Hiking in Sunndal: Viromsætra and Grasdalen

Finally a warm and sunny Saturday and of course my friend Tanya and I could not let it go by without taking advantage of it and go on a decent hike. We set of from the parking-lot at the end of the road in Nerdalen a parallel valley of Sunndalen (also the place you park when you want to visit the beautiful Innerdalen).
From the parking we walked towards Innerdalen, but after passing the farm we took a right turn and headed for Viromsætra and Grasdalen instead. At first we followed a tractor road along some fields with sneaky cows grassing on the left. After crossing the river Ulvåa we followd a nice path to the pasture. All the way up the to the pasture you get great views of the river finding its way down.
After reaching Viromsærta we still had energy left and since the surroundings were especially lovely this evening we continued up Grasdalen till we reached the end of the valley. Grasdalen is a lovely valley giving a great view of the Vinnu mountain and glacier. To the left we had the highest mountain in Trollheimen: Trolla. It is an infamous mountain known to be very dangerous and difficult to climb. We did not go to the top! But we fallowed a steep hill for a while until we were met by a wall... Time to head back home, but before we did, we really had to stop and take in the atmosphere and the exceptional nice view=) The best way to spend a summer evening:)

Vinnu mountain and glacier

Difficult to get much further than this...

A friendly sheep that wanted to cuddle! There's a first for everything..

Somewhere behind the wall the summit of Trolla is hiding

Grasdalen

Grasdalen

Couldn't be happier:)

Tunga

Hiking in Sunndal: Seterhaugen and Øverhaugen

After a 10 minute drive from Sunndalsøra you pass Oppdøl on your left side, if you take the next possible exit to the right (you have to cross a sheep fence) you get to the starting point of one of the best afternoon hikes in Sunndalen.

Parking is next to the sign and the boat

I like this hike because it gets your heart pumping from the second you start and you get to use your arms getting both up and down. There are two possible paths to get the first post, you can go left and take the slack but longer route or you can just walk straight ahead and take the short but steep route. I prefer to take the steep route up and the slack one down:p On the steep path you have a good view of Oppdøl and the fjord almost all the way to the top if you stop and have a look behind you.

The slack and long path

Slack or steep?

Just before you get to Seterhaugen, a former summer farm, you can take a path to the right to get a better view towards Sunndalen. Unfortunately this viewpoint will soon be gone if nothing is done with the growth of the forest.

The view towards Sunndalen, trees are starting to get in the way...

Seterhaugen

Seterhaugen is a nice place to stop for a break. There is a book inside the pasture if you want to sign you name in it. It took me 20 minutes of fast walking to get here. To get to Øverhaugen you just continue on the path headed up towards the mountain for about 20 more minutes. On the way you cross a little stream so if your short on water it is possible to get a refill.

The view from Øverhaugen

Øverhaugen

At Øverhaugen there is of course another book for signing inside=)

If you want to take the slack path down you just take the path to the right of the hut at Seterhaugen. Taking this path down will give you a view towards Ålvundeie.

All in all the trip is about 2 km one way with a 520 meter ascent from the car to Øverhaugen.

The queen / Dronninga

Last Sunday I finally got to have a go at the queen, a majestic name for a summit right? With nice weather, good companionship, just enough snow, low risk for avalanches and enough skiing training through the winter the trip should be nothing but a joy. And it almost was=) The trip starts at the bottom of Viromdalen (only a 20 minute drive from home) and the first part is up a hillside with a quite a bit of vegetation. Luckily the late snowfall made it possible to ski almost from the parking lot and we only had to take the skies on and off a couple of times in the beginning.
I did this trip with my dad who is in very good shape, and from the pace he started in it was no doubt this would be no slow trip, but a good exercise.
Due to my father's tempo we soon came above the tree line and we could see the 800-meter-hill getting closer. The queen is a very popular and almost famous trip and the tracks we fallowed made it clear we were not the only one thinking it was a good day for skiing. Just before we started on the hill we past a large crowd of tourists having a break, maybe gathering strength before the hardest part, and we got a good cheer=)
(Er alltid gøy å høre "hu-og-hei" heiing, selv om jeg ikke er student lenger)
Apart from some wind we had not had any difficulties so far, but a short time after we started on the 800-meter-hill I realized the hill was going to be more demanding than planned: it was sticky snow! There was nothing to do but to carry on, and take one step at the time, and so I did:) My clever dad had brought a scraper with him so we could remove the snow from underneath my skies for the last part of the trip. Which was really sweet as the last couple kilometres are rather flat.
Already at the top of the 800-meter-hill I was amazed by the fantastic view I got, and standing at the summit after three hours of hard work, I just looked around and enjoyed it all:) Standing at the summit at 1816 masl it was not hard to understand the name of the mountain, it really deserves it! It was no wind so we could take our time without getting cold.
Skiing down from Dronninga was very nice indeed, but my thighs were hurting really bad before I reached the bottom of the 800-meter-hill:p It was quite challenging getting down the hillside since there were little snow and it was rotten, and we ended up carrying our skies the last part of the trip.
All in all an amazing trip which I recommend to anyone who enjoy using skies both up and down mountains!

The 800-meter-hill ahead!

Almost at the top=)

Not too comfortable at the edge, but happy to be at the top:) Kongen (the king) in the background

Many people at the summit:D

Very satisfied with the day's effort and reaching the goal:)

Pictures from a beautiful winter

This winter has gone by so fast I haven't had the time to sit down and share any of my trips or adventures with you. Finally it looks like life is getting back to normal again so here are are some photos showing what a wonderful  and varied winter it has been:) 

Blåvegen

A 45 km long yearly tradition in classic style. Mostly double poling so it's a good race for those who have strong upper bodies, but not for me. I got a good exercise though and the weather was really nice this year:) All along the track it's people cheering and having a good time making the race even more fun!=)

My brother came in second place:D

It's always fun to get a photo with a celebrity: Tom Sandberg, former world and olympic champion. 

No competition:p

Photos from a an Easter filled with snow

Kveldtuva

It's hard work making new tracks in the endless amount of new snow coming during the Easter...

Bad weather coming, time to head back home...

More snow than normal indeed!

Luckily not our house nor cars...

The mailbox is just above the snow:)

Not much view at this family trip...

who fights about making the track?:p

High risk of avalanches this Easter, luckily this was all we saw of it:)

Vikskaret
From a switchyard at Viklandet it is nice to follow the route of the power-lines to up Vikskaret. From here you can either turn right and head for Vettafjellet or left and go to Vikfjellet. Or as I did some times, just turn and go back down. A short trip, but it gives a great view of Sunndalen and is great exercise:)

Sunndalen

The view towards Øksendalen

Børsetkjerringa
Just above Ålvundeidet. A short and nice trip that also gives a good view of the surrounding areas:) It was totally still the day I was there so one could sit and really enjoy the view, the coffee, the company and so forward:)

My mum and dad enjoying the day:)

Peknukjen
A perfect afternoon trip that was possible to do even when the days were short:)

 

NC in randonee skiing

Tarjei working hard up the hills

My mum and dad cheering at the top:)

Some photos randomly picked:)

Yes, I am a nerd:p

Johan Jørgen in his second skiing competition:)

A wonderful day spent skiing to Trolltind:)

:D