Hikletten, 494m

Mountain area : Osterøy
Fylke/Kommune : Hordaland/Vaksdal
Maps : 1216-III Stanghelle; (Statens Kartverk, Norge 1:50 000)
Primary Factor: 136m
Hiked : June 2003
See also : Høgafjellet
See also : Rispingen
See also : Brøknipa
Hikletten seen from the forest road

Hikletten seen from the forest road

Introduction

Hikletten can be seen from highway E16, as you arrive Stanghelle. But unless you're looking for this mountain in particular, it will be a mountain gone unnoticed. From this side, Hikletten appears as a modest hump between the higher Rispingen and Høgafjellet. However, when walking down Lonedalen valley, the steep eastern side gets your attention. This mountain would have blended in perfectly with the steep mountains around Toskedalen, further north on Osterøy.

Hikletten is non-typical name in Hordaland. "Klett" is a dialectic description of a mountain, based on its appearance. In additon to Hikletten, you will also find forest hills named Nonkletten, Sørkletten and Anorkletten further north-west on Osterøy. In the northern Østerdalen areas, you will find many peaks that ends with "Kletten". At first, I associated this name with smaller and less charactersitic peaks. But that was before I hiked Storsølnkletten near Alvdal. The thing to note is that "Kletten" is not used in the daily spoken language in Hordaland Fylke. Instead, you will find names such as "Horgi", "Såto" and "Nipa",

"Hi" (as in Hikletten) means a winter lair. Apparently, the name was derived from a bear that hibernated below the mountain, a long time ago.

As Hikletten is "squeezed in" between the higher Høgafjellet and Rispingen, and also due to higher mountains just across Sørfjorden, the views are somewhat obscured. However, the view towards the south parts of Sørfjorden is great, and you will most likely not regret having taken the trip, if you one day find yourself on the summit of Hikletten.

Primary Factor

Hikletten has a primary factor of 136m, towards the higher Høgafjellet (868m). The saddle is just north of Hikletten, measured to 358m (357,5m) on Norgesglasset's 5m detail map.

If you just dropped in on this page, without knowing what primary factor is - imagine the sea rose to 357m. Then you would see the path where you could walk from Hikletten towards Høgafjellet without stepping into the sea. This is the "high route". The lowest point on the high route is what we call the "saddle", and the height of the saddle determines the primary factor; height of mountain - saddle height = primary factor.

Trail descriptions:

Note: Class ratings are in reference to YDS (Yosemite Decimal System).

Lonadalen - Hikletten (summer/autumn)

Difficulty : Class 1
Comments : See route description below
Distance : Approx. 3,5Km to summit
Time : Approx. 2 hours to summit
Starting Elev.: Approx. 240m
Vertical Gain : Approx. 300m (total, both ways)

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

Access

From Bergen, follow highway E16 towards Oslo. Exit towards Osterøy and pay toll just after the Osterøybrua bridge (NOK 40,- for passenger cars per June 2003). Turn right just after the toll station and drive 200m up to a junction where you turn right. Follow this road for approx. 18,2Km and pass Bruvik before the road switchbacks steep up towards Trollskardet and then descends towards lake Storavatnet. After 18,2Km, turn right onto a gravel road marked "Hesjedalsbotnen/Træet TH". Follow this road for approx. 5,1Km to Blomdalsleitet where the road is blocked by a gate. Parking is available just before the gate. There is also a trail towards Rispingen starting at the parking. Note that when you pass Heggebotnen on this 5,1Km road, the road quality drops significantly. However, driving on this road in summer offers no problems, whatsoever.

The route

Go through the gate, and follow the forest road for approx. 1,8Km. You will be passing "Træet" on your left, next to a waterfall. This hut is owned by Bergen Turlag. When you arrive lake Botnavatnet (just after passing a marked trail towards Høgafjellet, running up Hesjedalen), you see some buildings up to your left. Notice a hanging tree that stands out from the rest. Leave the road and go past this tree, then aim between the two houses above the tree. The rightmost house has a fence and a gate. Go towards this fence, but not through the gate. Instead, locate a vague path just before the fence. Follow this open alley just up the hill, and the trail becomes more distinct.

