Sauafjellet, 539m Mountain area: Samnagerfjord Fylke/Kommune: Hordaland/Os Map: 1215-IV Samnanger (Statens Kartverk, Norge 1:50 000) Primary Factor: 186m S. Gullfjellstoppen Hiked: Aug 1999

Sauafjellet seen from Sveningen NE ridge

Introduction

Sauafjellet can be hard to spot from the other side of the Samnagerfjord, where it lies in the "shadow" of the greater mountains Gullfjellet and Sveningen.

Primary factor:

Sauafjellet (M711: 539m, Ø.K: 538,96m) has a primary factor of 186m towards the higher S. Gullfjellstoppen (962m). The saddle is found in Brekkedalen valley. Ref. Økonomisk Kartverk (5m contours), you cross the 355m contous on the high route, but not 350m. The saddle height has been interpolated to 353m.

Difficulty:	Easy
Risk:	Low
Distance:
Time:	1,5-3 hours to the top
Starting Elevation:	Approx 100m

Access:

On E68, between Nesttun and Os, take the Hauglandsdalen exit (a few kilometers south of the Bontveit/Frotveit exit). Drive until the end of the road, past Hausdal. You cannot park at the bus-stop, but you can park just inside the gate.

The trail:

The trail begins by the gate. After a little while, the trail turns into two trails. The trail straight ahead takes you through the Hauglandsdalen valley. Continue on the trail heading to the right, and you will eventually (after about 1 hour) come to the Brekkehutten hut. This is the highest point on the trail.

From here you see down to the Samnangerfjord. You see the Sauafjellet mountain straight ahead. There is a trail along the phoneline (north-west side), but this forces you to take a rather steep climb up to the top. You will have to make a decision on how to ascend.

One option is to follow the trail you are on for a couple of minutes, turn to the left, cross a stream and make your way up on the southwest side.

Notes:

At the mountain foothills, I found no obvious trail, and the terrain was a little unfriendly until I got to higher ground.

After summiting, I chose to descend down the steep side to the north-west and joined the trail running along side the mountain.

Pictures: (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

Other trail descriptions for this region:

• See Bergen & Vicinity web page