Norwegian Mountains, Nordland
Hestkjeften and Bufjellet, July 6 2010
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Hestkjeften and Bufjellet
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After a nice hike to Klapparfjellet, the day wasn't quite over yet. For some time, I've had my eyes set on a very distinct (and cool) pinnacle (Hestkjeften) on the Mardalsfjellet massif, and after returning to the Klapparfjellet trailhead, Anne agreed to come along for a second hike of the day. I found it nothing but logical to also visit Bufjellet - now that we would make the trip to Hestkjeften. As Anne is quite used to my logical disorder, she didn't object...
From Vik, we drove approx. 700 meters in the direction of Mardal and parked next to a couple of garages. The distance between the car and Hjarttinden (98m) was only 180 meters, so the initial ascent was a bit steep. From Hjarttinden, we followed easier terrain towards Hestkjeften, which looked cooler and cooler by the minute. This overhanging cliff was like music to an amateur photographer. I went up first, with Anne in control of the camera a little further down. Then we switched places. To stand on top of the cliff requires faith - faith in that this rock has been here for a long time and will (hopefully) still be here for a very long time to come. I don't care how low these Sømna tops are. They are so cool!
Hestkjeften
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Once the fun part was over, we hoped to continue along the ridge, in the direction of Bufjellet. But it was too dangerous, and we had to make our way through the bush a bit further down. Probably just as well, because another pinnacle down in the pass seemed hard to pass. After crossing a small valley, we scrambled up a ridge which took us onto the Bufjellet summit ridge. After crossing a section of dense bush, we arrived on Bufjellet 6pm - 1h:15m after heading out from the trailhead.
Celebration on Bufjellet
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Satisfied with the effort, the tops, the views and the day in general, we agreed to descend directly from Bufjellet. Mainly to avoid the obnoxious bush. On our way down, I felt that I was missing something. My sunglasses! I went back up to the top, assuming I had lost them during my summit "celebration", but they were not to be found. I went back down to Anne, and she helped me look for them. It turned out that I had lost them exactly at the point where I felt that something was missing...
We continued down a boulder field, then walked parallel to our ascent route, until we joined it close to Hjarttinden. We returned to the car 6:45pm, and had truly earned a good dinner (prepared by mom) and perhaps a glass of wine/beer. So far, we had only done minor hikes on the Helgeland coastline, but the following day turned out to be epic. Stay tuned...
Part of the route
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