Norwegian Mountains

Tverrvassfjellet, 832m

Mountain area : Romarheimsdalen West
Fylke/Kommune : Hordaland/Lindås
Maps : 1216-IV Matre (Statens Kartverk, Norge 1:50 000)
Primary factor : 149m
Closest villages : Vike, Knarvik
Hiked : June 2004
See also : Horgi
See also : Steinhusfjellet
See also : Stussfjellet
Tverrvassfjellet seen from Stussfjellet

Tverrvassfjellet seen from Stussfjellet

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Introduction

Tverrvassfjellet is the 4th highest mountain in the large mountain area east of highway E39 in Romarheimsdalen and enclosed by the Masfjorden, Romarheimsfjorden and Austefjorden fjords. Only Blåfjellet (851m), Storevarden (836m) and Torhaugen (834m) are higher.

Tverrvassfjellet is found in the center of this region which is tremendous for hiking. The new "T" trails to the Kalvedalshytta hut (from several directions) offer easy access to this area. In addition to good trails, you have great views from the summits, steep cliffs, lakes, wild rivers and forest. The mountain plateaus are quite high. Terrain above 600m dominates the central area in this region.

Primary factor:

Tverrvassfjellet's primary factor towards the higher Blåfjellet is 149m. The saddle is found 1,75Km east of the summit - in Fagerskardet. The Fagerskardet contours are 685m (Norgesglasset 5m map). The saddle height is interpolated to 683m.

Trail descriptions:

Note: Class ratings are in reference to YDS (Yosemite Decimal System).

Note: The trail described below is not necessarily the easiest trail to this mountain.

Stussdal - Tverrvassfjellet round-trip (summer)

Difficulty : Class 1
Exposure : No
Comments :
Distance : Approx. 11Km round-trip
Time : Approx. 4-5 hours round-trip
Starting Elev.: Approx. 350m
Vertical Gain : Approx. 650m

Map of the area
Map of the area
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Detailed map
Detailed map
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Access

From Bergen, follow highway E39 towards Førde. Pass the toll station on Nordhordlandsbrua (fee for passenger car per Dec 2003 is NOK 45,-) and continue 41,6Km northbound. Exit E39 left towards Stussdal. In winter, park by the bridge if you don't think you can drive up the steep road to Stussdal. 800m upwards you will find another parking area which you need to use if the road to the lake Øvre Sætravatnet is not plowed. In summer, you can drive all the way to the lake, approx. 2,2Km from highway E39. You need to pay a fee - NOK 20,- per June 2004. The mailbox containing the fee envelope is found on a house in Stussdal, 1Km from highway E39. A huge parking area is available at lake Øvre Sætravatnet.

The route

Ascent

Follow a visible trail on the west (left-hand side of the lake). Cross a bridge. On the other side, the trail forks. You can go either way. If you go right, you soon run into the "Kalvedalshytta/Dyrkolbotn" trail junction. Go left here. Follow the trail approx. 450m. Just as the trail turns sharp left and heads down to lake nedre Sætravatnet, leave the trail.

A trail runs towards Tverrvassfjellet, but I haven't been able to locate where it forks from the "T" trail. In any case, look for a gully up to your right. Follow a boulder section, seek right above the boulder section and you will find the trail which runs all the way to the Steinsetdalssætret cabins. At approx. 520m elevation, leave this trail and head northwest towards Tverrvassfjellet. You have about 3Km of hiking to do from the point you leave the trail and until you reach the summit. On your way, you will probably pass a cairn at 740m elevation. The summit is approx 1,45Km (direct line) from this cairn. The terrain is rugged, but it's fairly easy to determine a course that prevents you from losing too much altitude. A cairn marks the Tverrvassfjellet summit at 832m elevation.

Descent

From the summit, follow a distinct gorge southbound that takes you all the way down to 500m elevation. You need to pass a boulderfield in which a stream runs. In one place you need to pass under some giant rocks. Quite a cool passage. At approx. 500m elevation, you are standing on top of some high cliffs and gaze down to the Steinsetdalssætret cabins. Seek to your right for a nice route down to the lower level.

From the cabins, locate a path that takes you down to the river coming down from lake Flådalsvatnet. Cross the river just above the point where the river makes a sharp turn. Cross by moving from rock to rock. This will only work if the rocks are above the water. Once across, follow the path down to Paddesætret, where you cross the river on a swaying bridge. Continue southbound, cross the stream from lake Tverrvatnet and follow a new "T" trail that runs across Tverrvassheia. Then cross between lakes Tverrvatnet and nedre Sætravatnet before you join with the trail you were on at the start of the hike.

Trip Report June 19 2004

It was high time I did some new Hordaland mountains again. I chose a mountain where I hoped that Troll could do some walking on his own. Tverrvassfjellet looked like an ideal candidate. The weather was so and so. It was raining quite a bit on our way from Bergen, but there were pockets of sunshine here and there. When we arrived Stussdal, the weather was quite OK. I paid the fee at Stussdal and drove up to lake øvre Sætravatnet. I didn't feel bad about driving all the way. After all, I walked all the way from the highway when I hiked Stussfjellet. I also noticed that the map states "Stussdal", while the road sign says "Stusdal". I add this to the trip report to avoid potential angry emails from Stusdal/Stussdal. We started the hike 12:25PM.

