Norwegian Mountains

Nesbjørhovda, 342m

Fylke/Kommune : Hordaland/Fusa
Maps : 1215-III Fusa (Statens Kartverk, Norge 1:50 000)
Primary factor : 279m
Hiked : Feb 2005
See also : Revurdfjellet
See also : Kannikenuten
See also : Etlådnefjellet
Nesbjorhovda seen from the air

Nesbjørhovda seen from the air

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Introduction

Nesbjørhovda is the southernmost independent (primary factor >= 100m && elevation >= 300m) mountain/forest hill in Fusa Kommune. The forest hill is located east of Lokksundet (Lukksundet), the strait that separated Fusa (mainland) from Tysnes island. Despite the modest height, the forest hill is easy to identify from various angles.

This forest hill is easy to reach from the road end at Teiga, a side road to the main road to Tysnes. Although you will find a (very) faint path up the forest, all signs point to the fact that this hill is visited seldom. The views towards the west are OK, and you get a clear view towards Tysnessåta. Eastern views are limited due to high trees. The summit is overgrown with bush, and no trig. point or cairn marks the summit.

Depending on which map you refer to, the name "Nesbjørhovda" may either refer to the northern hill (328m) or the high point (342m) All in all, it is logical to think of this forest ridge, with several hills, as "Nesbjørhovda"

Primary factor:

Nesbjørhovda (M711: 342m, Ø.K: highest contour is 340m) has a primary factor of 277m towards the higher Vardegga (357m) Ref. Økonomisk Kartverk (5m contoues), you cross the 65m contours a few places on the high route between Justadamsåsen and Sjursåsen, but not 60m. The saddle height has been interpolated to 63m.

For 7 minutes on top of Nesbjørhovda, my GPS showed values higher than 342m, in the range 343 to 349m. Due to the variation, I will be careful about prediciting a height, but it is reasonable to assume that forest hill could be higher than 342m.

Trail descriptions:

Notes: Class ratings are in reference to YDS. Click here for more information.

The trails described below are not necessarily the *easiest* trails to this mountain.

Femanger - Senafjellet (summer/autumn)

Difficulty : Class 1
Exposure : No
Comments : Very vague forest path
Distance : Approx. 1,5Km to the top
Time : Approx. 1 hour to the top
Starting Elev.: Approx. 20m
Vertical Gain : Approx. 330m (total)

Map of the area
Map of the area
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Detailed map
Detailed map
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Access

There are two alternatives from Bergen:

a) The shortest:
Follow highway E39 southbound towards Halhjem (by Osøyro). Take the Halhjem - Våge ferry (fee for passenger cars per Feb 2005 is NOK 100,-) From Våge on Tysnes, turn left on the main road and follow it to the bridge across Lokksundet. Shortly after the bridge (250m), turn left towards "Bergsvåg" Follow this gravel road to road end at Teiga. Park just above the Teiga buildings.

b) A long drive:
From Bergen, follow highway E16 towards Oslo. At the E16/RV7 junction at Trengereid, turn right onto RV7. Drive approx. 13,9Km and turn right onto highway RV48 ("Tysse/Mundheim") Follow this road for approx. 34,7Km to Kilen. Turn right onto highway 549 and follow this road all the way to the "Bergsvåg" exit just before Lokksundet. This is 31,9Km from the Kilen exit. Follow this gravel road to road end at Teiga. Park just above the Teiga buildings.

The route

I'll keep it simple. From Teiga, you see a very distinct ridge, leading all the way to the top. Follow the stream coming down at Teiga. This stream will lead you up to the high ridge, and preferrably, offer you a faint path for you to follow. Once on the high ridge, head across the humps and bumps and fight overgrown bush until you reach the high point. The high point is not marked in any way, but unless there is dense fog, you'll know it's the high point when you're there. Descend your ascent route.

Trip report Feb 06 2005

This Sunday was to be a great day. I had planned taking a ski-trip to a higher mountain somewhere, but early morning I discovered that one of my poles was broken. Rather than going skiing with one pole, I decided to drive back down to Fusa, where I had hiked Senafjellet the day before. My goal was Nesbjørhovda, the only remaining independent mountain/ forest hill I had yet to do in Fusa kommune.

The drive down to Fusa started with high pulse and adrenaline. It was a bit colder than the day before, but there were no problems over Gullbotn and down to Samnangerfjorden. I turned towards Tysse, and in a sharp curve before Tysse, the car left the preferred side of the road. I could hear the spikes work at full strength, trying to maintain a minimum of road grip. I was very close to being off the road when I managed to get control of the situation. The remaining drive to Holmefjord was incredible scary, but I was fairly prepared by now. I have encountered tremendously icy roads on this stretch before, and it was just a matter of being on the alert and keeping low speed. I dialed 175 and reported that the road was very dangerous. If a car came in from the south in 80 Km/h, it would stand no chance. I have seen several cars on the side of this road before, and I saw signs of a car having been towed up from the forest during the night/early morning.

From Eikelandsosen, the road got gradually better as the sun rose. It's a fairly long drive from Bergen down to Lokksundet, but I was finally about to close in on my destination. My M711 map was hopelessly outdated, and I used my GPS as navigational aid. I tried to find some living souls at Teiga, but no one was home. I didn't really need the information. The distinct ridge would take me all the way to the summit, and by 11:10AM, I just headed upwards along the stream, determined to gain the high ridge whenever practical.

I followed the stream all the way to the high ridge on a very faint path. It struck me that this was not the most visited forest hill in Hordaland. Gazing up towards the much higher Etlådnefjellet and Hovlandsnuten on Tysnes, I sort of understood why. I wondered if there would be time to visit these mountains after the Nesbjørhovda hike. Troll was in the backpack most of the way. He wasn't unwilling to walk, but the terrain was cumbersome. We reached the summit 12:00PM and concluded we were in bush heaven.

Troll was obviously eager to do some walking, and kept my downhill pace all the way back to the car. The descent took only 30 minutes, and by now, I had decided to give Etlådnefjellet a shot. Read the Etlådnefjellet page for an extended trip report.

Pictures from the Feb 06 2005 hike

Move cursor to read notes, and click on the images to see full version.
Some of the thumbnails may have been cropped to fit the format.

On the way to Nesbjørhovda

1. Fusafjellet (127KB) 2. Ottanosi, Gjonakvitingen and Vaakefjellet (106KB) 3. Vaaganipen (89KB) 4. High Tysnes mountains (79KB) 5. Nesbjorhovda in view (95KB) 6. Climbing high and low for good viewpoints (175KB) 7. Nesbjorhovda seen from Sundvor (233KB) 8. Sundvor (127KB) 9. Gygrastolen in the distance (110KB) 10. Hovlandsnuten ahead (112KB)

On the way up Nesbjørhovda

11. On the road to Teiga (79KB) 12. Very vague forest path (287KB) 13. Roots (247KB) 14. Difficult terrain for trolls (314KB) 15. Green trees (227KB) 16. Untidy top (156KB) 17. View from Nesbjorhovda (113KB) 18. Tysnessaata seen from Nesbjorhovda (68KB) 19. Looking back to top of Nesbjorhovda (156KB) 20. View from Nesbjorhovda (252KB) 21. Nesbjorhamn (154KB) 22. Troll balancing on a big fallen tree (218KB)

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Pictures from other hikes:

1. East view from Hovlandsnuten (323KB) 2. Fusa and Tysnes mountains (216KB)

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