Norwegian Mountains, Møre og Romsdal
Julaksla, Jan 12 2008
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A Julaksla moment
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Julaksla
I was on my way to Julaksla one week earlier, but chickened out because of a rough Romsdaldfjord and strong wind in the mountains. This weekend, things were looking better. Clouds were low and the roads were polished from under cooled rain, but it was supposed to clear up during the day. I looked forward to visiting this part of the Molde region. I had already been to Jendemsfjellet, but not on the southwest corner of the Moldehalvøya peninsula.
Easy start
Thanks to the good book Turbok for Molde og Omegn (Olsen/Pedersen), I didn't have to ring doorbells to find a good path. I can afford to be lazy once in a while without feeling bad. Kai A. Olsen and Bjørnar S. Pedersen has done a tremendous work with their (so far) 3 books, and I take it for granted that they've inspired a number of people to go exploring the wonderful region surrounding the Romsdalsfjord.
Enjoyable ridge
Julaksla's southwest ridge was enjoyable. I left the parking 12:10PM and the path was fun and dry. Even my dog Troll found the inspiration to walk/climb this path. During ascents, he normally observes the world from the backpack, but today, walking seemed like pure fun. Even if he's passed his 14th birthday and is virtually blind.
As we took on a steep ridge below Vardfjellet, he entered the backpack again. Not only was it steep, the path was icy too. Too much to handle for a little fellow.
The weather was just fine. In the morning, I did consider going to Otrøya to hike Heggdalshornet. I'm so glad I didn't go there, because Otrøya was completely fogged in. So was Julaksla when I was on board the ferry, but I had high hopes about the fog lifting. The sun was now lurking behind a layer of clouds and nothing would please me more than to see it break through when I reached the summit.
3 seasons
January isn't what Januaries used to be like. As I headed up this mountain, I had the feeling of spring. Small birds whistled merry tunes in the trees. As the day went by, the shades reminded me of autumn. But as I took on the final hill towards Julaksla summit, the feeling of winter was there. Troll ran merrily around on the hard snowy surface. And then the sun broke through...
Ahh..
13:50PM on Julaksla summit, and life just couldn't get any better. Someone with a small dog had recently been up here, and Troll was completely busy with that. The sensation I felt was all familiar, and my thoughts went to some fine autumn hikes above 1000m elevation in the Hardangerfjord region (Hordaland county). The green world below me, the white world up here, the intense sun and the shades. It's impossible to put a price tag on this fine art of living.
All good things ..
..come to an end. I had hoped to find the time to visit Eiskremheia (high point in Aukra), but I decided to spend the time on letting the dog walk all the way down. A time-consuming task given the challenges mentioned earlier. We were back at the car 15:20PM, and with a heavenly precision, I could drive directly onto the ferry. 16:30PM, on my way across Ørskogfjellet, I noticed that there was enough daylight to go hiking without a flashlight. Not that I really needed to, but it was a sign of spring being up the road.
