Skorve (Gøysen)
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From the trailhead, continue uphill along the road. This road climbs with several
curves, then levels out just below 600 meter of elevation. The map indicates that a trail
forks right in this area. If this trail can be located, then follow it upwards. In winter,
it may be better to continue along the road as it descends a little, a forest road forks
right near the bottom of this gentle hill. Take the forest road and follow it as it climbs
steeply, while gradually changing direction back towards the creek that comes steeply down
from the lake Tvitjørnan (1263m) above. At about 700 meter of elevation, the route
continues on an ascending traverse to the creek Finndalsåi, one should cross this creek
a bit higher than 800 meter.
If the summer trail can be followed, this is likely a very good idea, however we were unable
to see any trail in early April. The terrain is partly steep, and it seems like the best
approach may be to make this traverse about as high as possible, just below the steeper
cliffs higher up. We completed the traverse on skis across very complicated terrain, mainly
blocked by birch trees that, more horizontal than vertical, were too low to crawl under and
too high to cross over. In fact, unless the snow is absolutely bottomless, it is faster to
cover this distance on foot than on skis.
This short, but (at least in winter) very cumbersome traverse ends as you reach the creek that
comes down Finndalen. It runs in a pretty distinct mini-canyon. There is however, good access down
a reasonable slope about as far uphill as one can go. On the opposite side, the first few meter
are steep, move left to find a bit easier slope. As soon as the initial, but very short steep slope
is behind you, the trail climbs more gently. Here, there is a pretty clear trail marked with
red paint.
The trail runs up the slope, mainly on the left (facing out) side. Continue almost to the highest point of
this local hill, there is a hut and an old farm building located there. From this cabin, cross over to
the uphill slope and traverse right, only slightly uphill. As soon as you reach the ridgeline, the
slope becomes much more gentle and one may proceed into Finndalen eventually crossing the creek and
gradually climb the gentle slope on the opposite side. As the trail continues, you will gain
elevation and gradually curve right until you reach a more level area.
Straight in front you will observe a small valley (or large gully?) that comes down from higher ground.
The route continues up this natural way, a bit steeper in the beginning, then more gentle until it
tops out at about 1300 meter just below the mountain named Nordnibba. This location is
north 59:31.471, east 008:33.414.
From here, the terrain is quite easy to the summit further south.
Comments:
I started this hike with my son Pål Jørgen, and he bravely
struggled his way through all the difficulties in the first part of the route.
However, he had a pretty bad cold and at elevation 927m, we decided that he should
turn around and wait in the car. We had started at 0900, and it had taken us 3 hours
to get this far.
I continued up and reached the summit at 1330.
On the way back, I also traversed the summit called Nordnibba. This
mountain is 1365 meter, with a saddle to Gøysen between contours
1270 and 1275, so interpolated at 1273 meter, Nordnibba has a primary factor
of 92 meter. Thus, it barely misses my 100 meter criteria for being an independent
peak. The Nordnibba summit is located at north 59:31.619, east 008:33.632, elevation
1365 meter. There are actually two small summits quite close, it appears that
the one given here is just a tiny bit higher.
I continued the descent from Nordnibba and reached the car at 1545.
One should note that two airplanes crashed at this mountain during the second world war.
One American airplane dropping supplies to the Norwegian resistance forces, and one German
passenger plane, both accidents due to bad weather and the airplanes hitting the mountain.