For Information, maps, trailhead and route descriptions, click HERE.
This was just an OUTSTANDING April day with summer temperatures. The eager Telemark skiers were probably looking for shady hillsides this Sunday morning, while I had other priorities. First of all, I wanted a mountain exceeding 1000m, but nothing more. I would have to carry my dog Troll to the top of the mountain, and there is a limit to how much backpack-time and strong sunlight I wanted to expose him to. Skarven by Innfjorden came up as an interesting candidate. 1100m ascent, directly from the trailhead. A hit-and-run trip, so to speak.
With the roof in the trunk, I had a most enjoyable drive to Innfjorden. For the occasion, my CD player was playing the Guerilla Funk album by Paris. A classic gansta rap disc from 1994, and even if I was on my way to Innfjorden, Norway, I felt like driving in Compton, L.A.
Ascent
The GPS brought me to the trailhead, and I got some good info about forest road forks by the owner of the uppermost house. He had a St. Bernhard dog which was just too cute. My Troll - in the backpack - and I were on the way up the mountain 10:00AM. I had to carry the skis up to 250m elevation, before I could put them on. The snow was melting rapidly, but fortunately for me, snow scooters had made the center field of the road quite hard. I didn't have to put on skins. I had chosen my vax-free Fisher Outtabounds for the occasion, and they stuck firm to the soft snow. In the meantime, the St. Bernhard had escaped the house, and scanned the forest while looking for Troll.
One hour later, I had reached the end of the forest road, and didn't quite look forward to the mountain ascent in rotten (big-time) snow. 600 to 700m was pure hell, but then the snow got firmer, and things got easier. My 0,5L of water was simply NOT ENOUGH for this hike, but I was able to dig in to a creek below the snow, and satisfy our thirst. After passing 1000m elevation, Troll WANTED to get out of the backpack, and ascended Skarven in my tracks.
We reached the top of Skarven 12:35PM. It was quite windy on top, so I had put on the wind jacket. I enjoyed the views a great deal. The Romsdalen - Innfjorden peaks are simply awesome. Store Trolltind, Finnan, Kongen, etc. Unfortunately, this kind of heat normally brings along hazy air, but most of the mountains in my field of view were still possible to identify.
Descent
One week earlier, I descended Auskjeret in powder snow up to my knees. Reaching the forest above Hovdesetra, I had rotten snow up to my knees. Contrasts! Back on the forest road, Troll wanted to walk. We were back at the trailhead 13:53PM, both with a fine tan (the dog's ears had turned pink). I am very concerned about the dog going snowblind, but haven't come across any working solution in terms of sunglasses.
The drive back home was also enjoyable. At this time of day, most people had the wisdom to be -somewhere- other than on the road. I hardly saw any cars on my way back to Ålesund. Later in the day, we visited Sukkertoppen, giving the dog some snow-free exercise and me a total of 1450 vertical meters for the day.
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To Skarven
Wide-angle view from Skarven
50mm views from Skarven, 3 parts, some overlap
Zoom panoramas from Skarven
Other pics from Skarven
Views from Innfjorden
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