet
See also : Slåttenuten
See also : Haukåsfjellet
Vesoldo seen from Torefjellet

Vesoldo seen from Torefjellet

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Introduction

In my opinion, this is one of Hordaland's finest mountains. The views are tremendous. You can take most of Hardangerfjorden into your view, as well as the Fusa, Kvamskogen and Øystese mountain regions. You have a front row seat towards the Jondal - Rosendal - Uskedalen panorama, and this view in itself should be enough for you to decide to visit this mountain.

Vesoldo, and the lower neighbour Tørvikenuten are the pride of several communities along Hardangerfjorden, including Norheimsund, Tø,rvikebygd and Strandebarm. A number of trails exist, and on this page I am describing the access from Tørvikebygd. My friend Petter Bjørstad has also described a route from Norheimsund to Vesoldo.

Primary factor:

Vesoldo (M711: 1046m, Ø.K: 1045,61m) has a primary factor of 648m towards the higher Tveitakvitingen (1299m). The saddle is found near Tolahella, east of Fagrafjellet. Ref. Økonomisk Kartverk (5m contours), you cross the 400m contours on the high route, but not 395m. The saddle height has been interpolated to 398m.

Tørvikenuten (M711: 1028m, Ø.K: -) has a primary factor of 95m towards the higher Vesoldo (1046m) The saddle is found between the two mountains, along the high route. Ref. Økonomisk Kartverk (5m contours), you cross the 935m contours on the high route, but not 930m. The saddle height has been interpolated to 933m.

Note: If we trust Økonomisk Kartverk on the saddle, we should also trust it on the height. However, no height has been given on the 5m contour map. The highest contour is 1020m, which means an interpolated height would have been 1022,5m ~ 1023m, which is 5m lower than the M711 map height. For the time being, I have chosen to stick with the M711 map height, but the deviation is hereby noted.

Trail descriptions:

Notes: Class ratings are in reference to YDS. Click here for more information.

The trails described below are not necessarily the *easiest* trails to this mountain.

Augastadstølen (Ryssing) - Vesoldo (summer/autumn)

Difficulty : Class 1
Exposure : No
Comments : Long, but wonderful hike
Distance : Approx. 10Km round-trip
Time : Approx. 5-6 hours round-trip (w/o pause)
Starting Elev.: Approx. 270m
Vertical Gain : Approx. 900m

Map of the area
Map of the area
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Detailed map
Detailed map
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Access

From Bergen, follow highway E16 towards Oslo. At the E16/RV 7 junction (roundabout) at Trengereid, turn right onto RV 7. Follow RV 7 across Kvamskogen to Norheimsund. Turn right in the RV 7/RV 49 junction in Norheimsund (approx. 40,9Km) from the RV 7/E16 junction at Trengereid. Follow RV 49 towards "Gjermundshamn/Mundheim" for approx. 13,9Km and turn right onto "Augastadvegen". Note that the exit comes suddenly.

Follow the paved road until road end and continue on a gravel road straight ahead. Pass three gates along the way (make sure you close them). Turn left at the first road junction - the road where you see the little Troll (From my 2001 trip notes, I wrote a right turn here, but as I rewrite this in 2004, I'm sure it was a left turn). Turn left at the next road junction also. Follow this road until road end and find parking by the Augastadstølen cabins, approx. 3,2Km from RV49.

Note that there is a fee box at the first gate. The toll fee for passenger cars per Sep 2001 was NOK 20,-. The gravel road is a bit bumpy, but small cars can drive on this road.

The route

The trail begins by the parking near the cabins. It starts off as an old tractor road, but soon turns into an unmarked forest trail. The trail is very visible, and well traveled. The trail climbs up to the Skårsete cabins, where the grand view begins. The trail continues in the north direction, and the trail is now cairned. Head north along the east side of the mountain until you see Tørvikenuten. Proceed northwest towards the summit. Ascend Tørvikenuten where you see fit.

From Tørvikenuten, head northwest along the high ridge towards Vesoldo. The descent to the saddle between the mountains may seem steep at first, but is quite trivial once you find the route. Climb Vesoldo from the east, and you should be able to locate a path that runs up to the summit.

Descend your ascent route, or; return back to the Vesoldo - Tørvikenuten saddle. Then turn south towards Goddalen valley. A traversing cliff may force you towards the Tørvikenuten side for the easiest passing. Stay high on the Tørvikenuten side and cross over Tørvikenuten's south ridge before you set your course towards Skårsete.

Trip report Sep 9 2001

The mountain had been on my "to-do" list for way too long. When I woke up this Sunday morning and watched the sunny skies, there was no doubt. I was heading for Vesoldo. I was a little concerned if the dog was going to walk, or if I had to carry him all the way. After all, he did a good job on Austlendingen the day before, and he was quite "dead" later in the evening.

