Norwegian Mountains - Route Descriptions

Norwegian Mountains, Møre og Romsdal

Smørhylla from Tresfjord, June 2 2007

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

Trip report, June 2 2007

In hindsight, this was a trip I never should have taken. After my trip to Blåskjerdingen two days earlier, my left foot began to ace. I felt it even stronger this Saturday morning, and on the following day, I would go on an "epic" trip to Breitinden in Romsdal. So I decided to rest this Saturday.

But as the day went by - I guess my foot got "warm" from normal activity - I decided to go for a little hike. Smørhylla came up as an interesting candidate. It was a beautiful day, and the drive ("roofless") was a true pleasure on its own. I stopped and asked a local about the route to Smørhylla. He told me that the normal route was from Ørskogfjellet, via Måslia. But if I - absolutely - wanted to hike from this side, he told me to drive up along Sjøelva, and follow a path from there.

I drove as far as I found reasonable, parked the car, and was ready to go 16:10PM. I tricked the dog into walking 200m, before he realized that we were on our way to a mountain. He made a sudden stop, and into the backpack he went. I followed the forest road until I saw the "Rana" sign, turned left and followed a wide, but overgrown forest path upwards. A couple of deer were passing ahead of me, and I managed to get one of them to disc. In a little while, this path (an old tractor road, really) ended, and I didn't see a continuing path.

F-word, but after a few minutes off-trail, I stumbled onto the marked forest path. It didn't seem to be frequently travelled, but it wasn't difficult to follow. Above the forest, I followed sticks with yellow paint for a while (no visible path), but then lost sight of the markings. Heading up the bush wasn't difficult, only minor cumbersome, but soon I was above the bush, with bearing straight towards Søre Smørhylla. We reached the top 17:30PM. It stuck me that I could see all of the tops in the Ålesund region, but I had never noticed Smørhylla from any of those tops. Troll got his lunch while I took pictures. Then we chilled for a few minutes. It was a lovely afternoon, and there was no rush.

I decided to visit the northern top upon descent. Troll was now walking, but struggled in the patches of soft snow. We reached Nordre Smørhylla 18:05PM. I took some pictures and decided to head off-trail down to the meadow just above the forest. This is not a route I would recommend to others. The hillside was full of holes, and none of them could be seen until I stepped in them. Troll resumed walking when we reached the forest path, and continued to do so all the way to the trailhead, which we reached 19:00PM.

The foot wasn't bad at all, but next morning was a different story. I defied the pain and had an unforgettable trip to Breitinden, and got grounded (as expected) for two weeks. One of them on crouches.