Gråfjellet, 978m
Storenuten, 718m

Mountain area : Vaksdal
Fylke/Kommune : Hordaland/{Vaksdal,Samnanger}
Maps : 1215-IV Samnanger (Statens Kartverk, Norge 1:50 000)
Maps : 1215-I Norheimsund (Statens Kartverk, Norge 1:50 000)
Primary Factor: Gråfjellet: 257m (Gråvatnknausen)
Primary Factor: Storenuten: 112m (Gråfjellet)
Hiked : Apr 2003 (Gråfjellet)
Graafjellet seen from Vedafjellet

Gråfjellet seen from Vedafjellet

Introduction

Gråfjellet is by far one of the best mountains for those who want to get an excellent introduction to Osterøy, Bergsdalen, Vaksdal and Bergen. The mountain offers routes to Bergsdalen and Kvamskogen in the east, but the normal access is from Samnanger or Vaksdal. A route is supposed to lake Kvitingsvatnet, but I have not examined this route yet.

Gråfjellet is a large mountain, compared to the other mountains in the region. The mountain is divided between Vaksdal and Samnanger kommuner. The border runs across Storafjellet, 950m. This Storafjellet must not be confused with Storafjellet NE of Gløvret. This mountain is also 950m (!). The Gråfjellet 978m summit lies in Samnanger Kommune.

The plateau facing the sea is called Blåfjellet (773m), but does not qualify as a separate mountain. North of lake Bogavatnet, you will find another map point - Bogafjellet, but this is only a ridge stretching from Blåfjellet. South of lake Bogavatnet, you will find Storenuten (718m), which I consider as a separate mountain. SE of Storenuten lies Vardane (711m), but there is not enough drop inbetween to classify Vardane as a mountain. Storenuten summit lies on the Vaksdal/Samnanger Kommune border.

Gråfjellet is excellent for skiing

Primary factor:

Gråfjellet (M711: 978m, Ø.K: 977,89m) has a primary factor of 257m towards the higher Gråvatnknausen (1004m). Lake Flatavatnet (721m) is the saddle. The lake drains to lake Herfangsvatnet and lake Fossavatnet and one of these drains must be crossed on the way to Gråvatnknausen. The further route runs across Knuskedalsfjellet and Storafjellet.

Storenuten (M711: 718m, Ø.K: 717,78m) has a primary factor of 112m towards the higher Gråfjellet. Ref. Økonomisk Kartverk (5m contours), the saddle is defined as a 606m fixed point in Bogaskardet pass.

Trail descriptions:

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

Bogo - Gråfjellet - Storenuten - Bogo (summer)

Difficulty : Class 1
Comments : Route demands fit hikers
Distance : Approx. 7,5Km to Gråfjellet summit
Distance : Approx. 1,6Km from Bogaskardet to Storenuten
Time : Approx. 6-8 hours round-trip
Starting Elev.: Approx. 70m
Vertical Gain : Minimum 1000m incl. both summits

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

Access

From Bergen, follow E16 towards Oslo. At Vaksdal, exit towards "Vaksdal/Herfendalen". This junction is approx. 20,5Km from the Arnanipa tunnel (on the Indre Arna side). In the immediate following junction, go right. Continue on this road, and pass a gas station on your right hand side. In the next junction, go left. This road runs towards Vaksdal church and school ("Skule"). In the next junction, go right on "Vaksdalsgarden" and follow the road through the two tunnels Kvitskarvtunnelen and Utsiktstunnelen. Just after the second tunnel, go left in the first junction. Find parking nearby.

The route

Follow this road for approx. 250m, and go left in the first junction (where a driveable road runs up to the left) and follow this road upwards. This road turns into a steep forest road after a gate. This road ends by a pipeline. Just before the pipeline, you will see an old stone cabin to your right. The forest trail up Bogadalen valley starts to your left.

The trail up the valley is good, but can be boggy at times. But good maintenance has been done, so you should be OK all the way up to lake Bogavatnet. The trail climbs the left (north) side of the Bogadalen valley, and as it closes in on the lake, a great number of rocks have been put in place to form steps.

