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Stemmeseggi seen from Hoklane |
Stemmeseggi is a prominent mountain, located south on the island of Osterøy, near the centre of Haus. Stemmeseggi can also be easily seen when traveling from Bergen towards Voss, either by car or train. The mountain connects to the lower Erstadfjellet through a saddle by lake Askedalsvatnet. From Erstadfjellet, one can visit Hånipa, which offers a spectacular view towards Indre and Ytre Arna by Sørfjorden. The drop down to the fjord is almost vertical, so caution is called for.
Numerous trails lead to these mountains, and you will only find a few described on these pages. The hike from Mjeldadalen will do if you just want to visit Stemmeseggi, on a good trail. In addition, I've described a great 10Km round-trip hike over Hånipa, Erstadfjellet and Stemmeseggi, on and off trails. If you are the social kind, and if you can obtain the necesseary information, there is an annual event, where lots of people gather to hike over Stemmeseggi.
Primary Factor
Stemmeseggi (M711: 572m, Ø.K: 571,78m, N60 27.989 E5 30.228)
has a primary factor of 339m towards
the higher Såtefjellet (666m). The saddle is found near a road
junction south of Rødland (Rolland)
Ref. Økonomisk Kartverk (5m contours), you cross the 235m contours
on the high route, but not 230m. The saddle height has been interpolated to 233m.
Erstadfjellet (M711: 466m, Ø.K: 465,72m, N60 28.874 E5 28.748)
has a primary factor of 108m towards the higher Stemmeseggi (572m)
The saddle is found W of lake Askelandsvatnet.
Ref. Økonomisk Kartverk (5m contours), you cross the 360m contours on the high route,
but 355m. The saddle height has been interpolated to 358m.
Hånipa (M711: 346m, Ø.K: 345,61m, N60 29.091 E5 26.672)
has a primary factor of 68m towards the higher Erstadfjellet (466m)
The saddle is found between the two tops.
Ref. Økonomisk Kartverk (5m contours), you cross the 280m contours on the high route,
but not 275m. The saddle height has been interpolated to 278m.
the fence that east-west in the valley between the two mountains (near the
Votlogarden sign). The last adjacent 5m contours are 280m, giving an
interpolated saddle height of 278m.
Note: Class ratings are in reference to YDS
(Yosemite Decimal System).
Trail descriptions:
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Mjeldadalen - Stemmeseggi (all seasons)
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Access
From Bergen, follow E16 towards Oslo. Not too far after the Arnanipa tunnel (approx. 30min from Bergen), exit right towards Osterøy. Cross the Osterøybrua bridge and pay the toll fare (currently NOK 40,-)
From the tool booth, drive towards the Tirsås tunnel (2020m). Approx 2,9Km after the toll booth, exit towards Haus. Drive Approx. 1,1Km towards Haus, and locate a red house with a rack of mailboxes. Above the mailboxes, 3 blue signs (including sign to Stemmeseggi) indicate that this is a trailhead.
There is no official parking. Of courtesy, consider ringing the doorbell and ask for permission.
The route
The trail begins behind the house as a forest road. You walk along a stone fence, before the road to ascend into the forest. At the bottom of the forest you pass a stone cabin on your right hand side. You walk alongside a stream in case you forgot to bring water.
The hike up the forest road is strenuous, although not steep. It's just that kind of angle that could take your breath away. There are a number of smaller roads forking off to the left and the right. Stick to the main road, which is also marked with yellow ribbons. On the top of the hill, you arrive another blue trail sign. If the weather permits, you will now see Stemmeseggi straight ahead.
You will now have to cross a major wetland to get to the base of Stemmeseggi. This crossing alone requires 100% waterproof boots, as I cannot imagine the trail is ever dry. The trail remains to have excellent marking, with both red/white strips in the trees, and poles alongside the trail. You can't go wrong.
After crossing the wetlands, the trail starts to switchback up towards the Stemmeseggi summit. The trail gets smaller, but is still marked well, and visible unless covered with snow. However, the direction to the summit is obvious, so just head on straight up if the snow covers the trail. The true summit is just behind what you can see from the trail.
On the summit, you arrive at a cairn. This is not the high point. Continue just a little longer and you see the high point cairn.
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Askeland - Hånipa - Erstadfjellet - Stemmeseggi round-trip (all seasons)
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Access
Drive to Osterøy, just outside Bergen, over the Osterøybrua bridge. Pass the toll booth where you have to pay a fee. Do not drive throught the Tirsås tunnel, but exit right just after the toll booth. At the very next junction, turn left towards Haus. Approx. 3,9Km after the toll booth, you arrive a road junction in Haus. Drive towards "Votlo 3" and follow this road for approx. 2.6Km where the road Y-forks. Go right and follow the narrow paved road for approx. 800m.
At this point, the road turns sharp to the right by a school and a white building (chapel). Park by the chapel
The trail
To Hånipa
From the parking, follow the gravel road that begins in the sharp curve. The road runs upwards, and just after the uppermost house, the gravel road turns into a forest road. This forest road is an old route, connecting the Reistad and Votlo communities. Follow the forest road NW until you reach an old stone fence where the trail begins to descend towards Reistad. At the fence, you will see the "Votlogarden" sign.
