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Liafjellet is located above the place Sjøholt by Storfjorden and offers very fine views and an easy forest walk. Of Ørskog kommune's 15 independent mountains exceeding 300m elevation, Liafjellet comes in 12th place - being one of the lowest mountains in Ørskog. In terms of the "primary factor", Liafjellet comes in 3rd place, and as we all know by now - high primary factor equals very fine views.
Liafjellet's normal routes run from Sjøholt and Apalset. Both routes are described on this web-page. The hikes takes only 50-60 minutes and should fit everyone.
The 1:50,000 map states that Liafjellet's trig. point (UTM 32 V 384899 6930258) is 528m, but a closer discussion is called for: Økonomisk Kartverk (Ø.K., 1:15,000) states that the high point is located a bit further east (32 V 385347 6930417) on the summit ridge, and measures 533,2m. Based on my own observations, I doubt this is true. When standing on the eastern high point, my GPS averaged 525m over a 10-minute period. The GPS elevation at the trig. point was 528m. Also based on how I perceived the terrain, I very much doubt that there is a higher point east of the trig. point. So in this case, I "overrule" the information from Ø.K., which I normally rely on.
Liafjellet (M711: 528m, Ø.K.: 528,34, UTM 32 V 384899 6930258) has a primary factor of 380m towards the higher parent mountain Lebergsfjellet (628m). The defining saddle (approx. UTM 32 V 387401 6931457) is found at the base of Liafjellet's northeast ridge. Ref. Økonomisk Kartverk (5m contours), the saddle is within the range 145m-150m, interpolated to 148m.
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.
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Apalset - Liafjellet (summer/autumn)
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Access
From Ålesund, follow highway E136->E39 towards Åndalsnes. From the E136/E39/Olsvika roundabout near Breivka, follow E39 approx. 24,4Km. You are now at Apalset and have a bus-stop on either side of the road. Either park down here, or drive up to the road end (1Km) and find parking up there. You will see the "Liafjellet" trailsign at the upper parking at 140m elevation.
The route
Follow the forest path northwest until it turns north->northeast and climbs Liafjellet's west ridge. At first, you go through open forest, then through a short section of dense forest before the terrain opens up again. At 360m elevation the path shifts from the north side of the ridge, to the south side. The summit is just a short hill away, marked by a trig. point. There is a mailbox close to the trig. point that may contain a visitor register.
You will clearly see the second high point (discussed in the "Introduction" section above) 474m to the east/northeast. The walk across the ridge is recommended. You can see down on both sides of the ridge, but don't be alarmed. The ridge is NOT airy!
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Solnørdal road - Liafjellet (summer/autumn)
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Access
From Ålesund, follow highway E136->E39 towards Åndalsnes. From the E136/E39/Olsvika roundabout near Breivka, follow E39 27,5Km to the "Solnørdal" junction in Sjøholt. Turn left here, and then immediately right before you turn left on "Solnørdalvelgen" road. Follow this road 2Km (from highway E39) and you will see the "Liafjellet" trailsign on the left-hand side of the road. There is parking on the right-hand side of the road.
The route
Follow a well-worn path all the way to the top. When you approach a cabin at approx. 430m, the path forks. Go right (not towards the cabin). The path is a bit vague across a meadow, but you should easily be able to follow it. Above 500m elevation, the path runs on the south side of the high ridge.
Me and the dog ("Troll") left the trailhead along the road to Solnørdalen 18:25PM. Seldom have I been more bored on the way to a mountain. The hillside never seemed to end, and there were nothing to look at until I reached 500m elevation. This path should have run directly from Sjøholt, with fjord views throughout the hike.
We reached the top 19:25PM. I decided to take the pictures from the east top (470m east/northeast from the summit) as I took panorama pictures from the main summit when I visited this top in January. On the way down, I met 5-6 hikers, all women. I didn't stop to chat, although the dog tried to. We were back at the trailhead 20:00PM. Useful exercise, although this wasn't a trip for the "book of memories". The views were nice, though.
To Liafjellet
360 deg. wide-angle panorama from the east top
50mm + zoom view from Liafjellet
Other pics from Liafjellet
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The weather wasn't exactly great this Saturday, but it could have been much worse. It had been snowing in the mountains, and I knew that the cold wind that was sweeping across the coastline would be very unpleasant for my little four-legged friend named Troll, being stuck in the backpack. So I chose to stick in the lowlands. I also had to wait around for a guy to install a satellite dish, and while the guy was doing his job, I headed towards Liafjellet.
I chose to drive up from Apalset and was on my way 12:15PM. I noticed the trailsign that said "Liafjellet, 50min". Troll was in the backpack. He could clearly walk on the path that had just a thin layer of snow, but I knew he would sit down in protest and give me headache. I lost the path (due to more snow) at 320m elevation, but hiking was still fairly easy. The snow was hard and the route ahead was obvious.
I let Troll out of the backpack a bit higher up. We reached the top 13:05PM, which meant that it had taken us exactly - 50 minutes to the top. Amazing... The wind was very cold up here and I had to put on more clothes and protect my face.
I had done my "homework" and knew there was a higher top further east. From the trig. point, this seemed to be correct. I enjoyed the hike across the ridge, and so did Troll. He ran ahead of me, stopping now and then to make sure I was following. It took us only 5 minutes across the ridge, but when I arrived the eastern point, the trig. point (where I came from) now seemed to be the highest point. I let my GPS compute the average elevation for 10 minutes while taking pictures. I wrapped Troll in my Gore-Tex jacket, and he seemed to be fine for the time being.
The GPS stated that the average elevation was 525m, and I was quite confused. It is seldom that the 1:15,000 maps are wrong. But so they seemed to be in this case. We headed back and took another waypoint at the trig. point. Again, the GPS reported 528m as the average. Troll was very eager to get back down, and by 12:30PM, we were on way. It took us only 30 minutes back to the car and within the next minute we were on our way back to Ålesund.
When I arrived the house, the dish-guy had just completed the installation, and now I had satellite TV. Good timing!
To Liafjellet
Wide-angle summit views, 360 degrees
50mm summit views, 360 degrees
Other summit views
Descent via the high point
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