Norwegian Mountains, Møre og Romsdal
Sandsøya
Dollsteinhola & Dollsteinen, Jan 25 2009
To the main Sandsøya page (maps,
route descriptions, other trip reports, etc.)
My eyes were set on Snøhornet in Vanylven
for the next day (Sunday). But then my friend
Åsmund called and invited me to join him and Olaug on Sandsøya.
They were planning to visit the Dollsteinhola cave, which I had heard about, but
knew nothing about. I figured that once there, I could also visit Dollsteinen,
which was a top on my list of Sande mountains.
I really appreciated the invitation and responded with a yes immediately. I also
looked forward to hike with Olaug for the first time.
Åsmund, Olaug and their lovable
dog Ronja camped on Sandsøya, and I met them along the shore on Sunday morning.
It was a gorgeous spring-like day, and except for the shiny white Saudehornet in
the distance, nothing revealed that we were still in January. Man, I envied
them camping out! With the camera
in my hand, I was like a 6-year old boy, running around, watching the waves roll in. On a day
with no wind.
Ahhhh....
(Click for larger image)
Ronja made us aware that there were wild sheep and
goats on Sandsøya island. Upon my first visit to
this island in 2007, I couldn't recall seeing any sheep. But then I remembered
that there were deer on the island. Ronja understood that she wasn't allowed to bother the wildlife, but this
rule did not seem to apply to the eagles. Ronja also learned that Minks under
rocks were to be left alone, but we hadn't thought of applying rules regarding
sheep cadavers. Ronja got herself a good, long roll on top of
one and was instantly "alienated" for the next hour.
Eagles vs. Goats & Sheep
(Click for larger image)
We arrived at the Dollsteinhola
entrance, and Olaug and me went in. Åsmund was keeping Ronja company. Olaug
turned around after the muddy descent. Then Åsmund came along and we
went exploring the cave. We got to a point where we (literally) had to squeeze
ourselves through a very narrow opening. Neither one of us is particularly fat, but we
really struggled to get through. We could have, and would have managed, but
we concluded that this was probably a dead end and went on to explore the upper
corridors instead. This may well have been a mistake, as we never found the main chamber.
The cave was altogether fun, even
if later on I had to throw away the asbestos suit I was wearing. It had been
given to me by my former and excellent neighbour Pål, and I remember wondering
"when will I ever be in need of an asbestos suit?". The main
chamber will have to go on the to-redo list and be visited sometime in
the future. At this point in time, I wanted a mountain top more than further
exploring a cave.
Inside Dollsteinhola
(Click for larger image) Once
out of the cave, we noticed that Olaug and Ronja were already on their way to Dollsteinen. We
caught up with them higher up on the mountain. Ascending Dollsteinen was
easier than I had anticipated, and it felt a bit sad to not have been in need for the crampons,
ice-axe, rope, harness, nuts, carbiners and slings that I had brought along. At
least Åsmund had a good laugh about my well-equipped backpack. Humoring
others is something I live and die for... Dollsteinen
was a very nice place to be. Olaug sunk into the ground and it looked as if she
intended to stay for a while. The Rinden mountain obscured some of the view
towards the Sunnmøre mountains, but it didn't matter. For the first time in my
life, I enjoyed just looking at the ocean. Two supertankers looked tiny. We just
sat there and waited to see if they would collide. They didn't...
View from Dollsteinen
(Click for larger image)
After a while, it was time to get back to
reality, which involved ferry planning. After returning to Skare, Åsmund & Olaug had to pack
their tent, and I went on my first 2009 roof-in-the-trunk drive. And humored
quite a number of Sandsøya locals. Don't they know I have a rear-view mirror?
Once back home, I
was a bit restless. It must have been the nice weather. So I had to go
hiking again. Rjåhornet (600m) and Huldrehornet (271m) secured 1250 vertical
meters on this Sunday. A weekend without at least 2000 vertical meters isn't a
proper weekend. Is it? |