Vehuskjerringa
  • Vehuskjerringa
  • 1355 m.
  • Primary factor 632 m.
  • Location: Between Åmot and Rauland, Telemark, Norway.
  • Location: North 59:37.186, East 008:03.846 (GPS on the summit)
  • 1000 meter prominence cell: Galdhøpiggen.
  • Difficulty: YDS class 1 (nice family hike).
  • Climbed September 11. 2006

Information:

How to get there: Drive E-134, the main highway connecting Oslo with Haugesund, as far as the small village of Åmot. This village is east of the main mountain range crossing. At this junction, take Hwy. 37 north in the direction of Rauland. As you drive north, after approximately 7 kilometer, locate the local road that loops west, there are signs for Tjønnegrend. About 500 more meter, the road crosses a saddle with a fairly distinct hilltop. Just as you get to this hilltop, watch for a forest road that heads sharply right. It is closed with a locked gate, but there is room for parking on the left side just before the gate. This is the trailhead, location N59:37.735, E008:00.969, elevation 717 meter.
Route description: Cross the gate and head up along the forest road. Higher up, near some structure and fire wood storage, a road forks left. Ignore this and continue uphill passing a second gate. A bit further along just as the road makes a right bend, look for a small sign post with an arrow pointing left. A very clear trail starts out to your left here. Take this trail. The trail is marked with red painted "V" (for Vehuskjerringa). The trail is very clear and shows sign of regular use. Continue uphill along the trail, higher up, it passes an old wooden cabin, crosses the small creek, before more elevation gain to the treeline at N59:37.392, E008:02.938, elevation 1084 meter.
Above treeline, the trail is still very good and easy to follow as it contours right, then enters a small valley that heads up towards the summit. The final stretch climbs a small ridge slightly right, then zig-zags to the nice summit cairn. The cairn has a visitors trail register as well as a well protected topo map of the area stored in a mailbox.
Comments: I did this climb with my son Pål Jørgen. We had been visiting east in order to attend the confirmation of my sisters son Ludvik. Driving back west, we decided to take the slightly longer route through Telemark (E-134), and make a stop along the way in order to climb an easy peak. The choice of Vehuskjerringa was pretty clear, as we wanted a climb of roughly two hours only. The summit view was nice and the weather quite beautiful. Gaustatoppen was clearly visible to the east while the main east-west divide still had patches of snow in the west.
We started around 1140, the 3.7 kilometer hike to the summit took about one hour. We rested and had lunch for about 20 minutes before returning back to the car in about 40 minutes.
We note that the map uses the name "Vehuskjerringi" while the locals that are responsible for the summit trail register write "Vehuskjerringa". Thus, we shall conform to local practice.

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