Store Nup 1661m asl
Do you remember last year’s trip to the mount of Vesle Nup, in the Haukeli area? During that march, my attention was caught by a mountain with a vertical wall, seen from the trail. That was Store Nup and pictures shows that mountain appear quite often in the entry from that trip. And now the time has come to climb on it too.
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The area where both peaks lie is the mountainous area crossed by the E134 state road that connects Western Norway with the capital of Norway. Moreover, numerous lakes situated in the area give the landscape a specific character. Unlike its smaller sister, Store Nup can be seen from the E134 road as you drive along the shores of Lake Ulevåvatnet. More or less in the middle of the lake, in its narrowest part, there is a wooden bridge, which helps to cross to the northern shore of the lake. It was from there that I was supposed to start the journey.
Studying the map did not help much. There is no easy way to this mountain. However, someone recorded the route of the entry and posted it on the ut.no website. I decided to use it and climb the same path, although it was necessary to overcome a very steep slope.
When I got there and managed to park my car, it started to rain a bit. Before I changed my shoes and took my backpack and camera out of the car, it stopped raining, but the clouds accompanied me to the end of the trip, even though sometimes the sun came out from behind them. The trail starts near the Nupshallene farm and continues to the Hardangervidda plateau. However, I was interested in the nearest mountain with a characteristic shape and two peaks. It was easy to walk at beginning and the terrain rose gently. I was walking along the stream, which as it turned out later flowed from Nupstjørna Lake. Getting there was not a problem. It started to get serious when I was at the lake. Nupstjørna is situated in a valley with steep slopes on both sides. From the north and east, the Store Nup massif (1661 m above sea level), to the west, the equally impressive Verjesteinsnuten mountain (1650 m above sea level). It was here that I was about to start climbing.
I can’t say it was easy. The area was covered with grass, some low vegetation, sometimes I encountered rock landslides. From time to time I came across a narrow path and traces of human presence. Despite the sweat flooding my eyes, I stubbornly pushed upward. The higher I went, the smaller the Nupstjørna lake was, and the path I walked in the valley shrank to the thickness of a narrow thread.
Until finally the terrain became softer. Paradoxically, the surrounding landscape became more crude, which was even more pronounced by the clouds that completely blocked the sun. I headed more south to reach the top. After some time, I was there. The lack of sun made the views somehow not particularly enchanting, although the image of the E134 stretching below and huge lakes with islands were impressive even in such a gloomy landscape. It got colder and a cold wind forced me to put on my jacket. I was wondering whether to go further to the second of the peaks. This meant I would have to get off the present one on the eastern side and climb on another slope. I fought with myself for a long time, but I finally made up my mind. It took some time to reach the second peak of Store Nup (1599 m above sea level). The views somehow did not differ much from those on the first peak. So I didn’t stay there too long. It was time to go back.
I descended from peak number two and started climbing towards the first one. It was then that I noticed that I might be able to go a different route, avoiding the highest point of the massif, which would save me a lot on my resources and probably also on time. I passed the first summit from the south side, and not very long after that, I realized that I was at the point where I should have descended to Lake Nupstjørna. The route record in my cell phone assured me that I had walked this way before, so following my own trail and headed down.
I don’t know if the steep slope was easier this way. Predictably, my knees started to complain fairly quickly, and soon unpleasant discomfort and pain accompanied me with every step. The lake below and the narrow path of the path approached very slowly. The trail connecting me with the car left on the shores of another lake, although visible, seemed as distant as if I were in space. And yet slowly, almost imperceptibly, I descended lower and lower with every minute. Finally, after endless torture, I made it and got to the path. Without fanfare or even a shout of triumph, without pausing for a moment, I headed back towards the car left somewhere behind the hills.
It took me about 20-30 minutes to get to the parking lot. Now, when I was walking on relatively flat ground, the walking comfort returned to almost the original level. Time to time I looked back at the mountain that I had just descended and admired its steep slopes. I had to admit that it gave me a hard time, even though the whole trip lasted only a few hours. But now I had a two-hour journey home by car.
