Location: North 66.04720, East 012.39542 (GPS on the summit)
Climbed July 23. 2020
Difficulty: YDS class 2+
Information:
How to get there:
This mountain is located south-west on the island Dønna.
One can get to Dønna by ferry from the north end of the town
Sandnessjøen. When the ferry arrives on Dønna, turn left and drive
along the coast, then turn inland and cross a col of about 50 meter elevation.
Continue downhill and locate a parking area on your right hand side. This location
is at N66.03809, E012.34535, elevation about 30 meter. There is an information sign
about the trail and the mountain at this trailhead.
Route:
Follow the signed and red-marked trail. Soon, there is a fork where one should
keep left. The trail runs all the way down to the shore then enters a grass area
with a beach on your left.
You will find a fork here (no signs) where you should
go right, the natural direction for accessing the valley between Dønnamannen
(left) and Litltinden (670m, right). There is another approach from the north, thus
a small triangle formed by the trails here.
Proceed up the valley, just above 200 meter of elevation there is a somewhat
confusing trail fork. There are several signs, but none for Dønnamannen.
Instead, Nasen, Leppa etc. appear. These are all local names for points on the
mountain. Following signs for Leppa is definitely ok, these trails merge higher
up and the precise choice may not be critical. Take the rightmost trail, it
leads further into the valley before climbing more steeply.
There is another trail fork, continue to stay right.
You will arrive at a point where hands are needed,
a short stretch, well protected
and not difficult.
Next, the trail continues uphill on a pretty big slope, before yet another fork where
you should go right. The trail now traverses right in order to reach
the south ridge. Here, the route again turns
left and ascends to the summit. Comments:
We had planned to continue north along E-6, however, we were informed that I could not
get any railroad ticket back south to Trondheim in the next several days. Thus, I had to
fly. The forecast for our planned mountains more east (closer to Sweden) was not good.
The coastal weather was somewhat better. I booked a flight from
Sandnessjøen and we decided that Dønnamannen would be a good objective.
We spent the night at Herøya renting
a unit in a place called
Det Romantiske Huset. Before checking in, we had an excellent seafood dinner at the
restaurant Augustbryggo on the nearby island Seløya.
We had an early start and were ready to hike by 0810. Jostein had climbed this peak
previously, he also had a long drive to Steigen later in the day. Therefore, to
maximize good use of the available time, we agreed to hike independently. Jostein
would not go to the summit, but rather do a somewhat shorter hike. Hopefully, we would
be able to catch an early ferry back to Sandnessjøen where I could catch my
flight and say goodbye to Jostein.
It took me 2 hours to reach the summit. The visibility was ok as long as I remained
below the clouds, up to around 700 meter. Above this, pretty dense fog, ie. I was inside
a cloud. I stayed 10 minutes at the summit, then returned back down
in another 2 hours. Pretty strong wind on the mountain slopes, but almost no wind
up at the summit. it was wet and slippery, so extra care was needed. Under such
conditions it is pretty standard for me to take about the same time up and down.
As it turned out, we made the last ferry of the day at 1430. A somewhat longer wait
than expected. I was back at the local airport sev eral hours before my flight and
Jostein completed a long drive to Engeløya in Steigen around 2200 in the evening.
Thanks to Jostein for good company on a nice hike.
