Location: North 60:58.954, East 007:34.841:(GPS at the summit)
Difficulty: YDS class 2
Climbed September 12, 2010.
Information:
How to get there:
This mountain is best accessed from Lærdal. A good point of reference is the
traffic circle as you exit the 25 km tunnel on E-16 (from Aurland to Lærdal).
Measure from this point.
Continue on E-16, direction Oslo, for about 4.7 kilometer. There should be a Joker
(grocery) store on your left. Make a right here (leaving E-16). Cross the bridge and
make a left at kilometer 5.0. At kilometer 8.7, cross a small bridge (after a left curve),
then follow the main road as it turns right. At kilometer 9.0, the pavement ends and the
road continues as a good dirt road. At kilometer 16.1 you cross the river on a bridge, continue
to kilometer 16.4 and park here. There is parking for one car on the right hand side, while at
least two cars can use the turnout on the left hand side of the road. This is the trailhead,
location N60:59.660, E007:39.758, elevation 550 meter. Route description:
The trail starts right up the hill from the road. There is a small wooden sign saying
Vindhella. The trail runs uphill, fairly steep in the beginning, on the right side of
the creek. Higher up, as you approach the area called Vindhella, the valley opens up and
becomes quite flat with good gras (for sheep?). Continue in the valley, the trail is
small, but not too hard to follow (a few more hikers would be helpful!). Eventually,
you get to a boulder field that extends all the way down to the creek. The trail sort
of fades out here. On the opposite side, there are many indications that the route
climbs the grassy slope, then traverses higher up just below a cliff band. At least, there
is a trail up there and it runs nicely
below some overhanging cliffs than contours around
right and gains a nice slope just
east of Hadletjørni. Thus, I did not follow the
trail as marked on the map, however, this may be better (if there is a trail?), as the
grassy slope is quite cumbersome, perhaps in particular when wet (as it was when I climbed it).
Ascend the slope (NW) east of Hadletjørni, cross close to the small lake that is
located north of point 1452, then continue west, perhaps slightly right of the snow that
may be visible in the east side of Hånosi. Gradually, turn north, the slope is quite
easy and the footing is good. Higher up, traverse right in order to avoid getting into
scrambling terrain. A good waypoint is N60:58.787, E007:35.152, elevation about 1725 meter.
From here, continue straight to the summit, some 350 meter away.
There is a large cairn that is
slightly collapsed on one side. Somebody has also made a concrete marker nearby.
Note: There is an alternative route that starts near the farm Rikheim,
(also from the farm Øvre Rå) in the
main valley and proceeds up Senddalen. This route has a bit more vertical gain, but possibly
a nicer and more direct trail.
Comments:
The weather outlook was not too good, but I wanted to have a good September hike in
the mountains. (I always used to go hunting ptarmigans with my father around mid September.)
I had planned to ski this mountain from the road that connects Aurland with Lærdal, the one
that runs across (not through) the mountains. However, this road does not open until June and by
then I am normally busy with other projects.
I left Bergen at 0800 and was ready to hike by 1100. The trail was wet, but it did not rain.
Awfully slippery, but it was nice to be out. I had more than 1200 vertical meter to climb ahead
of me. The valley became flat higher up, quite a nice valley.
I climbed right up a steepish and
slippery grassy slope and found a trail higher up that contoured around below and above a set of
steep cliffs. The route went well and soon I was crossing the very nice landscape at the base of
Store Hånosi. There were some sheep up here, I wonder if they are lost, in any event it may be
high time to get them down, it could snow at any time now at this elevation.
The route up to the summit was very nice walking, I had feared slippery boulders. I arrived at the
summit at 1420, a cloud had settled and the place was completely fogged in. I had a chocolate,
then returned at 1430. The return hike had more rain, but nothing really bad. I ended up traversing
left one level too high and found myself above the cliffs I had traversed below when ascending.
A bit tricky due to the rain and very slippery conditions, I navigated rather carefully in order to reach the
grassy slope below.
I was back at the car by 1720, back at Nattlandsfjellet by 2030, then down to the city where Heidi
had a nice reindeer stew waiting. Indeed, a very good day.
Resources:
Images
Hånosi, the summit is hidden in the clouds on the right side.