Norwegian Mountains, Møre og Romsdal

Ursfjellet from Vasstranda, Sep 15 2007

This ascent route is off-trail, but the descent route is described as route 1 on the Uksenøya main page.


Ursfjellet/Vasstrandegga seen from the air

It's mid-September, and there hasn't been one sunny day this month. True, the sun has on occasion presented itself between the rain-, hail- and snowshowers, but that doesn't really count. This Saturday was no exception. A storm had passed during the night, and it was snowing above 600m.

It was time to walk the dog, and I looked at the map for options. Ursfjellet was the 3rd mountain I visited after moving to Sunnmøre. But that hike was in December '05, and on snow. I figured it was time to visit this nearby mountain before the snow came.

Hiking the forest road from Vasstranda to Langevatnet can be utterly boring. The hill seems endless. Besides, I was in the mood for a slight struggle. Now and then, the urge to do something weird comes along, and I have to obey this urge. Thus, I came up with a good plan:

I would hike the road from Vasstranda (I'd never walked that road before) until it ended, and then figure out a way to ascend Ursfjellet. The dog would get exercise on that road, and all the way down from Ursfjellet too. There was a path down to Langevatnet and the -already mentioned- forest road back to Vasstranda.

Ascent

We left the parking 13:35PM. After 1Km, the road turned into a path which lasted another Km. The path was all wet and partly boggy, and the dog got fed up by walking. At the cabin at the end of the path, I had to decide if I should continue eastbound and ascend Ursfjellet from the east, or if I should just head straight up the forest. The upper forest seemed steep, but I was in the mood for trouble and chose to ascend from here.

The lower pine forest was easy to walk. And quite nice too. Above the pines was bush, and more bush. Perhaps my perception of "easy forest" doesn't quite match the average opinion, but I never felt this forest was cumbersome. True, there were some steep parts where the ice-axe was very useful, and there were numerous covered holes in the ground. But it was ... OK. I never ended up in boulder with slippery moss or in any sort of juniper inferno.

The sun had been shining ever since we left the trailhead, but another rainshower was moving in. I was gradually rising out of the forest and had this feeling of "being the first one in this area, etc.". This feeling quickly vanished when I crossed a low rock fence. Above this fence, I passed a tree with red paint on. No path could be seen, and I wondered what the purpose of this mark was.

Approaching 500m elevation, the rain shifted into snow. It was snowing sideways, but it melted as it hit the ground. It was windy too, so when we arrived the summit 15:20PM, we immediately took shelter behind the cairn. After a few minutes it cleared up again. This was good news. We could now walk the ridge without having our faces whipped. We took opportunity of this window and left immediately.

Descent

I find this quite weird; the Ursfjellet high point is located in Skodje municipality. The Ålesund/Skodje border is found 80m west of the high point. 80m (!?!?). How about sharing?. Ursfjellet is also known as Vasstrandegga, while on Økonomisk Kartverk, the mountain is called Hundsfjellet.

On our way to Langevatnet, we passed Gråsteinsegga and Lake Hesteskarvatnet before passing the two cairns on Vasstrandfjellet, marking the southwest end of the plateau. The last time I was here was in January, on skis. I had never walked ON this path before.

Our sunny moment was about to end. YAS (Yet Another Shower) was on its way. On the forest road from Langevatnet, we passed two guys on their way upwards. They were walking their dogs and looked at my ice-axe with "suspicion". It was pouring down, so I didn't get into any chatting. Besides, Troll was already far down the forest road, dreaming about a comfortable passenger seat. 16:32PM, his dream had come true.

Pictures from the Sep 15 2007 hike

Slideshow:

 
Google map:   Map of the route
  0. Map of the route (175KB)

Strolling along Brusdalsvatnet

1. The trailhead (344KB) 2. Large mushroom (496KB) 3. My ascent route is seen in the distant (394KB) 4. The road ends here, but a path continues (252KB) 5. On the forest path (466KB) 6. The path ends here (282KB)

To Ursfjellet

7. The lower forest (407KB) 8. In the forest (430KB) 9. Quite friendly forest, on the easiest route (487KB) 10. Why is there red paint on this tree? (324KB) 11. Brusdalsvatnet (363KB) 12. Approaching the top (212KB) 13. Ursfjellet summit (254KB) 14. View from Ursfjellet (441KB)

Across the plateau

15. Zoom towards Ålesund (189KB) 16. Jønshornet was free of (new) snow just two days ago (109KB) 17. View towards Meraftafjellet (479KB) 19. Wide-angle view from Vasstrandfjellet, 531m (1025KB)

Descent

20. Descending from the plateau (308KB) 21. View towards Sykkylven (272KB) 22. Lake Langevatnet (543KB) 23. Troll (374KB) 24. Trail junction near Langevatnet (478KB) 25. Langevatnet (178KB) 26. Troll by Langevatnet (172KB)

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