Kjellasviknuten
I was sitting in the car and arriving to Ølensvåg. The morning fog slowly went away, but I still passed places completely covered by milky clouds. I turned from E134 into road 543 also called Bjoavegen, as it leads to the northern edge of the peninsula to the village of Bjoa. After a few kilometers driving a winding road with spectacular views of the fjord, I noticed a large advertising sign about selling building grounds over the water. I turned left next to it on a unpaved road, and one moment later I parked the car in an empty parking lot at the trail leading to Vakadalen. Trail around valley I described in one of the November posts. This wasn`t my goal for that day. I was going to climb the Kjellasviknuten.
This trip was completely spontaneous. I did not plan it before, but once I saw how nicely it is outside, I immediately grabbed the backpack, shoes and left the house. During the last days there were rain, snow, or both of them. Clear sky appearance was something I had to use somehow.
At Kjellasviknuten I’ve been before, so I did not need to study maps on the Internet. It was Saturday, sunny morning, when about ten o’clock I started climbing. Route to Vakadalen was a bit tiring but fraught of soothing views. Shrouded in fog Etnefjord and rising next to the peak of Børkjenesnuten made a huge impression on me. Vakadalen was covered by snow. I turned right when I reached the trail crossroads and after a while I got to the place where the road to Kjellasviknuten started. Wide road covered with slightly thicker layer of snow and the slope of the route turned out to be quite a challenge for my condition. At some point, it proved necessary to wear gaiters as the snow became deeper. Soon I reached the end of the road. Set bench encouraged to rest. Right next to the wall stood a forest and on one of the trees hung a sign with the name of my today`s mountain. From the same place you can walk to the distant Gråhorga, which announced a similar plate.
I walked into the forest. I was hoping for some visible sign trail, because the path was not visible under the snow, but I was disappointed. I went up anyway on a steep slope, but on the top of the hill still wasn`t any sign. An additional difficulty was a layer of snow, which here reached to the knees. I raised high leg and took my next step, sinking deep into the snow. After a few dozen meters I managed to find something that could be footprints from a few days earlier. This meant that I probably found a path. Indeed, this trail I went somehow more convenient, and snow was not falling as often and deeply beneath my shoes. After some time I’ve lost the trail again and walked where I thought I should go, again sinking up to my knees in the white powder. I consoled myself sensational views all around.
At one point, unexpectedly I came across a protruding from the snow familiar stick. Marking of the route. I moved towards him. I was on the right track. Now I was doing much better now. In front of me grew big hill and straining eyes, I discovered that guided me there two another sticks. After another effort of overcoming the hill, I was already at the top.
The views were breathtaking and I spent at the top tens of minutes admiring the panorama of mountains and fjords. In the end I decided it was time to go. On the way back I kept up my own traces. Without any problems I got to Vakadalen and then down the road to the car. According to gps, the entire route had about 9.5 km and it took me three hours and forty-three minutes.
This entry was originally posted 2017-03-07 on https://kraina-trolli.pl.