From the lake, one trail will cross the streams draining to the lake on small bridges, heading towards Bogastølen cabins. Another trail runs up towards the Bogaskardet pass. Follow the Bogaskardet trail up to the pass and climb north towards Stabben. There might be trails here and there, but prepare for an off-trail hike.

From Stabben, you have a clear view towards Gråfjellet in the horizon. You can also see lake Rassatjørni ahead of you, on your right. Maintain a direction between Stabben and Gråfjellet that you are happy with, and one that maintains the elevation. There is an alternative route on the south side of lake Rassatjørni, but you will have to descend all the way to the lake on your way across the ridge. As you stand in front of the summit plateau, the easiest (and shortest) route to the top is to your left. You can also hike up the pass between point 933 and the summit (to your right).

Descend your ascend route towards Bogaskardet pass and find a route up to the Storenuten SE plateau, that you are comfortable with. Cross the summit plateau in order to get to the 718 summit. The summit cairn is located on the NW side of the plateau, and offers great views towards Vaksdal and Osterøy.

Descend your ascent route. There is a route down from the pass just SE of the summit. It is steep, but will shorten the distance back to lake Bogavatnet.

Trip report Apr 14 2003

This was my first hike after returning from Scotland, and the easter sunshine had come to stay. I had been saving this mountain for quite some time. I had actually done all mountains around. The plan was to hike this mountain from lake Kvitingsvatnet, as I had seen an interesting ledge system from that lake. But this morning, I decided that I wanted a hike, more than a climb, and decided to hike from Bogo.

I knew the trail up Bogodalen valley, and had hiked it a couple of times already. I left the car 12:20PM and headed up the snow-free valley in beautiful sunshine. It didn't take me long to lake Bogavatnet where I wondered where to go next. I saw Storenuten up to my right, and was stunned on how steep the slopes where. I had gone up there with Troll a couple of years earlier, and couldn't remember it was *that* steep. The ground had snow just above the cabins, so I didn't bother hiking all the way to Bogaskardet pass. I took a direct course towards the nearest cabins, and climbed up a ridge beyond.

When I came up to Stabben, I could hardly see Gråfjellet in the distance. But I did see great terrain for skiers, and wondered why on earth I didn't bring the skis. But the snow was carrying my weight good enough. I didn't sink much in, and enjoyed the walk over to the summit. In front of the summit, I climbed up in a pass between point 933m and 978m. It was steep, and I had to kick in steps. Then I climbed further to the left and approached the summit from the south at 15:00PM.

The views were simply astounding. Front row seat to Bergsdalen and Kvamskogen mountains. After a round of pictures, I headed back the same way. The blisters I had earned in Scotland was now bleeding freely. And a 1700m vertical ascent from Odda to Folgefonna high point was awaiting the following day. Better get home for some maintenance. The snow was much softer on the way home, but I kept a good pace and returned to the car 16:50PM.

Pictures from the Apr 14 2003 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.

Hananipa and Broknipa seen from Bogadalen Vaksdal seen from Bogadalen trail (135KB) Broknipa seen from near Bogavatnet (144KB) Storenuten seen from Bogadalen valley (157KB) Lake Bogavatnet (206KB) Storenuten and Broknipa (178KB) Kvamskogen mountains and Gullfjellet (257KB) Graafjellet, great for skiing (145KB) A family is out enjoying the wonderful weather (55KB) Below Graafjellet summit (88KB) Bergsdalen view from Graafjellet (282KB) Kvamskogen view from Graafjellet (181KB) Gullfjellet view from Graafjellet (98KB) Vaksdal/Bergsdalen mountains seen from Graafjellet (175KB) Folgefonna, which I climbed the next day, seen from Graafjellet (356KB) Graafjellet summit, 978m (38KB) View below the summit. Lovely snow.. (76KB)

Pictures from other hikes:

Kvamskogen mountains seen from Totlandsfjellet (552KB) Storenuten seen from Raudskredbruni (277KB) East view from Hananipa (802KB) Summit view from Kraanipa summit (713KB) Nice view from Bjørnsnipa (667KB) Descending to Budalen/Herfindalen (943KB)


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