Døldarheia

  • Døldarheia
  • 735 m
  • Primary factor 677 m
  • Location: Rogaland, Norway.
  • Location: North 59:32.252, East 005:46.816
  • Saddle: The saddle is
  • Difficulty: YDS class 2.
  • Climbed May 20. 2006.

Information:

How to get there: This mountain is located south of the village Ølen (along E-134), east of Haugesund. Drive E-134 east passing Skjold and the two roads Hwy. 513 and Hwy. 46 both going right. You will now have the lake Vatsvatnet (15 m) on your right. Take the first right turn after this lake. The sign says Blikrabygd. Drive about 2.5 kilometer south, just before crossing a creek on a bridge, there is a turnout to the right with a trailhead parking area. There is a large information sign for hikers. If you find the left fork up to the farm Blikra, you have driven too far.
This is a nicely prepared trailhead, elevation about 28 meter.
Route description: Hike along the left side of the creek. The trail is marked with small poles that have been painted red on the top section. In the beginning, this trail is a bit messy, but just stick to the left side of the creek. Higher up, the trail becomes quite distinct. It is quite interesting as it climbs up through the small canyon carved by the creek.
Higher up, there is a point where the trail gets very close to the creek and a small dam has been built in this area. Cross the creek here and locate the forest road (that originates at the Blikra farm). Continue along this road until it tops out above the tree line. From here, set your course towards the summit area, there is no trail. The area has many cliffs and steeper sections, but there are plenty of gullies and grass slopes that can be used.
Comments: I had just driven Pål Jørgen to a track and field meet in Haugesund. This was a two day event and with infrequent ferries due to a strike, I decided to spend the weekend bagging my two last Major Mountains in Rogaland, then return home with Pål Jørgen on Sunday.
I left the car at the trailhead at 1645 and started up a trail that stayed just left of the creek.
A few things went wrong on this hike. First, in the hurry to catch a ferry at Halhjem I totally forgot to take my light backpack along. Second, as I left my car at the trailhead, I confused the map Ølen, with tomorrows map Vindafjord and thus ended up climbing with (the wrong) no map of the mountain.
I headed up the trail along the creek and ended up following it too far. As I realized that this trail went too far left, I left it and headed straight right. This was easier said than done, almost impenetrable brush (called einer or brake in Norwegian) blocked the way. When this bush is almost 2 meter and dense, it is highly troublesome. Finally out, but then a steep cliff band above. I tried up a promising gully that dead ended. Traversing right, I first made an unsuccessful attempt to climb it via small, wet steps covered by moss. No way I wanted to risk a mishap. Careful downclimb, then more traversing. I finally spotted a way that included what looked like a strong birch that I could use to haul myself up a critical last two meter.
I continued uphill, with more cliffs and mountain terrain, but it was now easier to see good routes. A sneaking worry became gradually stronger. A clearly higher peak was much further to my right, but separated from me by what initially looked like a big valley. I tried to convince myself that this peak belonged to an entirely different mountain massiv. With the fog and mist distances are exaggerated and the theory seemed plausible in the beginning. However, as I got higher the mountain got closer and the valley floor between us came into view. Clearly, that peak was part of this mountain. Fortunately, the valley sort of ended and it became clear that I could traverse over without loosing much elevation at all.
I arrived at the cairn at 1845, two hours with all this trouble was better than expected. I took a GPS waypoint and worried slightly about a summit that was just opposite of a fairly high elevation lake. This summit (which turned pout to be only 3 meter lower) looked almost equal in height.
At 1900, I started back down. I decided to try a more direct route getting me back to the farm road that I had spotted on ascent. Lots of cliffs and rather steep terrain forced me to navigate carefully and sometimes descend by sitting down. As I connected with the road, I decided to get a waypoint for better documentation. The most unpleasant surprise of the day; the GPS was gone. Must have fallen out of a pocket while negotiating one of the steeper sections. My jacket had been tied around my waist, so pockets were likely to be pushed around. This was the second GPS in 6 months
I hiked back down the forest road and reached the car at 2015. It was not at all clear how or where to spend the night, but to my delight I discovered Ryfylke Fjordhotell in Sand. They even offered me a reindeer steak for dinner after 2100. A couple of beers and a good night sleep before heading further south to Gunlanuten.

Resources: