Norwegian Mountains, Møre og Romsdal

Tinden, May 13 2006

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Trip report, May 13 2006

Saturday morning and I woke up to the sound of rain. It is never a promising way to begin the week-end. It was rainshower weather, with snow above 400m. This meant that the day would be a mix of sunshine, rain and hail at - or just above sea level. I decided to find myself a lower mountain later in the day.

Later in the day, the higher mountains were hidden in clouds and beaten on by miserable weather. I saw sunshine above Hildrehesten and figured that Tinden would be a candidate for a hike.

The weather was still good when I parked at Gjerset. I was surprised to find a normal road (I had expected to find a tractor road) heading upwards. There was a gate, but no "driving prohibited" signs. In any case, I decided to walk. We left the trailhead 17:05PM. My dog "Troll" barely found the will to walk up this road, and so far, things looked good.

On top of the hill, I passed a handfull of cabins, obviously privately owned. There was even parking for the cabin owners. For some reason, this annoyed me slightly. The Synnalandsdalen valley is in itself a superb recreational area for the Grytafjorden - Brattvåg region, but I am part of the category who feels that the recreational value is lost when I pass cars on my hike. Traded in for a couple of cabins who want convenient access to their doorstep. I don't mind cabins and I don't mind roads in general. I just felt the "virginity" of this valley had been lost for so little. I guess it's called "progress" and should be understood and embraced. I shall complain no further. There is certainly enough "virgin" territory in this country, and I don't need to go back there.

To make the day even jollier, the dog laid down and refused to walk one bit further. Probably for an other reason than cars and cabins. We were now both grumpy, and I decided to argue with him. I lost.

With the dog in the backpack, I moved onto the forest path towards Urkedalsvatnet. The path was nice to follow, and there were no cars. The path towards Tinden was well marked and by 18:05PM, we were standing on the top. Troll was persuaded into legwork halfway up the mountainside and claimed a highly earned lunch at the top. We all have to eat, and while he was busy with the food, I was concerned about the camera, as a shower passed over Gjersetvatnet. I saw the hail land a few yards before my feet, but not a single drop of rain hit me. Talk about being on the weather border..

In good weather, I might have considered hiking up to Hildrehesten and returned to Grytastranda. But with this unstable weather, it didn't seem tempting. Troll was in good mood upon descent, like he always is in downhills. A tremendous attempt to bypass some cumbersome rocks on the path ended in disaster. Being completely stuck in a hole between the rocks, his begging eyes was more than I could handle. I laughed my pants off. So to speak.

With both of us in excellent mood, we passed the parking area (there were now TWO cars) without getting grumpy again. And by 19:10PM, we were back at the car in dry condition. Hang on, I'll take that back. I reached the car in dry condition.

Pictures from the May 13 2006 hike

Note:: Varying picture quality due to broken auto-focus.

To Tinden

1. Gjerset trailhead (366KB) 2. Gjerset (266KB) 3. Entering Synnalandsdalen (191KB) 4. Skulstadhornet southern trailhead (202KB) 5. On the way to Urkedalsvatnet (255KB) 6. On path towards Urkedalsvatnet (477KB) 7. Hildrehesten above Urkedalsvatnet (172KB) 8. Arriving Tinden (166KB) 9. A shower passing close by (105KB)

360 deg. wide-angle panorama

10. 360 deg. wide-angle panorama from Tinden (628KB)

Other pictures from the top

11. Synnalandsvatnet (159KB) 12. South view (zoom lens) (342KB) 13. Troll on Tinden (102KB) 14. Skulstadhornet (372KB) 15. Urkedalsvatnet (208KB)

Rock-fun on the way down

16. Easy bouldering (233KB) 17. Be down in a second.. (409KB) (

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