Norwegian Mountains, Møre og Romsdal

Seten (723m), Kyrfjellet (768m), Oct 11 2009


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Seten and Kyrfjellet seen from Syvden

Seten and Kyrfjellet seen from Syvden
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The time had come to visit Kyrfjellet - a mountain I didn't know anything about, except for its location. I had recently visited Svartetua on the other side of Saurdalen, and got a glimpse of Kyrfjellet in the fog. It didn't strike me as impressive, but it looked quite interesting on the map. And so I had been looking forward to this hike.

Snow had fallen above 500m, but I didn't consider bringing either skis nor snowshoes. In fact, once in a while, I enjoy a good snow struggle.

I chose to head out from the Saurdalen side, and followed a forest road up to the point where the path to Seten began. The path up the forest was difficult to see, and it didn't take long before I stopped looking for it. The forest ridge was easy enough. Slightly steep (as in strenuous), but easy. When I reached the snow, the hike changed for "average" to brilliant. The contrasts between the snow mountain, the green valleys and the blue fjords were just everything you can hope for. I reached the top of Seten 1:38pm - 1h:21m after leaving the trailhead at 30m. And I enjoyed myself big-time!

On Seten

On Seten
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Next stop was Kyrfjellet, which I could see 1,5km to the south/southwest. If I hadn't been mentally prepared for a snow struggle, then the mere walk would have concerned me. The snow simply did not carry my weight, and walking was strenuous, to say the least.

What did worry me was that the ascent route to Kyrfjellet looked quite steep. Not that a steep ascent is a worry in itself, but it wouldn't be fun to have to turn around just below the summit. The only thing to do was to head over there and see how it looked like.

 

On the way to Kyrfjellet

On the way to Kyrfjellet
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As I got closer to the mountain, it was clear that the only thing I had to worry about was hard snow in the hill above the Seten - Kyrfjellet saddle. I had an ice-axe, but without crampons, this would be a no-no hill. But the snow was just soft enough to let me kick steps, and the ascent went without any problems. I looked back towards Seten and just couldn't believe how cool this ridge looked, especially with snow.

 

The ridge from Seten to Kyrfjellet

The ridge from Seten to Kyrfjellet
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I reached the top of Kyrfjellet 2:26pm (2h:09m after leaving the trailhead), took the usual round of pictures and enjoyed the day and the views before I had to decide what to do next. Should I return the way I came, or descend into Ripsdalen? It was tempting to do a round trip walk, even if I would end up on the "wrong side" of the mountain. But that was the option I settled for, and I continued southwest along the ridge.

Throughout the walk across the ridge, I had a superb view towards the Blæjeskardtinden - Blæja massif - mountains I still haven't been to. There is a good chance that they will be visited some time during 2010...

 

The Blæja mountain region

The Blæja mountain region
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The descent into Ripsdalen went quite smooth, and the Ripsdalelva was easy to cross. After a little a while I passed a small bridge which is probably useful when there is more water in the river. As I walked along the Ripsdalen road, I expected that I would have to follow the road all the way down to Reiten, and then follow the Saurdalen road 800m to the car. But when I reached Ripsdalssætra, a man told me that I could easily get on the forest road I came up.

The same man nodded towards my ice-axe on the backpack and asked me if I was out hunting. "Hunting with an ice-axe?", I replied - confused by the question. It turned out that he mistook my axe for a rifle. 

 

Ripsdalssætra

Ripsdalssætra
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At Trøvelsletta, I crossed Ripsdalselva one more time (across a bridge) and followed the forest road which took me back to Saurdalen. The hike took 4h:25m and was absolutely one of the nicest walks I did in 2009.

 

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 Seten

0A. Trip tracks 0B. Trip profile 1. Seten and (a bit of) Kyrfjellet 2. Fuglehovudet and Blåfelden 3. The trailhead ahead 4. Leave the forest road here 5. Up the forest 6. A short break 7. The Blæja mountain region 8. Litleblæja 9. On snow 10. View towards Syvden 11. Approcahing Seten 12. The final yards to Seten 13. Ripsdalssætra 14. A few humps 15. Saurdalsvatnet mirror 16. Contrasts 17. On Seten

Wide-angle view from Seten

18. Wide-angle view from Seten

To Kyrfjellet

19. Kyrfjellet 20. Fuglehovudet - Svartetua - Blåfelden 21. Blæja region 22. Hornelen 23. Høgenipa between Syvden and Dalsfjorden 24. If I could only understand.. 25. Approaching Kyrfjellet 26. Closing in on the steep section 27. Looking back on Seten 28. In the steepest section 29. View down the steepest section 30. Ripsdalssætra 31. Looking back on Seten 32. Almost up 33. Ripsdalen 34. On top of Kyrfjellet 35. Happy!

Wide-angle view from Kyrfjellet

36. Wide-angle view from Kyrfjellet

Zoom views from Kyrfjellet

37. Zoom view from Kyrfjellet 38. Zoom view from Kyrfjellet 39. Zoom view from Kyrfjellet

Descent

40. Looking back on Seten 41. Svartetua massif 42. Kilebrekkvatnet and Saurdalen 43. Descending, looking back 44. Blæja region 45. On the Ripsdalen road 46. Bridge across Ripsdalselva 47. Rustvingespinnner - Phragmatobia fuliginosa - Ruby Tiger 48. Sætrevatnet 49. View up the mountain 50. Ripsdalssætra 51. Descending Ripsdalen 52. The bridge to the forest road 53. Up the forest road 54. Litleblæja

Along Syvdsfjorden

55. The route up Seten 56. Syvdsalpane 57. Syvdsalpane detail 58. Syvdsalpane

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