How to get there:
From Bergen, drive to Norheimsund, continue to Tørvikbygd and take
the ferry to Jondal. In Jondal, drive towards Odda. Immediately after you
exit the 10 km tunnel, fork right and take the small road that runs along the west
side of Maurangerfjorden, then turns sharply right and climbs into Gjetingsdalen.
Just below 150 meter of elevation find parking on your right hand side near location
N60.13452, E006.23201.
Route:
Walk uphill along the road, then take the first road forking left.
This road serves two small farms, the Nedre Øyjorda and the
Øvre Øyjorda. (The lower and the upper farm.)
When reaching Øvre Øyjorda,
walk south between the farm
buildings to locate a small bridge across the creek. A small trail
starts here and heads uphill following the small ridge-line that extends uphill
on the left side (when looking uphill) of the creek.
Higher up, there is a sign posted on a tree.
The route now crosses the creek and climbs
more steeply uphill, tending right to avoid cliffs, then reaching a more gentle slope that
climbs south-west (sort of parallel to the creek below). Ascend here, stay right of some
cliffs to reach a more level area near elevation 520 meter. From here, continue on a direction
that will cross south of lake Kildalsvatnet.
Turn this lake and continue uphill to
reach the summit. There is a nice summit cairn.
Nearby, another rock of similar elevation,
has a few metal bolts. This point may be marginally higher than the location of the cairn.
Comments:
Skiing was still a bit uncertain, days were short and the Bergen team would play
a decisive football game starting at 1700. Thus, Harald and I decided to do a short
hike, with an early start.
I picked up Harald at 0700, we parked at the trailhead at 0945.
We started at 0955, quite surprised that there was a lot more snow than expected.
Breaking trail was hard work, thus I was happy to leave that job with Harald.
We arrived at the summit at 1200, the weather had been pretty nice, cold and
overcast, with reasonable visibility. However, it started to snow lightly and
the views got more limited. We left around 1215, much easier to go downhill
with this kind of condition. Arrived back at the car at 1320.
On our return drive we needed to charge my small electric BMW. It will be
3 years in about one month, but I had never charged it outside of my
garage before. This turned out to be quite easy, we made it back to
Bergen before the football game at 1700. Our home team, Brann quickly
scored goals and was ahead 3-0 at half time. Shortly into the second
half even 4-0. The game ended 4-2 and Brann has a good chance of
finishing second in the league. One match remains to be played next week.
Thanks to Harald for breaking trail and being a good hiking partner.
