Norwegian Mountains

Haukåsen, 661m (Haukåsfjellet)

Fylke/Kommune : Hordaland/Kvam
Maps : 1215-I Norheimsund (Statens Kartverk, Norge 1:50 000)
Primary factor : 223m
Hiked : Nov 2004
See also : Vesoldo
See also : Tveitakvitingen
Haukaasfjellet (down to the left) seen from Vesoldo

Haukåsfjellet (down to the left) seen from Vesoldo

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Introduction

Haukåsfjellet is modest mountain tucked away between the two "giants" (in comparision) Tveitakvitingen and Vesoldo. One may think that the views are quite limited for this reason, but these large massifs are quite some views by themselves. The forest area east of Haukåsfjellet is popular by those living in the Strandebarm region. One may actually drive all the way from RV 48 by Hardangerfjorden to lake Holsetervatnet, halfway between Hardangerfjorden and Kvamskogen. From the lake, a trail connects to Fagrafjellet, and then you're practically on Kvamskogen.

The mountain is named "Haukåsen" (Hawk hill), but is referred to as Haukåsfjellet (Hawk mountain) by the local community. I prefer the latter. I don't think mountains exceeding 600m elevation should be named "hill". However, taking the two grand neighbours into consideration, Haukåsen doesn't stand out as very prominent.

On the maps, "Storlinuten" is named as the northernmost point on Haukåsfjellet. There is no cairn at this point.

Primary factor:

Haukåsfjellet (M711: 661m, Ø.K: 660,96m) has a primary factor of 223m towards the higher Fagrafjellet (704m). The saddle is found just north of lake Holsetervatnet. Ref. Økonomisk Kartverk (5m contours), you cross the 440m contours on the high route, but not 435m. The saddle height has been interpolated to 438m.

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.

Haukås - Haukåsfjellet (winter)

Difficulty : Class 1
Exposure : No
Comments : Easy round-trip hike
Distance : Approx. 6,3Km round-trip
Time : Approx. 2,5-3 hours round-trip (w/o pause)
Starting Elev.: Approx. 270m
Vertical Gain : Approx. 400m

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. Drive across Gullbotn, down to Samnangerfjorden, pass Bjørkheim and two tunnels before you turn reach the RV 48 junction (Tysse/Mundheim)

Alternative 1:

Proceed on RV 7, and drive across Kvamskogen to Norheimsund. Turn right onto RV 49 (Gjermundshamn/Mundheim) at the main junction in Norheimsund (approx. 40,9Km from the RV 7/E16 junction at Trengereid) Follow RV 49 for approx. 25,1Km and turn left towards "Haukås". Drive 100m and turn left towards "Haukås" in the following junction. Follow the Haukås road for approx. 3,3Km. To your left, you should see the "Holsetervegen" sign. 100m back down the road, you see a road leading up to a few farms. This is your return route. Find parking along side the road.

Alternative 2:

At the RV 7/48 junction, turn right onto RV 48 (Tysse/Mundheim). Drive through Fusa to Mundheim (approx. 41,5Km). At Mundheim, turn left onto RV 49. Follow RV 49 for approx. 16,3Km. Turn right towards "Haukås". Follow the Haukås road as described for alternative 1.

Alternative 3:

From Bergen, drive towards Os and take the Hatvik - Venjaneset ferry. At Venjaneset, turn left onto RV 552 towards Eikelandsosen. At Eikelandsosen, turn right and follow RV 48 for approx. 25Km to Mundheim. At Mundheim, turn left onto RV 49 and drive approx. 16,3Km. Turn right towards "Haukås". Follow the Haukås road as described for alternative 1.

The route

Follow Holsetervegen for approx. 1,7Km. When you see the "Haukåsfjellet" trailsign (right hand side of the road), turn left (west), leave the road and head up the forest on a trail. The trail is marked with "T" painted in red, here and there. I was able to follow this trail up to 510m elevation, where the trail disappeared in snow. The rest of the route towards Storlinuten runs over easy terrain. The trail takes a northwest course up to 470m elevation. Then the trail turns southwest towards Storlinuten.

From Storlinuten, follow the high ridge for approx. 670m to Haukåsfjellet summit. The summit is marked by a proper cairn.

Return back to the pass between Storlinuten and Haukåsfjellet. Turn east and seek down to the stream from Svartetjørna. Continue until you reach a point where another stream joins in. Locate a trail that runs along the stream on the north side. This trail joins a wider trail at 370m elevation. This trail leads down to the øvre Haukås farms. Go between the farm buildings and follow the road down to the parking.

