Våbrekka 582 m asl
In the middle of December, I went for a weekend trip on western coast of Norway. Except other things I had to do, I wishes to arrange some hiking as well. Saturday was supposed to be windy but fortunately it shouldn’t be rainy. The perfect weather for short mountain trip.
I found a quite interesting hill on the map near the town of Vikebygd. Its name was Våbrekka and it has 582 m a.s.l. Nearby was the mountain on which I was once, Trollafjellet. It would be nice to climb on it too, and the neighboring Trollanipa as well, but climbing to both peaks is a bit more challenging.
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I reached Vikebygd around nine o’clock. It was just brightening, and the sun was about to rise about half an hour later. I didn’t wear my jacket and in the same fleece, pants, cap and gloves set off on the trail. The path to Våbrekka is well marked, but unfortunately only on the map (in the ut.no application). In fact, it’s hard to find the path that leaves the main road to Vikastølen. According to the map, two paths lead to Våbrekka. Both start on the same road. Theoretically, you can make a loop going from one side to the top and going down from the other. And so, I planned to do. Unfortunately, one of the paths was completely invisible and I gave up wandering in the wet forest, search of any mark. Fortunately, the second route turned out to be much more visible. The descent from the road was right next to the house of the water purification service. The direction was indicated by sticks painted red at the top.
Initially, I was walking along a wide road covered with wet grass. Then a narrow path between the trees. Sometime later I reached an open space where wild gusts of wind caught up with me. I quickly wrapped myself in a lightweight rain jacket that works perfectly as a windstopper. Trail markings in the form of red sticks rarely showed me the direction of the march. Somehow, I managed to not get lost. At least until I reached Børkjevatnet lake. There, still following the sticks, I turned right and started walking along the shore. But at one point in my head a warning light came on.
I took out my cell phone and launched the ut.no app. It turned out that I’m going the wrong way. At the lake I should turn left, and the next hill was already my mountain. I turned back quickly. In fact, at the place where I got to the lake there was a cross of the trails and I inadvertently went the wrong one. When I was on the right path, all I had to do was climb the last hill, make several dozen meters and I was on the top. The wind was quite strong but it let me take some pictures from the summit. I came back the same way, being aware that the second path down there is poorly (or not at all) marked.
Climbing to Våbrekka is not difficult. For me, it was a bit of a problem to look out for sticks marking the path, which were much better visible on the way back. As for the views, it’s better to judge for yourself. I think that they would look better in the summer scenery, although those icy works of art encountered along the way in the summer would certainly not have been made.
