Høgfjellet

  • Høgfjellet (Gylfjellet)
  • 689 m
  • Primary factor 606 m
  • Tingvoll, Nordmøre, Norway
  • Location: North 62:58.673. East 008:05.798 (GPS on the summit)
  • Difficulty: YDS class 1
  • Climbed November 8, 2010.

Information:

How to get there: Starting from the city of Molde, head north on E-39 (towards Trondheim). You cross a big suspension bridge, then a floating bridge before reaching the intersection with Hwy. 70 from Sunndalsøra. Turn onto Hwy. 70 and drive south. There is roadwork in the very beginning (2010), scheduled to be completed in the fall of 2011. Before then, you should drive through 2 tunnels, after this work is completed there will be 3 tunnels.
As you exit the last (2nd. or 3rd.) tunnel, pay attention and slow down, another tunnel starts in about 75 meter. There is a small area where you can park on the left hand side, just beyond the creek. That is, DO NOT enter the next tunnel, you need to stop just before the tunnel entrance.
This is the trailhead, location N62:57.791. E008:05.732, elevation about 25 meter.
Route description: Head up the broad trail directly from the car and along the creek. Cross the bridge higher up and follow the trail as it zig-zags up to the abandoned farm Kandal. Continue uphill and more right to the upper end of the small farm field. Go through a gate and continue on a broad, nice trail. Higher up, you emerge from the forest and a powerline crosses and climbs the hillside on your left. There is a trail fork here. Turn left and cross back (to the left side) of the powerline. The trail is still broad as it climbs steeply through the forest before emerging at a nice plateau, called Hammarsetra, with a good fjord view and a small, pretty new hut. This location is N62:58.049. E008:05.463, elevation about 287 meter.
Follow the trail (red arrow) uphill and to the right just above the hut. The trail continues very nicely uphill until reaching a distinct col where it again is just under the same powerline. Go through this col, then locate the trail as it climbs the hill on your right to reach a small plateau higher up. From here, the trail follows a pretty nice ridge in small zig-zags before reaching the more gentle upper slopes of the mountain. As you gain the almost flat top, you will see the cairn on a small top somewhat further ahead. Hike across and ascend the final, short slope to gain the summit of Høgfjellet. There is a trail register and a very good view all around.
Comments: I came driving across from Bølia, this would be my sixth and last P600 summit on this 3 day trip.
I started out at 1220, it was a pleasant surprise to find a rather good trail. Soon I reached an old farm, not in use any longer, explaining the good trail. However, the good trail continued and I could see footsteps that were only partially covered by new snow. I made the correct choice at the trailfork under the powerline, no sign here, but the direction looked good. The broad trail served a very nice viewpoint with a small (fairly new) hut.
Fortunately, the steps in the snow continued uphill. Somebody clearly hiked here on Sunday (yesterday). The trail was much better than expected, a big change from this morning. The route was really quite good and the final ridge very nice. I made the summit at 1400, stayed 10 minutes (still cold wind up here), then started back down. This mountain appears quite steep, you look pretty directly down to the fjord. However, the route is good, YDS class 2 with snow, but almost certainly a class 1 trail before the snow came. I was back down by the car in 50 minutes at 1500.
Time to rearrange all my gear and pack for the airline later tonight. This had been a very nice break with lots of exercise. I never expected all the snow when planning this trip, but in the end it all turned out quite ok. I drove back to Molde and finished off my small supply of food while waiting for the aircraft.

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