Troll walked 230m before he sat down. I didn't really care and put him in the backpack. 20 minutes later, I wanted to check if he really was tired of the mountains. To my surprise, he headed up the mountain with great commitment. Even when we left the "T" trail above Tverrvatnet, he continued walking. Now I could enjoy the hike with a lighter backpack.

The landscape was a bit boring. I reached a cairn at approx. 740m and saw Tverrvassfjellet 1,5Km further northwest. There was some light rain, and I was quite happy that the ugly rainshowers in the horizon didn't seem to get closer. I considered hiking Horgi (804m) and Råsefjellet (590m) on the way home.

We reached the summit 14:15PM. Troll had done an excellent job and earned a solid lunchbox. Just as he finished his lunch, it started to hail. Following the hail came a very noticeable rainshower. We took shelted behind a large rock and inside the bivouac bag, but it was just raining through. The shower didn't last long, but made us both dripping wet. Thunder was roaring over Horgi, and I stopped thinking about additional mountains. Instead, I decided to take a different route back to the trailhead.

I followed a gully southbound and ran into a stream with amusing features. At one point, a cliffband would have required some climbing if it hadn't been for a very neat passage below some giant rocks. Almost like a tunnel. After a while, I was standing above the Steinsetdalssætret cabins, and wondered how to get down there. After consulting the map, I found a good route down to the cabins. Another rainshower set in, and we took shelter next to one of the cabins.

I had problems locating the path towards Paddesætret, and headed down to the river coming from lake Flådalsvatnet. According to the map, I was supposed to cross here. It took me a while to commit to the crossing, but once I got going, the crossing was fairly easy. With more water in the river, this wouldn't have been possible. I found the path on the other side, and by the time we reached Paddesætret, the sun was shining, we had dried up and the hike was nothing but pleasant. I had put Troll in the backpack while I was following the gully, but put him back on the trail at Steinsetdalssætret. He looked tired, but seemed determined to finish the hike. I gave him his second lunchbox at Paddesætret and enjoyed life a bit on our break. Troll laid down after the lunch, and I watched him for a while. He looked tired, but happy.

There was yet some uphill ahead of us. Nearly 100 vertical meters to the top of Tverrvassheia had to be done before we joined with our ascent trail. We arrived the trailhead 16:50PM and after cleaning up Troll in the lake, we could start the drive back home. Troll fell quickly to sleep, and in his dream world he was protecting the bone of all bones from a dozen of other dogs. He "Grrr'd" from Romarheimsdalen to Vike, where a change of tone indicated that he lost the battle. A bump in the road took him brutally back to reality, and I had a good laugh watching him - staring confused towards me.

Pictures from the June 19 2004 hike:

Move cursor to read notes, and click on the images to see full version.
Some of the thumbnails may have been cropped to fit the format.
Pictures are presented in the order they were taken.

1. The trailhead (163KB) 2. View from the trail (190KB) 3. View from the trail (444KB) 4. 1st view of Tverrvassfjellet (455KB) 5. Grouse maintaining safe distance (249KB) 6. Tverrvassfjellet summit (112KB) 7. View from Tverrvassfjellet summit (328KB) 8. Rainshower on Tverrvassfjellet (149KB) 9. Troll - soaking wet (193KB) 10. Route down from Tverrvassfjellet (175KB) 11. A tunnel preventing climbing (181KB) 12. Above Steinsetdalssaetret (323KB) 13. Paddesaetret (193KB) 14. Troll, and a glimpse of sunshine (218KB) 15. Troll - sensing something (170KB) 16. Trying to cross a river (165KB) 17. A river has been crossed (250KB) 18. On the way to Paddesaetret (233KB) 19. Paddesaetret (159KB) 20. Lake Grunnevatnet (153KB) 21. Troll on the sway bridge at Paddesaetret (188KB) 22. Troll at Paddesaetret (163KB) 23. Paddesaetret (275KB) 24. Lake Tverrvatnet seen on the way to Tverrvassheia (136KB) 25. Raasefjellet and Horgi seen from Tverrvassheia (241KB) 26. View from Tverrvassheia (245KB) 27. Stussfjellet (160KB) 28. Lake Tverrvatnet (130KB) 29. Unusual trailsign (263KB)

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Pictures from other hikes:

1. North view from Steinhusfjellet (287KB) 2. North view from Geitfjellet (397KB) 3. North view from Husafjellet (346KB) 4. North to east view from Horgi (912KB) 5. East view from Raasefjellet (804KB) 6. Skarpefjellet summit views (671KB) 7. Skarpefjellet summit panorama (1011KB) 8. Tverrvassfjellet seen from Austrefjellet (746KB) 9. Austrefjellet summit views (1056KB) 10. Slettefjellet summit views (zoom) (432KB) 11. West of Romarheimsdalen

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