Norwegian Mountains, Møre og Romsdal

Grøthornet from Langevågen, Nov 19 2006

Click here for the main Sulafjellet page.

This Sunday morning, I was on my way to Grøtfjellet in Vestnes. Or perhaps a higher mountain. I didn't know yet. The road was still wet from last night's rain, but the temperature was +5 deg. C, so I decided it was safe to drive normally. I decided to take the old road along Brusdalsvatnet, in case I got some photo opportunities. E39 along this lake is a bit boring, and I would be coming home that way. I noticed that the temperature dropped to +2, and I did a brake test in 60Km/h. The car almost increased pace, as the road was polished by undercooled rain.

I joined E39 by Reiakvam, and one minute later, the road was blocked from a collision, involving 3 cars. Fortunately, no one was seriously injured. I stepped out to inspect the surface, and found it amazing that one could drive on this road. I had problems walking on the asphalt. I assumed these conditions would not get better up the valley, and as I didn't want to wait for the road to open, I decided to visit Sulafjellet instead.

The upside with the coastal region was the higher temperature - thus safer roads. The downside would be the cold wind. I hadn't been on Grøthornet yet, so that's where I would go. While driving, I assumed it would be dog abuse to go for the high point. After 11 months in this area, I've grown accustomed to the winds in the coastal parts.

The dog and I left the Langevågen trailhead 11:15AM. Walking with my plastic Alfa boots was a bit awkard, here on the slippery forest path, but they would turn out useful later in the day. Troll quit on me just below Molværsvatnet, and I carried him in the backpack up to Vonhytta, where he resumed walking. The wind was getting colder, and I put on winter clothes at Vonhytta.

We reached the top 12:25PM, and immediately took shelter behind the large cairn. If it hadn't been for a silly triangulation point between myself and Ålesund, I could have taken most of my pictures from my "safe spot". Stepping out in the windy zone, meant fighting for balance. Some of the pictures are blurry, for that reason.

As guessed, it would have been dog abuse to continue to Sulafjellet. On my own, it would have been OK. My head was sufficiently protected from the wind. No hat for the dog, though, so we headed back down after the pictures. I chose to descend the tractor road, which was verglassed. But with my heavy boots, my steps broke through the icy surface, and the descent went fine. Further down, I got on a forest path that I hadn't walked before. This path was called "Steinelv-råsa", and led us back to the trailhead, which we reached 13:35PM.

Pictures from the Nov 19 hike

To Grøthornet

0. Route 2.1 to Grøthornet, via Vonhytta 1. Along the pipeline (353KB) 2. View from Molværvatnet (1096KB) 3. From Vonhytta to Grøthornet (338KB)

Wide-angle view from Grøthornet

4. Wide-angle view from Grøthornet (1152KB)

50mm views from Grøthornet

5. 50mm view from Grøthornet (960KB) 6. 50mm view from Grøthornet (942KB)

Other pics from Grøthornet

7. Hareidlandet tops seen from Grøthornet (570KB) 8. Sukkertoppen (228KB) 10. Grøthornet cairn (184KB)

Descent

11. Icy tractor road (312KB) 12. Storfjellet in Haram (223KB) 13. Zoom view towards Ørskog-Stordal region (538KB) 14. Ålesund panorama (640KB) 15. Ålesund region (480KB) 16. Steinelv-råsa (313KB) 17. Steinelv-råsa (401KB) 18. Fresh-man (198KB)

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