Location: North 60.50610, East 005.58577 (GPS at the summit)
Difficulty: (YDS) class 1
Climbed April 7. 2013.
Information:
How to get there:
Drive E-16 from Bergen, then fork right after going through the Arnanipa tunnel in order to
cross the big suspension bridge that connects to the island of Osterøy. As you leave the
bridge there is an automatic toll station, measure from here.
Follow the main hwy. through the long tunnel and onwards to kilometer 4.8, where you turn right in the direction
of Gjerstad. At kilometer 8.0, the road makes a sharp bend left follow this. At kilometer 10.9, there is a road fork,
go right, direction Hatland. Shortly, at kilometer 11.1, keep left as you continue uphill. At kilometer 12.4, turn
right, the sign says Hovden. Continue along this road acorss a bridge and then fork right at kilometer 14.4. Drive
gently uphill and arrive at the trailhead at kilometer 15.5. There is parking on the left side of the road. This is
the trailhead, location N60.50191, E005.56195, elevation about 250 meter.
Route description:
You will se a trail sign on a small meadow right
next to the road (and trailhead/parking). The left trail
is signed Stangfjellet "bratt" (steep), the right fork has three names and it also leads to Stangfjellet.
Take the left (steep) route. Do not worry about
steepness, this is a perfectly easy (YDS) class 1 trail.
The route is well marked and the trail is very well
suited for a family hike with children. Follow the trail
gently uphill among trees, then in more open terrain as it
runs by a very well made mountain cabin before
reaching the plateau. The
route gains the summit via a gentle arc, gradually turning more right.
The summit is marked with a small cairn (a pile of rocks reall) and
a metal pole. Nearby, but somewhat
lower is a more proper cairn, it
is located a bit more west and may have a slightly better view in that
direction.
Comments:
Heidi and I drove to the trailhead in order to get some fresh air on this otherwise quite busy Sunday.
She would stroll along the local roads and explore the neighborhood while I would climb Stangfjellet.
I left at 1205 and followed a surprisingly good trail that took me to the summit by 1250. I spent 10
minutes on photography and just looking around. leaving at 1300, I was back by the car at 1335.
The top part of the mountain had a bit of new snow, otherwise, the trail was partially free of snow
already. No signs of ice. In fact, it seemed like this is a quite popular trail. I met 3 people along the trail.
Resources:
Images
Stongfjellet as seen from the road (on the way to the trailhead).