The trail runs north and you will walk along the east face of Hikletten. After rain, this trail is soaking wet. Not only do you pass over boggy ground, but that path is narrow and the bushes are high. Bring appropriate clothing and boots. Follow Hikletten's steep side until the path starts descending towards Sørfjorden. Descend slightly (about a minute's walk) and locate a visible trail that forks off to the right. If there were no trails, this is where you would have chosen to ascend Hikletten, after walking around half the mountain.

Follow the trail as it climbs towards the summit. At one point, the trail disappears next to a tiny creek coming from a small cave. Go right here. You're just minutes away from the summit plateau. Then continue south until you reach the summit. Note that the largest cairn denotes the best Sørfjorden view. The summit cairn is slightly further away towards SW. Descend your ascent route.

Trip report June 21 2003

As low pressure was dominating the region, I didn't feel like walking around in the high mountains, seeing nothing but white. I left Bergen with no particular destination, and paid attention to the height of the clouds. They seemed to stay around 500m, so I decided to go towards Hikletten on Osterøy. I am close to having been to all the ranked mountains on this island, so I looked forward to getting another. From the map, it seemed I could drive almost to the base of the mountain, but on the way down Lonedalen, I ran into a gate. But it was only a few kilometres to the mountain, so it didn't matter much. Besides, the dog would get a easy start of today's walk. And as we left the trailhead at 13:00PM, he walked happily on the mountain road towards Botnen and lake Botnavatnet.

I was prepared to fight my way up through bushes on the south ridge, but decided to ask for a trail if I walk by a house. At Botnen, I saw smoke come out of a pipe, and I knocked on the door. I had a long and nice conversation with the owner. He had a lot of interesting stories to tell. I asked why this part of the island belonged to Vaksdal Kommune, and not Osterøy. As he put it, this part of the island belonged to the former Bruvik Kommune, and the main means of transportation back then was boat. And it is only a short trip across Sørfjorden to Stanghelle, where one would find doctor, priest, post and other everyday services. Back in the old days, there were no roads leading to Hesjedalen, so Lonevåg, the Osterøy Kommune centre was quite remote, compared to Stanghelle. As such, the people living in Bruvik Kommune wanted to be a part of Vaksdal when Bruvik Kommune became a part of Osterøy Kommune. Of course, as always, the community financial prosperity also played a significant role. This is perhaps the over-simplified version, but I found it reasonable enough to mention it on this page.

He also pointed out a trail that went northbound, alongside Hikletten. He described the trail so well that there was never any mistake. After having chatted with him for over twenty minutes, we arrived the summit 14:45PM. Rain came and rain went. The views were obscured by clouds, but it wasn't hard to imagine that this summit was a great place to be in good weather. We stayed on the summit until 15:00PM, and then returned to the car. Troll was in a good walking mood today, and hiked all the way. We reached the car 15:55PM. I considered a hike up to Rispingen, but the dog seemed to be so happy about being back at the car, that I didn't want to crush his spirit. Instead, I took him on a nice and rainy hike to Ulriken when we got back to Bergen.

Pictures from the June 21 2003 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.
Pictures are presented in the order they were taken.

Hikletten seen from the forest road (55KB) Passing the Bergen Turlag cabin (189KB) Time to fork of the main path (124KB) Mystic mood on the way to Hikletten (66KB) View from Hikletten (119KB) Troll on Hikletten (92KB) Summit view from Hikletten (192KB) The road down Lonedalen, seen from Hikletten (242KB) The start of the trail, seen from Botnen (185KB) Hikletten and Botnen seen on the way home (157KB)

Pictures from other hikes:

Hikletten seen from Rispingen (208KB)


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