Norwegian Mountains, Nordland
Dønna

Dønnmannen, July 11 2010


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Dønnmannen

Dønnmannen
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A week had passed since Anne Rudsengen and me arrived at our "base-camp" in Brønnøysund. So far, we'd been very lucky with the weather, and had done several memorable hikes - such as Kjelviktinden, Vega and Romsskåla. But now it seemed that our luck was about to turn, as the weather forecast for the next days was quite miserable. The good news was that the weather seemed to be better higher up along the coastline, so we agreed that if we were to visit Dønnmannen, this would be a good time.

On July 10th, we drove to Sandnessjøen and found our place in the ferry lane. I was overwhelmed by the size of the ferry, especially since we don't have ferries even close to this size on Sunnmøre. And there were certainly enough cars to fill up the ferry, so my conclusion was that Dønna seemed to be a busy place. At least in summer..

We had booked accommodation on the Dønnes Gård farm - located on the north side of the island. On the way there, we stopped to marvel over the infamous phallus rock. Anne is more into cultural stuff than I am, and seemed to have a good time...

 

The phallus on Dønna

The phallus on Dønna
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We checked into Dønnes Gård - a nice place with roots that went a long way back in time. The lady of the mansion greeted us welcome and showed us our room. Everything was old style, and the toilet was out in the hallway. Anne adored the place. To me, it was OK for one night, but in general I'm more than happy about a regular hotel room...

To my delight, we discovered that there was a small mountain (Dønnesfjellet) just above Dønnes Gård, and that its primary factor was >100 meters. A car road leads up to the restaurant on top, and we went there for dinner. The moral dilemma was if I could claim a new top when a car brought me up? Eventually, the answer was Yes I can!, and I found peace at heart...

The next morning, we packed our gear and started to think about Dønnmannen. The weather was just great, and we really looked forward to the hike. But before leaving Dønnes, I wanted to visit Dønnesfjellet one more time to see if I could get a good picture of Lovund. And this famous coastal peak looked utterly beautiful, and I can't wait to get there!

 

 

Leaving Dønnes Gård

Leaving Dønnes Gård
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I had been wanting to visit Dønnmannen for 10 years, and today the dream would come true. I don't think Anne had a clear perception of how the mountain looked like, but I've seen it from Brønnøysund for as long as I can remember. But as we approached Teistadvika, and Dønnmannen rose up in front of us - it looked even more wild and beautiful than I had expected...

 

Dønnmannen comes into view

Dønnmannen comes into view
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We headed out from Teistadvika 9:17am, and followed the well worn (and well marked) path upwards. As we covered ground, the view toward De Syv Søstre got increasingly better, and I enjoyed thinking back on my two trips there.

The hike didn't get really interesting before we reached the ridge at 700 meters, and the rope section a bit higher up. There was no need to use the ropes, so we did not. The view towards the numerous islands between Dønna and Vega was simply astonishing. I tried to identify Blomsøya, as I have roots there, but wasn't able to distinguish one island from the other.

We reached the east top 10:50am, and took a deserved break while enjoying the views. And there was indeed plenty to look at! A mailbox told us that we had arrived on Dønnmannen - 858m, but we knew that the high point was another 500 meters to the west. I really, really dislike misleading signposts...

 

The east top and the summit ridge

The east top and the summit ridge
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It was time to reach the true goal for the day, and we continued across the summit ridge. We reached the high point 11:14am - approx. 2 hours after heading out. Although Dønnmannen was the only target, Nasen (the westernmost top) seemed like an interesting place to visit. I went out and looked for a route along the ridge, but soon concluded that we would have to descend a long way before we could get up to Nasen. I went back up to the high point and continued to enjoy the views...

 

South view from Dønnmannen

South view from Dønnmannen
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After an enjoyable stay at the top, we descended our ascent route and returned to the trailhead 1pm. We still had plenty of time before the ferry departure, so we drove to a bay where Anne could get her swim. While Anne was enjoying the (cold) water, I was daydreaming about Lovund, Hestmannen, Trænstaven and Rødøyløva. I'm not done with the Nordland coastline yet. Not done at all.

 

A good end to a hike

A good end to a hike
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We returned to base-camp Brønnøysund the same day, and got a quick update on the weather forecast. It was still ranging from mediocre to bad, but things looked better to the east. So the next day, we went to Hattfjelldal to visit Hatten.

 

Leaving Dønna

Leaving Dønna
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Pictures

The pictures were taken with a Canon EOS 450D + Canon EF-S 17-85mm IS USM F 4-5.6

 
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Dønnesfjellet, July 10 2010

1. The phallus on Dønna 2. The phallus on Dønna 3. Phallus info (in Norwegian language) 4. Dønnes Kirke (church) 5. The restaurant on Dønnesfjellet 6. Lovund seen from Dønnesfjellet 7. Viewfinder on Dønnesfjellet

To the Dønnmannen trailhead, July 11 2010

8. Leaving Dønnes Gård 9. Lovund seen from Dønnesfjellet 10. Lovund, zoomed in 11. Storbelgen and Litlbelgen on Tomma 12. Tomma island 13. Breidtomma on Tomma island 14. Dønnmannen comes into view 15. Dønnmannen zoomed in

To Dønnmannen's east top

0. Trip tracks 16. Trailhead info 17. On the way 18. Towards the creek 19. A plane above Dønnamannen 20. The trailhead 21. The route; straight ahead 22. Running water 23. Company above us 24. A well marked path 25. Me - dreaming about Hestmannen 26. Arriving on the ridge 27. Views! 28. Rock features 29, Fjellsmelle - Silene acaulis - Moss Campion 30. Moving on 31. The rope section 32. The rope section 33. The rope section 34. De Syv Søstre 35. Litltinden 36. Vega tops 37. Sandnessjøen 38. Helgelandsbrua 39. To the east top 40. Seløya and Vardøya 41. Træna 42. Lovund 43. De Syv Søstre 44. Herøy 45. Blomsøya 46. Nord-Herøy 47. On the east top 48. On the east top

Wide-angle view from Dønnmannen's east top

49. Wide-angle view from Dønnmannen east top

To the high point

50. To the high point 51. Høgtuven 52. Litltinden 53. Anne on the summit ridge 54. Anne on the summit ridge 55. Looking back on the east top 56. Definitely time for pictures! 57. The high point ahead 58. Looking back on the summit ridge 59. Anne on top of Dønnmannen 60. Me on top of Dønnmannen

Misc. pictures from Dønnmannen

61. Looking for a route to Nasen 62. Southwest view from Dønnmannen 63. Seløya and Vardøya 64. Møyskrevet 65. Helgelandsbrua and Okstindan 66. Peaks on Tomma island 67. Lovund 68. Peaks on Tomma island 69. Breidvika 70. An inviting bay 71. Tvillingan and Kvasstinden 72. Vega and Søla

Panoramas from Dønnmannen

73. Wide-angle view from Dønnmannen 74. Zoom view from Dønnmannen

A swim, the ferry to Sandnessjøen and a visit to Mosjøen

75. Anne goes for a swim 76. Anne has a good time 77. Patience 78. A butterfly 79. On the ferry 80. De Syv Søstre 81. Anne likes Dønna (and Helgeland in general) 82. Distant peaks 83. Sandnessjøen 84. Looking back on Dønnmannen 85. Dønnmannen 86. Helgelandsbrua 87. On Helgelandsbrua 88. Mosjøen 89. Mosjøen 90. Mosjøen 91. Mosjøen

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