Norwegian Mountains - Route Descriptions

Norwegian Mountains, Møre og Romsdal

Midmorgonshornet from Dyrkornstølen, Aug 31 2007

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

In terms of weather, I'll not think back on July and August 2007 as very pleasant. But this Friday afternoon was nice, and the weather forecast told me it would stay nice throughout the evening. I decided to visit Midmorgonshornet. The drive to Dyrkornstølen wasn't that long, and I could ascend the mountain directly from the trailhead. I figured I should be up in "no time". I was a bit curious about the snow level. Yesterday's hike to Skjerdingen (1061m) involved snow from 900m. As Midmorgonshornet was only 962m, the snow would certainly not pose a problem.

I had been up to Dyrkornvatnet once before. Aug 8 2006, I visited Varden. Not much snow back then. Some say that the snow that fell late in August 2007 (way too early, by the way) won't last. We'll just have to wait and see. It's rather cold in the mountains, and the snow ain't melting quickly.

A local woman was up by Dyrkornstølen, keeping an eye on the sheep. I told her that I was heading for Midmorgonshornet. She quickly corrected me; Memårrånshønnje, or something like that. When I arrived, she sort of looked at me with some scepticism. Why is a long-haired stranger, resembling an Argentinian soccer player, driving a sports car (without a roof) honking the horn at my sheep?, she might have been thinking.

Can I park here? I followed up, in Oslo dialect. I felt she was eyeballing me. That's when I had to tell her that I was heading for Midmorgonshornet. I also asked her if there was a path up the forest. She indicated that she didn't think I would be able to find it or follow it. She then left, but only for Vikastølen. If I was her, I would have kept an eye on this suspicious stranger until he was well on the way up the mountain.

And by 16:30PM, I was on my way, carrying my little backpack junkie "Troll". I had dressed for full winter, and regretted it after 5 minutes. I had been freezing cold on Skjerdingen the day before, and today I wanted to stay warm. And warm I was.

The initial ascent went slow until I found some sort of rhythm. High on the ridge, Troll helped out by walking for a few minutes, but when we entered snow at approx. 870m, he sat down. I was a bit tired. Perhaps because I was rushing from work, skipping dinner in order to get as much daylight on the mountain as I could. The snow from 900m and up was downright strenuous. I was quite glad that the ascent was over when I reached the summit 17:50PM.

But what a beautiful afternoon it was. Deep blue sky, shiny white clouds and deep autumn colors. Can't really ask for more. The clouds that had been hiding Lauparen finally let go. That is certainly a fine peak, and the fog only added flavor to it. The snow on Midmorgonshornet was rather deep. Steeping into windblown snow, my knees disappeared.

After pictures, we turned around. Troll was shivering. Doesn't he always? I had to carry him across the deepest snow, but let him out at 850m elevation. I looked forward to the dog walking on his own, but I had forgotten an important thing. The sun was shining against us, and then he turns 95% blind. He obeys to the command "right", but never really understood "left". This meant that it was rather difficult "helping" him down the mountain. He could walk 5 meters in the correct direction, only to break out 90 degrees to the side. And whenever I said something, he stopped. I'm really not a guy that asks for much, but right there and then I cried out and asked for more patience.

It helped when the ridge got steeper. Troll was fully occupied staying on his feet and stopped breaking away to the left and to the right. The time was 19:05PM when we got back to the car. It had been a good afternoon, as the pictures hopefully indicate. And now I looked forward cruising back to Ålesund...

Pictures from the Aug 31 2007 trip

Note: On these pictures, I refer to point 1135m as Heimste Skorkja. The parent mountain - 1322m has other names, Sandfjellet being one. But Heimste Skorkja is probably not the correct name for the parent mountain, even if the map claims it is.

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