Norwegian Mountains - Route Descriptions - Meraftafjellet, Ursfjellet, Vasstrandfjellet, Spjelkavikfjellet, Høgkubben, Haugtua

Norwegian Mountains, Møre og Romsdal

Meraftafjellet from Nonsvika, Apr 4 2007

This route is described as route 14 on the Uksenøya main page.

The bad Easter weather continued. I spent all morning trying to "size up" the weather, and concluded that it was a snowshower day. This meant that I could get "lucky" and get some sunshine, if I only I managed to get my butt out the door. An incoming hailshower made me go for a hike in the local region. I knew there would be a strong, cold southwest wind in the mountains, so I started looking for a mountain that I could reach from the northeast. Meraftafjellet came up as an alternative. I hadn't been to this mountain since New Year's Eve in 2005, and figured it was high time I visited it again.

My dog "Troll" and I left the trailhead near Nonsvika 14:05PM. I chose to follow the path on the GPS map, which turned out to be a very vague forest path. But after 10 minutes of hiking, I joined a wider forest path that came up from the east. Troll had no interest in walking on this wet path, so I carried him from the trailhead.

Someone had been to Meraftafjellet the same day, and as I entered snow at 220m elevation, I was fortunate to be able to follow these tracks. More importantly, the steps were convenient to follow, now that the daylight made the snow soft as butter. Higher up on the ridge, my ice-axe went all the way down to the shaft in snow, and the (hard) tracks were quite welcome.

It was snowing light when I left the trailhead, but I had sunshine up through the forest. The light was SO intense, and I felt SO lucky to be in this forest. I truly enjoyed the day. No winds. Eventually, I reached the point where I entered on my Dec 31 2005 hike, and I recognized the upper terrain. On my way to point 518m, the weather changed. Visibility was reduced, and the wind was picking up. The snowdrift was quite a sight. The wind was so cold that if I had lost visibility, I might have turned around at point 518m, but I never ran into a white-out. On a hard, snowy, surface, I reached the summit 15:30PM.

I stopped for one picture and turned back around. I let Troll out of the backpack, and he - seemingly happy - ran down the mountain with great enthusiasm. The strong wind painted an icy layer on the left side of his face. At one point, his face looked like a reindeer. For some reason I cannot explain. Back in the forest, the wind decreased, and even if the snow was much softer, Troll was still able to walk on it. With some effort, that is. But walking became easier the lower we went, and soon we were enjoying the day on a cosy forest path.

Back at the drain from Heimste Demmingsvatn, I chose to stay on the path and see where it led us. Eventually, we hit the road only 300m away from the car, 16:40PM. I was so uplifted by this hike. The light, the elements, the colors, the shifting weather. A sequence of good moments. Boy, I was happy that I finally was able to make it across the doorstep.