| Samhjarte from Fjellbu,
up Tinderåsa down east |
| Estimated net time | 2½-3 hours |
| Difficulty | Tinderåsa is steep, and some people might feel exposure in some places. Care should be shown when it is wet. |
| Drinking water | Access to running water just after having passed the cabin "Gjersethytta". |
| GSM coverage | Unknown. |
| Parking | Room for many cars at the north end of lake Synnalandsvatnet. |
| Start height | 90 metres |
| Vertical metres | 430 metres for the roundtrip |
| Trip distance | 10.6 km |
| GPS-file | X |
| Map |
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| Route photo |
If arriving Brattvåg from south on road 659 continue for 2.5 km after having entered the 50km/h zone. Here one will pass the Coop and the "Ingebrikt Davik-huset" (on one's right hand side). Turn left, continuing on the Storgata road for another 250 metres. Just before a small bridge, after having passed the Brattvåg primary school, turn left. Continue upwards for 1.1 km, and turn right after having passed the first speed bump. Drive another 200 metres until one reaches the parking place by lake Synnalandsvatnet. Here one will find ample parking space. In the unlikely event that this parking place is full then more parking space can be found by the Brattvåg kindergarten; go back 200 metres to the last junction and turn right. After 250 metres the kindergarten can be found on the left hand side. Parking here during day-time Monday-Friday will require permission from the kindergarten.
From the parking place cross the Synnalandsvatnet dam and head up to the floodlit road running along the west side of Synnalandsvatnet. This road is suitable for bikes. Continue along this road to the south end of the lake. Here the road is forking, with one road running back north on the east side of the lake, and one road continuing southbound. Continue heading south. The quality of the road is for the next kilometre not so suitable for cycling, but it gets much better again further south.
Approximately 1 km south of Synnalandsvatnet one reaches another lake; Gjersetvatnet, and the cabin Gjersethytta. 100 metres after the cabin the road crosses a small river. This is a good place to drink and fill the water bottle.
Before going off-road take a look at the north wall of Samhjarte; you will be ascending the forest-clad ridge just right (west) of a distinct gully.
Approximately 30 metres after having crossed the bridge turn right off the forest road, and follow the path marked with red (paint and plastic) towards south-west. After 100 metres along this path turn south and walk up to the foot of Samhjarte's north wall. You will notice a relatively long area of slab, a few metres wide, which you have to cross. A few metres up this slab there is a place where it can be easily crossed (show care if wet). After having crossed the slab climb the ridge, and follow this ridge all the way up to the point where you are above the trees. From here walk south-west and then south to the summit.
There are several descent routes, but the quickest is to head south down to the first flat section at around 400 metres (descending approx. 40 vertical metres). Here the path forks, and you should select the left leg, descending down to the forest road towards east. Then follow the forest road back to trail head.
I had had plans of trying the north wall of Samhjarte ever since Arnt asked me about it in 2007, but had never turned thoughts into action. One day at work Arnt asked if we should have a go at the north wall, and we decided to meet at my house in Brattvåg the day after and search for an interesting route.
Arnt arrive at my house just before 17:00, on a warm and gorgeous Wednesday. We got the bikes out and cycled to the south end of lake Synnalandsvatnet. Here we parked the bikes and walked up to the point where we had to get off the forest road. We had a good look at the mountain, trying to find routes that wouldn't require any safety gear, but still challenging enough to be considered interesting. We found a ridge that looked interesting and decided to walk up to the start of the ridge to see more in detail how feasible that route would be.
After closer inspection we were still keen on taking on the ridge, and a wise choice it was. The route up the ridge was very steep, but at no point did we feel any real exposure, and nowhere would a fall cause any more damage than in worst case bruises or a broken bone. After having climbed the ridge and got out of the forest-clad area we tried to find sections where we could practice some scrambling, and there where plenty of opportunities. We also found other potential routes, suitable for more advanced scrambling.
The ascent was a real pleasure, and we hardly noticed the annoying flies that were in the their first week of their annual three-week swarming period (very early this year, due to the nice and warm weather we have had during spring and early summer). After taking photos and signing the registration book, we headed back down the path towards east and then back down to the bikes. Very enjoyable afternoon's hike!