Norwegian Mountains - Route Descriptions - Flosteinnibba, Overvollshornet, Tårnet, Røyranibba, Haukhammaren

Norwegian Mountains, Møre og Romsdal

Flosteinnibba & Overvollshornet roundtrip, July 8 2007

For Information, maps, trailhead and route descriptions, click HERE.

The mountains east of Strandadalen had been on my agenda for quite some time, but I never seemed to get myself there. So, when Svein indicated that he wanted to pay Flosteinnibba and Overvollshornet a visit, I was quite happy to come along. My dear neighbour Pål would (once again) look after my dog. While my only ambitions were Overvollshornet and Flosteinnibba, Svein also wanted to stop by three other distinct points - Tårnet, point 1378m and point 1222m (Røyranibba). I figured this would be a good roundtrip hike and the trip was on.

To Røyranibba:

We hadn't any information about the route, so we had to play it as it came. 08:35AM, we headed out from the piles of sand near the Røyr farm, with a southeast course up Haukhammardalen. Svein wanted to get to the river, while I didn't. I figured it would be faster to fight our way through the forest, rather than scrambling along the river. I have no idea which idea was the better one, but we settled for the forest route and literally *fought* our way upwards. The hillside below Haukhammaren got steeper and steeper, and the forest became more and more "evil". We decided to get out of the "jungle" and took a direct route up to Haukhammaren. A few climbing moves were needed to get up the cliffs.

Once on Haukhammaren, easier hours were ahead of us. We crossed the river on snow at 1000m elevation and reached Røyranibba at 10:25AM, via the eastern ridge. We enjoyed the Strandadalen views before moving on.

To 1378m & Tårnet:

The walk up to point 1378m was quite easy. At 1378m, we felt we were getting somewhere. The view down to Synnylvsfjorden was just brilliant, and the route ahead of us looked very doable. We passed point 1378m 11:05AM and continued to Tårnet, where we took our first break at 11:15AM.

The ridge between 1378m and Tårnet was narrow in the beginning, but we found easier terrain below. We could always have followed ridge, but it wasn't THAT narrow and exciting. Svein was very satisfied about having bagged three tops. Although we have a slightly different view on what a top is, I enjoyed this roundtrip very much. Tårnet was the ideal place to view our high route from, and then there was the ~1400m drop down to Synnylvsfjorden (perhaps down is superfluous in this context..). Nevertheless, the view was quite impressive.

To Flosteinnibba & Overvollshornet:

The ridge walk up to Flosteinnibba was nice, yet uneventful. We summited 12:10PM and went ahead taking pictures for fjellinordvest.net and westcoastpeaks.com. Like two journalists at the scene of an event, bringing out the story. Yet there is no deadline, no competition, no screaming headlines, no drama, no desk and no lies. It's just one mountain among hundreds, but it's a blessing to be able to get up there.

After the photo sessions, we rendevouzed and continued towards Overvollshornet, in total agreement that this was skiing terrain. After a total of 1400 vertical meters, we reached Overvollshornet 13:00PM. It was initially problematic to determine the location of the high point, but after applying the glacier positioning method (find a spot where your field of view is equal in all directions), we pin-pointed the summit location.

I took at least 200 pictures on this trip. It was impossible to tell which top offered the best views, as clouds came and went. I dreaded the picture work ahead.

Descent:

We agreed on descending via the north ridge and into the valley north of Haukhammaren. The descent was steep, and we had to cross several sections of boulder. Still, far more easy than the forest. At 900m, we headed into the valley and followed a creek down to 660m elevation. There wasn't all that much forest along the creek, so the descent was fairly smooth.

But the terrain got steeper and the forest got thicker. Still, it's far easier going down than up, and we didn't complain. We returned to the trailhead 14:55PM, very happy to be out of the forest. Checking vital organs for ticks was mandatory procedure. It's somewhat difficult to recommend this roundtrip as a summer hike, but it's OK as long as you're not picky.

Svein's trip report can be found here