Fortunately, I had been hiking up to Skårsete two years earlier, so there would be no messing around looking for a trailhead. But drama was on already at the first cattle gate. A pack of sheep was standing on the other side of the wide gate. I was concerned that while I was running back to the car, they would slip through. I made some noise, and they stepped back a few yards. I ran like hell to the car, drove through and stopped to close the gate. That's when 4-5 of the sheep set speed and headed for the gate. As I cursed and realized I wouldn't be able to stop them, they suddenly turned around as Troll jumped out of the car. He'd never chased sheep before, and wasn't about to start now, but of course, the sheep didn't know that.

I started the hike 13:00PM. Expecting to see the dog lay down before we even started walking, I was proven wrong. Probably cocky after the victory at the gate, he steamed up the trail, me running after. He kept the pace up to Skårsete, where I took the lead. Even with a lot of stops for pictures, we arrived Tørvikenuten summit at 14:30PM, 1.5 hours after we started.

At the summit, I met Lars Olav Augestad, the principal at the local school. I enjoyed talking to him about the local geography. He told me I could return down Goddalen valley after hiking Vesoldo. So after a quick hike up and down Vesoldo (the wind didn't invite for a long summit rest), I hiked down Goddalen and really enjoyed this part of the mountain. The two summits looked really dramatic down from the valley. As I joined my ascent route south of Tørvikenuten, I once again met Lars Olav, and we hiked together down to Skårsete.

I had been timing the arrival at Skårsete already from early morning. I wanted to catch the afternoon colors, and they were magnificent at 17:00PM. When there were no more room for pictures, Troll and I quickly hiked down the mountain. I was very eager to see if the local cows (I had to park between them) had wrecked my car. A red car. But the cows were gone, and the car only had the bumps I had caused, so everything was in the finest order.

Pictures from the Sep 9 2001 hike

Move cursor to read notes, and click on the images to see full version.
Some of the thumbnails may have been cropped to fit the format.

1. Oystese/Aalvik mountains seen on the road to Torvikbygd (221KB) 2. Oystese/Aalvik panorama seen on the road to Torvikbygd (331KB) 3. A steep hike ahead (181KB) 4. The hike is more gentle on the way from Skaarsete (278KB) 5. Once on top of Torvikefjellet, I can see my car (194KB) 6. Both summits seen while arriving Torvikenuten foothills (199KB) 7. Torvikenuten, 1028m, seen from the plateau (132KB) 8. Folgefonna seen from Torvikefjellet (176KB) 9. Rosendal alps and Ulvanosa seen from Torvikefjellet (142KB) 10. Indre Samlafjord seen from Torvikefjellet (184KB) 11. Jondal seen from Torvikefjellet (114KB) 12. Jondal panorama from Torvikefjellet (269KB) 13. Hiking pal, principal Lars Olav Augestad (139KB) 14. View towards Oksen and Vassfjora (132KB) 15. On top of Torvikenuten, 1028m (188KB) 16. The trail up Vesoldo, seen from Torvikenuten (198KB) 17. Just about to hike up Vesoldo (201KB) 18. Time for a rest at the foot of Vesoldo (213KB) 19. Torvikenuten seen from Vesoldo foothills (200KB) 20. Kvamskogen mountains seen from Vesoldo (198KB) 21. Gjonakvitingen and Tveitakvitingen seen from Vesoldo (163KB) 22. Hellefjellet and lake Krokavatnet seen from Vesoldo (183KB) 23. The pass down to Goddalen valley seen on the way down (216KB) 24. The mountains seen from Vesle Goddalen, on the way up to ascent trail (274KB) 25. View towards Rosendal and Uskedalen while coming down Goddalen (127KB) 26. Strandebarm seen from Goddalen valley (118KB)

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Pictures from other hikes:

1. Vesoldo seen from Byrkjefjellet, Kvamskogen (62KB) 2. Vesoldo seen from Gjonakvitingen, Kvamskogen (174KB) 3. Vesoldo seen from Torefjellet, Kvamskogen (105KB) 4. View towards Folgefonna, Rosendal and Uskedalen from Fuglafjellet (144KB) 5. Vesoldo seen from Vaakefjellet (95KB) 6. Vesoldo (82KB) 7. Vesoldo seen from Snerta (160KB) 8. Fog on Vesoldo (59KB) 9. View from the hike to Storegroeggi (473KB) 10. Summit view from Kaldenuten (246KB) 11. Gråeggi summit views (part 1/3) (1098KB) 12. Vesoldo seen from Gråeggi (121KB) 13. Fusa and Tysnes mountains (216KB) 14. 50mm panorama from Grønlinutane (1563KB) 15. Daurmålsegga-Vesoldo seen from Grønlinutane (616KB) 16. Vesoldo (301KB)

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