Norwegian Mountains, Nordland

Holmshatten, July 5 2009


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Holmshatten/Holmsfjellet

Holmshatten/Holmsfjellet
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It was the summer holiday, and I was on the way from Ålesund to Brønnøysund (900km). I had visited Snøhetta (2296m) earlier in the day, which made the drive seem a little bit "shorter" than it normally does. The slow-moving caravans along E6 drove me nuts, and soon after passing Steinkjer, I "escaped" onto RV17 (Kystriksveien) - knowing well that I wouldn't make the last ferry between Holm and Vennesund. So be it! I had brought a tent and was already considering the possibility of hiking Holmshatten in the morning.

Long before arriving at Holm, I started looking for a campsite. I found a perfect one just before Holm, and had the campsite fully operational half an hour later. It was already past midnight, and as I was quite tired after a long day on the road (and on the mountain) - I quickly fell asleep.

 

July 4th was a LONG day!

July 4th was a LONG day!
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I woke up very early the next morning, tried to sleep some more, but couldn't. So I packed my things and drove to Holm. At first, I couldn't figure out where the trail to Holmshatten began. While looking for a trailhead on the road to Hall (which was the wrong way), a moose jumped out in front of the car. I was driving real slow, so there was never any risk of a collision.

Normally, I would just ring a doorbell and save myself some time, but it was 7am, Sunday morning and I assumed that not everyone might be up at this hour. I would just have to look some more. Eventually, I figured out where the route was. I should probably have parked down by the harbour, but I was lazy and parked next to the house where the forest road begins ( I hope I didn't wake anyone up). 7:08am, I was on my way to Holmshatten.

Moose

Moose
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It was a beautiful morning, and the path was easy to follow. Flies tried their best to drive me crazy, but didn't succeed. After a long plod to the south, the path finally took direction towards the mountain (east). Nothing in particular happened on the way up the mountain, but that was about to change when I reached the summit 8:18am.

I had a look around, and made a mental note about a tiny rainwater pool 50-60m away from the summit cairn. Once I started taking pictures, I heard strange sounds coming from this pool. I took another look, and - to my huge surprise - I was looking at a reindeer herd (approx. 50 in total).

It felt as if I had woken them up. They could obviously see me (standing in full profile next to the cairn), but it seemed that they prioritised the morning routines over just taking off. I sat down and watched them for 7-10 minutes before they started leaving. Wow! This was surely the wildlife moment of the day. What are the odds of bumping into a reindeer herd up on a mountain top? I've come across reindeer a few times over the years, but this was different. I was looking straight into their lair. 

 

Reindeer on Holmshatten

Reindeer on Holmshatten
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One of the reindeers seemed unwell, and I wondered if it would be able to get up as the herd started moving out. It eventually did, and a minute later they were all gone. I signed the visitor's register, and noticed that my mom had been up here a couple of weeks earlier.

The time was now 8:30am, and I had the choice between running down the mountain to get on the 9am ferry, or taking it easy and be down in due time for the 10am one. I chose the latter. On my way down, I saw the reindeer again. They were perhaps 300m away but this time they wanted to be left alone. Once they spotted me, they were gone within seconds.

It was tough to just stroll down the mountain, knowing I could have reached the 9am ferry - which I could see come in from Vennesund. Once again, I resisted the temptation of running and I felt a bit proud of myself. Down in the forest, I passed a huge rock that I just had to take a closer look at. There was no easy way up, so it had to be climbed. After a couple of attempts, I succeeded.

I was back at the trailhead 9:30am, very satisfied about the events this morning. The drive from Sunnmøre to Brønnøysund had been content-rich, and now I just looked forward to breakfast at mom's house...

 

Holm

Holm
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Next report: Vikerfjellet

Pictures

The first set of pictures were taken with a Canon EOS 450D + Canon EF-S 17-85mm IS USM F 4-5.6.

 
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To Holm

1. Heilhornet, LATE evening 2. My campsite 3. My campsite 4. Sunset

To Holmshatten

0A. Trip tracks 0B. GPS profile 5. Holmshatten 6. A moose 7. On the way 8. Passing a field 9. In the forest 10. A huge rock 11. Middagstinden ahead 12. Harerug - Bistorta vivipara - Alpine bistort 13. A small valley 14. On the way up a ridge 15. On the summit

Reindeer on Holmshatten

16. Reindeer on Holmshatten 17. Reindeer on Holmshatten 18. Reindeer on Holmshatten 19. Reindeer on Holmshatten 20. Reindeer on Holmshatten

Wide-angle views from Holmshatten

21. Wide-angle view from Holmshatten 22. Wide-angle view from Holmshatten

Zoom views from Holmshatten

23. Zoom view from Holmshatten 24. Zoom view from Holmshatten 25. Zoom view from Holmshatten 26. Zoom view from Holmshatten 27. Zoom view from Holmshatten

Descent + the drive to Brønnøysund

28. Holm 29. Cool cliffs 30. Leaving Holm 31. Holmshatten 32. Heilhornet 33. Towards Vennesund 34. Skårfjellet 35. Sundsfjellet 36. Ramntinden 37. Ramntinden

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