From the ridge between Blåtinden and Lafjellet and up to Lafjellet summit some climbing moves are required. There are good hand-holds, and very little exposure.
| Blåtinden and Lafjellet
from Gamlestølen Blåtinden Lafjellet |
| Estimated net time | 3-4 hours |
| Difficulty |
The east ridge
towards Blåtinden is slightly exposed and fairly steep, but is not by
any means difficult. The exposure can easily be avoided by
scrambling/walking a little left of the ridge itself. From the ridge between Blåtinden and Lafjellet and up to Lafjellet summit some climbing moves are required. There are good hand-holds, and very little exposure. |
| Drinking water | No access to drinking water except from the stream close to Gamlestølen. |
| GSM coverage | Coverage throughout the route. |
| Parking | Room for many cars at trail head, along the road or at the exit to Drabløsstølen. |
| Start height | 355 metres |
| Vertical metres | 855 metres for the roundtrip |
| Trip distance | 6.1 km |
| GPS-file | X |
| Map |
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| Route photo |
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From Ålesund drive to Magerholm and take the ferry across to Aursneset. From the ferry port drive 21.9 km towards Stranda on road 60, then take left towards Fjellsetra, and continue for 900 metres. You will see a number of garbage containers on your left hand side. Find parking on the right hand side of the road, or a few metres before, at the exit to the right towards Drabløsstølen.
Start your hike from the garbage containers, walking west/north-west along the right hand side of the stream that comes down from the saddle between Lafjellet and Sætrefjellet. There is no path here, so the best is to find the shortest route up to the saddle, at the same time as you avoid the bush. It is slightly boggy from the trail head up to the saddle.
From the saddle try to gain a little height by turning a little to the right. Then aim for the boulder at the foot of Blåtinden. Cross the boulder from right to left, but also make sure you gain height. Below the east ridge of Blåtinden there is a triangular rock formation. Aim left of this area, and follow the left side of this triangle. At the apex of the triangle you're at the Blåtinden east ridge, which you follow all the way to the summit.
From the Blåtinden summit head directly south towards Lafjellet. The final 30 vertical metres to the Lafjellet summit must be climbed. This is best done by following the north ridge of this section (just continue in the direction of the path between Blåtinden and Lafjellet). You do indeed need to use your hands up this section, but it is relatively easy climbing.
From Lafjellet continue south-east and then east, following the north edge of Lafjellet. This will take you down to a steep and grassy section that will bring you down from the mountain. This section looks very steep from below, but there is no climbing involved. When you have descended from Lafjellet continue back down to the car on boggy terrain, trying to avoid the bush.
I had done this hike almost two years ago, but I wanted to do it again for several reasons. One was that I didn't bring a camera on my last visit. Also, I regarded this as a fairly short hike, which wouldn't put too much strain on my sore left foot. The final reason was that I wanted Elisabeth to visit this fine area.
We left our cabin around 10:00, and 15 minutes later were on our way across the slightly boggy area towards the saddle between Lafjellet and Sætrefjellet. It was a gorgeous day, except for the fog covering both the summits we had planned to visit. The hope was that the light fog would clear before we got to the summits.
The hike up to the east ridge of Blåtinden is merely transportation, at times taking its toll, but along the ridge towards Blåtinden you have every opportunity to enjoy some fun scrambling. We selected to follow the extreme right of the ridge in order to get as much scrambling and exposure as possible.
When we got to the summit the fog around the summit had lifted, but the neighbouring mountains were still partly covered, obstructing some of the views.
We then headed across to Lafjellet, enjoying the easy climb up to its summit. Then the relatively easy hike back down towards the car. When we got back to the car all the fog was gone, and I was able to get some good photos of the mountains we had just visited.
Then back to the cabin and a swim in lake Nysetervatnet, before watching the men's javelin from the Beijing Olympics. Another close to perfect day!