Running Across Mount Rundemanen and Mount Blåmanen (22.04.2020)


Start point Svartediket
Endpoint Årstad
Characteristic Jogging
Duration 2h 06min
Distance 14.1km
Vertical meters 1,401m
GPS
Ascents Blåmanen Nord (561m) 22.04.2020
Blåmanen Vest (552m) 22.04.2020
Nordre Midtfjellet (450m) 22.04.2020
Visits of other PBEs Brushytten (412m) 22.04.2020 19:29
#1: There's a deep cleft not far from the northern peak of Mount Blåmanen. It's quite feasible to jump across it, but you need to make sure you know what you're doing...
#1: There's a deep cleft not far from the northern peak of Mount Blåmanen. It's quite feasible to jump across it, but you need to make sure you know what you're doing...

I have frequently been jogging/running across Mount Rundemanen in Bergen. For the last two years I've actually done that at least once a week whenever I've been in Bergen. For the most part I've been doing this run by myself, but on this occasion I went running with two colleagues of mine. They had both been jogging on this mountain before, but they weren't as familiar with the many paths and trails as I have become during the 7 years that I've been working in Bergen. After we had made it up the valley Våkendalen to the top of Mount Rundemanen, I therefore asked the two of them if they had ever been to the summits of the neighboring Mount Blåmanen; and since neither of them had, we took of from the mountain road descending from Mount Rundemanen along the west side of Mount Blåmanen, and followed instead a trail right across Mount Blåmanen. Blåmanen has a number of peaks, with small lakes or ponds interspersed in between them. I first took my colleagues to the north peak, which is the highest (561 m.a.m.s.l.); as it was also the one closest to us. We stopped there, and admired the view, and also shot a few photos (Images ##2&3). Close to the north peak there's even a deep cleft that is slightly broader than what most of us feel comfortable about jumping across; while some of us still get that obsession that you just have to do it. I've been at this spot before, but then it was wet and slippery, so I managed to stop myself from jumping across the cleft. On this day the rock was dry, however, and so I was unable to persuade myself not to make the jump across. The moment Susan, my colleague realized I was serious about jumping, she immediately lined up with the fissure, in order to catch my jump on a photo, and so she did (Image #1). From the north peak of Blåmanen, we ran over to the west peak, which is traditionally considered the "main" peak, though it's slightly lower than the north peak; probably because it is the peak visible from the western part of the city of Bergen, and this peak is even the one marked with the biggest cairns (Image #6). We shot a few pictures even there (Images ##4-6), and then continued down to the mountain road called Blåmansveien, and followed this road down towards the cabin called Brushytten. As we were about to cross Mount Midtfjellet on our way down towards Mount Fløyen, I took my two colleagues on another detour, this time to the North Peak of Midtfjellet, called Nordre Midtjellet (450 m.a.m.s.l.). After visiting this little peak, and admiring the sunset even from that spot, we continued on our usual trail past the little lake named Skomakerdiket, and then back down to Årstad, where our run had started (see map and GPS tracking).

##2-3: On the North Peak of Mount Blåmanen. ##4-6: On the West Peak of Mount Blåmanen. #7: On the summit of Nordre Midtfjellet [lit.: "The Northern Mid-mountain].
##2-3: On the North Peak of Mount Blåmanen. ##4-6: On the West Peak of Mount Blåmanen. #7: On the summit of Nordre Midtfjellet [lit.: "The Northern Mid-mountain].

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