Søre Tinden (11.08.2015)

When I started near the stone monument at the Sauda road the weather didn't look overwhelming at all. Low hanging clouds were hanging all over the mountains but at least it was dry from above. From the starting point the path quickly became steeper and after crossing some small streams I was up to the mountain. Where the track was running through green grass and between small bushes at the beginning it completely changed at around 1200 m. The snow began but it was good to walk on. Soon Tindane was reached and the tour continued towards Søre Tinden. Normally small cairns mark the way but having that much snow many of them were buried. So I managed to loose the track several times. With the help of the GPS map soon I was on the right way. While the terrain got higher and higher the clouds became thicker and I was completely fogged in. After walking a while the rain started. Visibility got poorer and this should have been the point to break up the tour and return. Looking at the map it was not so far to Søre Tinden, so I continued walking up. To get to mountain top itself you have to climb a little bit in the last section with the use of both hands. Be careful in wet conditions, the rock can be slippery and some lack of attention can result in a drop of several meters down. After 4 hrs I was standing at the big cairn and signed the turbok. While the wind got stronger and the rain didn't stop it was time for return back to civilization. At first everything was running fine. OK, the rain was pouring and the wind blowing. The only thing I had to do was following my footsteps in the snow leading down the mountain. I don't know how, but after a while when the terrain got flat near point 1444 I lost my foot track. The map showed some small lakes around and I had to be careful not coming too close to the lakes because everything was still covered with snow and nobody knows how deep the snow is and what is under the snow. Surprisingly after some 100 meters there was my foot track again and it was time to follow. Everything was in thick fog now and I had to look at the GPS much too often. Suddenly the track vanished again and after walking for about half an hour I was standing in my old foot track near point 1444 again. Shit, what happened? I was looking at the GPS from time to time but oddly changed the walking direction several times. It was close to an White Out. Thick fog from the clouds, rain, snow and a cool breeze let me see almost nothing. Not even my foot steps 3 meters away in the snow! Holy shit! How to get off this mountain? Waiting for sunshine was not an option. So I checked my position and walking direction with the help of the GPS more frequently and was on the right way again. During the next hours I succeeded with loosing the way completely 2 or 3 times with the result of climbing up some steep snow fields again to get in the right direction.
This was very strenuous and exhausting. I felt more and more tired and need to rest from time to time. At the end I had to climb Tindane one more time, but now from the other side than on my way up in the morning. It was very steep. Having so little success with finding the right way down that fu..ing mountain made a growing feeling of panic in me. Visibility was still close to zero. Now it was highly recommended to keep cool, take some deep breaths, check GPS and then continue walking step by step finding back to the path leading down to the road. Making some progress you could hear the distant sound from a waterfall. That must be that one that I passed in the morning. But I was much too close to the stream, the terrain got too steep and a had to turn away from the waterfall. At least there were some tracks made by the sheep but very often the ended suddenly and than it was time to search again for a suitable passage, sometimes climbing up a little bit. Doing so for a while I could get lucky. The fog lifted and you could see the road far below. Within some minutes I also recovered the walking path. Now the nightmare was over. The last section was easy strolling, but care was needed because the ground was very wet. After 9 hrs I was lucky to reach the road where i parked the car.

Reminder to myself:

Its easy to get lost in bad weather condition, even if you have GPS / a map and the track is marked somehow. Stop and return in time.

Looking for the right track can be very very exhausting, especially when you need to climb up wet snow fields.

Be careful walking on melting snow. No one knows what's under the snow. It can be solid rock, but there can be water / a lake or a gap as well. Avoid basin shaped terrain, walk above on higher level.