Norwegian Mountains, Møre og Romsdal
Storfjellet, Haram

Independence Day, May 17 2008

(No .. not the movie!)

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May 17th is ..

Norway's Independence (National/Constitution) Day. On this day, people put on their finest clothes, head down to their town centre and either watch or join the parade. I believe the constitution also says that on this day, children can eat as much icecream as they can take. Thus, all Norwegian children are sick in the afternoon on Independence day.

On this very day, some of us enjoy gaining some vertical distance from the town centre, and there are plenty of mountains to choose between. My choice this year fell on Myrsethornet on Otrøya, but I never got that far. For the n'th time, I misread the ferry schedule. Instead of going island hopping (Fjørtofta, Harøya, Dryna), I decided to visit Skoraegga instead. Although Skoraegga isn't a very high top, its north face is quite impressive. And I hadn't been there before either.

Skoraegga (Click for larger image)

Skoraegga (536m) is ..

a minor top on the large Storfjellet massif. As I had already been on all of the other tops on this massif, the plan was only to visit Skoraegga. I asked some locals if there was a path, and I was told that a path ran up the east side of Kloppelva. The time was 11:06AM when me and my four-legged buddy Troll (in the backpack) headed up towards Skoraegga.

The path was easy to find and follow. Arriving at Lake Skoravatnet, I left the path and followed the ridge up to Skoraegga, which I reached 12:06PM. On top, I found a strange construction that didn't make much sense in its current version. I guess something has been attached to it (a mirror?), but I wasn't quite sure. I planted the Norwegian flag into the ground and hummed parts of the national anthem.

Grønhornet (653m)

The hike had been short up to now, and it didn't feel right to head back down. Should I continue? Storfjellet was hidden in fog, and didn't seem very attractive. I decided to proceed up to Grønhornet and descend via Øvrenakken and Skoradalen, a route I had hiked in Jan. 2007.

The time was 12:48PM when I arrived on Grønhornet, and the day was still young. I assumed the parade was still going on down in Brattvåg, and I decided to stay on the mountain a little while longer. I would continue up to Keipen and make further decisions up there.

Storfjellet seen from the air (Click for larger image)

Keipen (916m)

To gain Keipen's northeast ridge (coming from Grønhornet), one has to descend a little first. But my plan was to hike directly up Blåfjellet and arrive on the ridge at 780m elevation. I had to cross a boulder field, but the ascent was easy enough. Once on the ridge, Troll wanted to get out of the backpack, and he walked until we reached snow below Keipen. In other words, it was a very short walk.

We reached Keipen on snow and in fog 13:42PM. It was quite windy up there, and Troll made sounds of discomfort. I noticed that some loose straps on my backpack was whipping his face. Once that was taken care of, I planted the flag on the Keipen while thinking that this was quite an OK way of celebrating the day.

Storfjellet (950m)

I didn't fancy descending my ascent route, and decided to proceed towards Storhornet. The fog came and went, but the wind persisted. On the large Storfjellet plateau, I lost completely sight of anything for a little while. It was impossible to distinguish between the snow and the fog. And since a huge drop was nearby, I decided to stand still until I could see something.

That took about a minute, and then I noticed a rock. From this rock, I got the summit cairn in view, and at 14:06PM, the flag was planted on the cairn. The first two verses of the national anthem could now be heard on Haram's second highest mountain. Troll seemed utterly bored and wasn't much of a company.

Independence day on Storfjellet (Click for larger image)

Descent

It was time to descend the mountain. But in which direction? Should I traverse Urfjellet also, now that I was at it? I didn't fancy the idea of ending up at Reme - far away from the car. I chose to descend Ringstaddalen, although I would still end up 5,5Km away from my car. I decided to worry about that later.

I descended towards Sætretiggen - a minor top that I hadn't been to. On Sætretiggen, I received a SMS from my neighbour Pål. He was standing on top of Øygardsheia, a top on the same massif, 4Km further south. I called Pål and asked if he could pick me up and drive me to my car. "No problem", he said. How about that for luck?

To prevent Pål from waiting, I chose a steep descent route into Austerdalen before I joined the Ringstaddalen valley path. Troll could now walk and actually get some exercise. I reached the road 15:50PM, and 10 minutes later, Pål picked me up. Man, those 5,5Km would have been dreadful. Later on, I treated myself with an icecream at the local gas station in Brattvåg. After all, it was Independence Day!