Norwegian Mountains, Sogn og Fjordane

Molden (1121m), Dec 5 2009


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Molden seen from the air

Molden seen from the air
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I was on a weekend trip to Sogndal, and looked forward to visit some of the tops in this region. Molden was #1 on "my list" - as I had wanted to do this mountain ever since I saw the aerial photo above (taken by Petter Bjørstad) back in 2005. My hiking mate (and guide) to Molden was Anne Rudsengen, resident in Sogndal and knows these mountains inside and out.

The amount of snow at Molden's altitude didn't justify carrying skis up the mountain, and the days for good skiing just seem to be fewer by the year. We drove up to the Molden trailhead at 500m (along the road to Mollandsmarki) and headed out 11:18am. We didn't run into any notable snow until we reached the forest road coming up from the south at 650m. We stopped by Skjødnaklanten and had a good view towards Indre Hafslo before we continued up to the Svarthiller mountain farm. There was now significantly more snow on the path, and the wind was getting stronger by the minute. From Svarthiller, we had a 1st class view towards Urnes and the Stave Church.

Svarthiller was a welcomed break from the snow plodding, and offered a fine view towards the southern part of Lustrafjorden.

 

Svarthiller

Svarthiller
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Above Svarthiller, we had to fight quite deep snow until we gained Molden's south-west ridge (proper) where the snow literally had blown off the mountain. The wind was strong, and by the time we were closing in on the high point, the wind was quite strong...

 

Strong wind on Molden

Strong wind on Molden
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We arrived on Molden summit 13:01pm - approx. 1h:40m after heading out. Despite the strong wind, it was nice to be up here. What a fjord view! I pondered on why the cairn was located 200m to the northwest, but didn't come up with any good answer. The ugly transformation station provided some shelter from the wind, but as there was no reason to hang around, we continued over to the cairn.

The wind wasn't very inviting for a longer stay at the cairn either, so we sat course down the mountain. Every now and then, we felt a sensation of inferno around us, but the weather wasn't really that bad. My own definition of bad weather is when I have to kneel in order to think...

 

Descending Molden

Descending Molden
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We were back at the Molden trailhead 2:37pm - 3h:20m after heading out. I had fully enjoyed Molden, and I have no difficulties understanding why this mountain is so popular. And I already looked forward to the hike the following day - Amlaholten by Kaupanger.

 

Sogndal by night

Sogndal by night
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Pictures

The pictures were taken with a Canon EOS 450D + Canon EF-S 17-85mm IS USM F 4-5.6

 
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In Volda

1. Rotsethornet 2. Volda 3. Folkestad

To Molden

0. Trip tracks 4. Molden trailhead 5. Trailhead info 6. The path begins here 7. On the forest path 8. Skjødnaklanten viewpoint 9. Indre Hafslo view from Skjødnaklanten 10. Svarthiller 11. My guide goes to work 12. A very happy guide 13. Strange behaviour 14. Urnes and the Stave Church 15. Storehaug and Bondehaug 16. Moving on 17. Up the south-west ridge 18. Approaching Molden 19. Molden high point ahead 20. A bit windy 21. Lustrafjorden views 22. On Molden

Wide-angle views from Molden

23. Wide-angle view from Molden 24. Wide-angle view from Molden

Other pics from Molden

25. Zoom view from Molden 26. Lustrafjorden 27. Snow dance

Cairn point + descent

28. Molden cairn 29. View from the cairn 30. Descending Molden 31. Descending Molden 32. Sogndal by night

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