Norwegian Mountains - Route Descriptions

Norwegian Mountains, Møre og Romsdal

Kjøsen, Nov 20 2007

This route is described on the Kjøsen main page.

The route to Kjøsen
(Click for larger image)

Forecast

I was in the fortunate situation where I had a manager urging me to take more vacation. Except for the grand tour in the U.S in '97, I've never taken out all of my vacation days since I started working in '84. It's almost become a principle. But since I still had a good handful of days left, I decided to be a good employee and take this Tuesday off. As it happens, the weather forecast was extremely good. What a coincident..

Where to go..

I had visited Blåtindane in Måndalen two days earlier. That was an extremely strenuous hike. Partly because of rotten snow, but mostly because I'm stupid and don't bring food & water. On that hike, I had noticed the forest road to Skarsetra, making access through the forest quite easy. So this Tuesday, I would take advantage of that road and visit Kjøsen.

I had decided to ski to Kjøsen, but when I woke up to a very cold morning, I decided to leave the skis back home. In best case, I could walk on foot to the summit, and wear the snowshoes upon descent. If it was cold in Ålesund, it was certain to be cold in Måndalen. I couldn't go wrong.

The real challenge this morning was to get out on the road. The roads were extremely polished and dangerous, but there was NO WAY I would miss out on a good hike because of slippery roads.

Leisure life...

With my dog, enough water, AND a Chiabatta with scrambled eggs and ham in the backpack, I left the Skare trailhead 10:53AM. Even with a 15Kg backpack (dog, snowshoes, crampons, camera, water, winter clothing, etc.) I felt strong and motivated. Walking the forest road was easy, and the snow was hard as ice. I felt I hadn't lost much calories when I reached the bridge at 470m elev. Only 650 vertical meters to go. I could see my tracks on Blåtindane from two days earlier. The zig-zag tracks were easy to spot, and my will could have moved mountains that day..

I left the forest road, and to my delight, the snow held my weight. The sun was just in the process of popping out behind Litlevasstinden, which was perfect timing. I decided to have lunch just before reaching Øvste Aksla. The Chiabatta tasted like heaven. The scrambled eggs melted in my mouth. I considered crying.

The ridge to Kjøsen was partly steep in places, and the sun made the crust melt just enough. The crampons never came on and I reached Kjøsen in pure joy 13:15PM.

Kjøsen was a good place to be. Øspetinden looked extremely beautiful from here. I strongly recalled my very, very strenuous hike to that mountain the first day after Christmas in 2006. No wind at all up here. But slightly cold, though. Troll was wrapped in a comfortable blanket while I took my pictures.

Good dog!

After a while, it was time to leave. I wondered about two things. Would the dog walk, and would I have to wear the snowshoes? Yes and no. The dog walked all the way from Kjøsen summit and I did not have to wear snowshoes. The sun was hidden behind a light veil of clouds, and the crust was almost as hard on the way down, as it was on the way up. Troll descended the part between Kjøsen and Øvste Aksla with fear in his eyes. He couldn't get any grip on the hard snow, but seemed satisfied that I walked beside him, leaning a supporting hand on his back. If he started to roll in this hill, he would roll a long way..

Not dehydrated, not hungry and without a headache, I was back at the trailhead 14:40PM. What a glorious, glorious day...