Trip report Nov 28 2004

Yet another grey morning. Just as grey as yesterday, when I drove to Norheimsund and hiked Slåttenuten. Today's destination was Haukåsfjellet by Strandebarm. During breakfast, I was wondering if this would be the last mountain between RV 48 and RV 7, that I still hadn't been to. If not, the to-do list for this region was at least getting shorter.

I had taken a brief look at the map before I left Bergen. Finding Haukås looked trivial. Drive to the north end of Strandebarmsbukta (Strandebarm bay) and follow the road up the valley. I chose to drive across Kvamskogen on the way to Strandebarm, and return via Fusa. When I approached Strandebarmsbukta, I found the exit straight away. The sign said "Skogasel". I couldn't remember seeing that name on the map, anywhere near the mountain, but I didn't let it bother me.

After a while I arrived by a toll booth. The fee was NOK 30,- for passenger cars. I hadn't brought any money, and wondered what to do about it. I suddenly remembered an "emergency box" stored deep in the glove compartment. I found NOK 29,50 in coins, and figured this would be adequate. I had severe problems getting the envelope, full of coins, down the narrow crack in the fee mailbox.

Higher up, the road got icy, and I wondered how far I should continue. A car came down the valley, and I stopped it. A man was driving the car. I told him I was heading towards Haukåsfjellet. He shook his head. "It's almost vertical", he said. I figured he was one of those who always exaggerate things. "It doesn't look too bad on the map", I responded. "Why don't you go from Haukås", he suggested. "That's where I'm heading", I politely replied, yet swallowing a growing irritation.

"No, you're not", he told me, obviously wondering what annoying stranger he had bumped into. "You're in the wrong valley", he continued before I got a chance to get a grip on things. He took a good look at my sneakers, before he drove off. I could swear he was still shaking his head.

I gave the map a carefuly study, and realized that I was not heading towards Haukås. Pride had to be swallowed. I turned around, and found the right exit 1,5Km further east. I drove up to Haukås, where I ran into an old lady out walking her dog. They booth seemed a bit sceptical about running into strangers up here. The dog barked constantly. "Good dog.." didn't work at all. The old lady seemed to lighten up when Troll (my dog) went bananas inside the car.

I quickly explained the reason for my precense, and the old lady gave me useful information about the trail. By 11:00AM, we were on our way. But Troll was in the moody corner, and did a sudden halt after 50m. After putting him in the backpack, I was eager to finally get going. I found the trailsign the old lady had mentioned, and was able to follow a path all the way to 510m elevation before the trail was gone. I adjusted the course towards Storlinuten and headed up. Visibility was low, but there was always a contour of something higher, and it was just a matter of heading upwards.

Storlinuten was not marked in any way, and I continued on the high ridge towards Haukåsfjellet. It had been raining all the way to 600m elevation, but the rain was now replaced by light snow. After 10 minutes, Haukåsfjellet summit suddenly popped out of the fog, and 12:25PM, we were at the summit cairn. I let Troll out of the backpack. He just stood still, shivering. I had wrapped him in warm fleeze sweaters and didn't get fooled by the famous "dachs shiver". I handed him a lunch box, and the shivers vanished into the fog.

Following my tracks down the mountain seemed a bit boring, so I headed straight down the forest. I wasn't concerned about wandering astray here. I was bound to run into Holsetervegen at one point. Half-way down the mountain, I ran into a forest trail which took me all the way down to the farms at øvre Haukås. By 13:20PM, we were back at the car.

Pictures from the Nov 28 2004 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. Lake Sneldevatnet and Holsetervegen (204KB) 2. Toll booth on Holsetervegen (105KB) 3. Not too much snow on the road (111KB) 4. Time to leave the road (183KB) 5. Heading up the forest (105KB) 6. Barely signs of a forest trail (85KB) 7. A simple rule - move upwards (85KB) 8. Below Storlinuten (253KB) 9. Pond between Storlinuten and Haukaasfjellet (187KB) 10. Haukaasfjellet summit (168KB) 11. Haukaasfjellet summit cairn (86KB) 12. Limited views from the summit (252KB) 13. Waterfall below Haukaasfjellet (126KB) 14. Two streams unite (150KB) 15. Waterfall down in the forest (103KB) 16. My return route ended near the trailhead (111KB) 17. The Haukaas trailhead (261KB)

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Pictures from other hikes:

1. Strandebarm (254KB)

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