Turn left by the fence, and follow a visible trail westbound along the fence, through the forest. After 10 minutes, you get an amazing view towards Sørfjorden and the communities along the fjord. The trail now turns NW and the trail towards Hånipa runs along the very edge of Osterøy. Below you is an immense drop to the fjord, but as long as you stay on trail, you're safe. The summit is marked by a small pole, painted red and white.
To Erstadfjellet
Go back down to the fence. There is no trail towards Erstadfjellet from this point, so you will need to visit the terrain. Go eastbound along the fence and locate a very narrow sheep track that helps you fight the worst bushes. You then come up to a small meadow. Continue eastbound up to the next ridge, which is bush-free. Adjust course to SE and cross the meadow/wetland until you reach a trail that comes from Reistad. Just after you've found the trail, you will arrive at a very large cairn. The trail continues to the Erstadfjellet cairn, and then eastbound a short stretch to the main summit. There is no cairn on the main summit, but the point is indicated by a red/white pole, secured by wires.
From here ...
Near the Erstadfjellet cairn, you will see a cairn that probably runs directly towards Askeland. If you want a longer hike, then follow the trail sign pointing towards Stemmeseggi, and either go all the way up to Stemmeseggi, or exit down towards Askeland on the Erstadfjellet - Stemmeseggi saddle. A visible trail runs down to Askelandsdalen valley.
The trail up to Stemmeseggi has a gentle angle, and climbs up a ridge on the east side of the mountain. Cross the summit plateau, southbound, in order to reach the summit cairn. From the summit, you can back to the Erstadfjellet - Stemmeseggi saddle and go down the Askelandsdalen valley. Alternatively, go off trail and head directly down towards Askeland. Avoid bushes whenever possible.
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This Saturday morning was cloudy. I decided not to go to any high
mountains, but instead go to Osterøy and do Erstadfjellet.
Then I would have done all the ranked mountains on the south side of
Osterøy. Troll was invited to come along, as it seemed like
his back injury now was healed. On the way to Osterøy, I called
Øyvind Blom, who had supplied good Osterøy information
earlier. He recommended that I drove to Askeland and included Hånipa
on the hike.
His description was right on target. I found the trailhead right away, and headed towards Hånipa. I found the Hånipa trail very interesting. The drop down to the fjord was hilarious. From the summit, I had a clear view to the route ahead towards Erstadfjellet. I hoped that I would find a trail back in the valley. Not so, and there was no other way but fighting my way steep up through bushes before I entered a large boggy meadow where the ground fortunately was frozen. I then joined a trail from Reistad and followed this to the Erstadfjellet summit. On the summit, I decided to extend the hike to include Stemmeseggi. A trail sign indicated that getting there could be done in a civilized manner, and the trail all the way to Stemmeseggi summit was excellent. From Stemmeseggi, I decided to set a course directly towards Askeland, and did not expect to find any trails along the route. The terrain down the mountain was slightly cumbersome. There was no way to avoid sections of dense bush. By now, Troll was riding the backpack. He had done an excellent job of walking everywhere there was a trail. Then suddenly the ground disappeared under me, I fell into a hole, and Troll was thrown out of the backpack. I couldn't keep the balance, and fell over Troll. A short scream under indicated it was time to get up. He looked like he was the victim of the biggest injustice a small dog can suffer from. I apologized as best I could, and was forgiven. We arrived Askeland safe and sound, 3 hours after the departure. A very nice hike. |
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This was hardly a day to go outside at all. But the mountain was
calling, so I settled for a moderate elevation. Stemmeseggi was the
perfect choice, only 30 minutes away from home. When I got there,
the clouds were lighter than in Bergen, only covering the summit.
I felt good. This wasn't bad at all.
I talked to some locals, and was pointed to a series of trails up the mountain (from the Haus side). I settled for the "official" trail where a forest road would take me through the forest. Out of the forest I got a glimpse of Stemmeseggi. The weather was passing like an express train. Quite a sight. And I noticed the winds started to set in. I crossed a wetland which took Troll's spirit away, and I had to put him in the backpack. As the trail started to climb on the mountain, the winds got stronger and I had some difficulty with the balance. On the summit ridge, the raincover over the backpack was ripped off. Troll chose to stay on the ground, somewhat protected by the low bushes. The wind was whipping and I had to peak through my fingers. Behind the summit cairn there was a fraction of shelter, and I handed Troll his lunchbox. Halfway through lunch the winds picked up, and there was no more shelter. The lunchbox took off and passed my face in awesome speed. I watched it fly into thin air. Troll expressed with all of his ability that he wanted to get off this mountain. As I tried to put him into the backpack, he jumped out and ran down the trail, as fast as he could run. I tried to remount the raincover before I headed out. The second I got up, the rain cover was ripped off and hung like a parachute behind the backpack. And Troll was out of sight. I must have been a funny sight running down the mountain with a "parachute" on my back. With moderate speed, I reached the top in one hour, and I was back down at the car 30 minutes after leaving the summit. |
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
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
Other hordaland mountains
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