Norwegian Mountains, Møre og Romsdal

Rødlandstua and the west ridge, Oct 14 2007

This ascent route is described as route #1 on the Rødlandstua main page.


Åsmund...

had recently got himself a new dog - Ronja, 14 weeks old. She's a mix of Rottweiler and Doberman. Mostly Rottweiler. Sadly, his previous dog died on a mountain trip not too long ago, and I was glad when I heard that he had got himself a new one. Let bygones be bygones, cherish the memories and start again.

Three days earlier, Åsmund and Ronja joined me and my dog Troll for a trip up the Trollråsa path to Sukkertoppen. For some odd reason, this Rottweiler/Doberman crossing seemed to have a profound respect for my little four-legged buddy. I figured that meeting Troll again, soon after, would do her good. I called Åsmund and asked if they would join us for a trip to Rødlandstua.

Rødlandstua...

is an underrated forest top in the Ålesund region. It seems to have its loyal group of visitors, but I wonder if the masses that pay everyday visits to Sukkertoppen, Aksla, Sulafjellet, Høgkubben, etc., have ever been to this top. I've enjoyed it ever since I visited it for the first time in January 2006, less than a month after moving to Ålesund. I've been there in all seasons, before and after dark. It's a quiet area. On my 18 visits to this top, I've only met one hiker. Åsmund likes this area too. He's been here a number of times, and covered most routes.

These days, I was in going for...

roundtrips and traverses. I suggested that we could hike up the normal route, descend the west ridge and then to the underpass. Åsmund agreed. I parked my car at the underpass east of Reitane, and Åsmund picked me up there. Actually, his wife did, before dropping us off at the normal Rødlandstua trailhead. And by 13:30PM, we were on our way upwards.

Ronja and Troll got along, without much contact. I think Ronja found the ol' man to be grumpy and kept the necessary distance. Troll's not too keen on newbies. He likes to sniff scents on the road, and one better not interfere..

And then came...

a girl. An acquaintance of Åsmund, it turned out. She kept us company up to the top, which we arrived 13:54PM. The weather was OK, but not thrilling. It was raining, and combined with the lack of good daylight, it was difficult to take pictures.

We said goodbye...

to the girl and headed down towards the west ridge. Troll was in the backpack now. He had walked all the way up to the forest ridge, but got tired. I let him out on the forest ridge, but this terrain was just too cumbersome for him. We chatted and laughed our way down the forest. In our loudest moment, Åsmund suddenly noticed that we were passing next to a deer hunter. No small talk. Åsmund just whispered a quiet oops, sorry, and we moved on. We passed another party a few minutes later, but I don't think they saw us. 

We then headed for the forest road that I had walked in December 2006. I got myself some mighty fine pictures on that walk, so I knew the area. We reached the underpass 15:30PM, 2 hours after we left the other trailhead. We noticed a sign saying "Jakt pågår" (deer hunt is on) at the forest road gate. I pondered on what they really were trying to tell us.

a) Stay away from this area. We're shooting deer, and we don't like hikers.
b) If we shoot you, it's your own fault.

That seemed to be the logical options. Everyone know the hunt is on. If you don't know, you're likely to miss Christmas too....   

Pictures from the Oct 14 2007 trip

Note: Poor image quality due to difficult lighting conditions.

Slideshow:

Map of the route

0. Map of the route (414KB)

To Rødlandstua

1. On the way to Rødlandstua (515KB) 2. The dogs keeping the necessary distance (434KB) 3. Photo session (435KB) 4. Getting company (372KB) 5. Arriving Rødlandstua (317KB) 6. View from Rødlandstua (250KB)

Down the west ridge

7. The west ridge (302KB) 8. Descending Rødlandstua (322KB) 9. Towards the west ridge (299KB) 10. Crossing a meadow (244KB) 11. Looking back on Rødlandstua (403KB) 12. On the west ridge (268KB) 13. Looking back on Rødlandstua (259KB) 14. Ronja, learing as she goes (447KB) 15. City view (129KB) 16. Joining a forest road (422KB) 17. An odd section of the forest road (384KB) 18. On a proper forest road (384KB) 19. Our transport back home (359KB)

No Javascript:

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19


westcoastpeaks.com Other Møre & Romsdal mountains Other Norwegian mountains