Breheimen, day 1: from Skjolden via Haugsnosi to Fast (24.07.2019)

© Helwig Hauser

© Helwig Hauser

Note that this track has been created from memory, i.e., it was not recorded automatically.

Trip Summary

After our arrival in Luster the day before, we started our five days hike through Breheimen in Skjolden, Luster, at the very end of Sognefjorden (Lustrafjorden). On the map, we had seen that a trail should lead up to Persli from nearby Notasvaet, about 500m northwest of the bridge over Mørkriselvi in Skjolden, beginning with a forest road and then continuing "diagonally" upwards via Haukhammar to Stakkslettehaugen. The forest road was indeed easy to find, but then the continuation was completely unclear. We tried hard to locate the path through the forest, but could not find any (just very vague indications of someone, maybe a deer, having stepped there every now and then). We thus stepped through the (steep) forest upwards, into the direction of Stakkslettehaugen, without any path and at times proceeding was non-trivial. This took us, obviously, longer than expected, but after a while we managed to connect to another forest road that comes up in many swings the steep mountain side from somewhere near Meljane in the valley below. From there, then, the continuation to Persli was not only easy to find, but also a marked trail!

Haugsnosi

At Persli, we also found the (marked) continuation further up to Gurosete without any difficulties and near Leitesbakken, close to 800mosl, we then also passed the tree line, enjoying broader and wider views. At Gurosete, we made our first short rest, enjoying outstanding views into Mørkrisdalen as well as over to Hurrungane. It was then also there that we decided to include a detour via Haugsnosi. Already from the fjord in Skjolden, we had looked up to Haugsnosi, high above the fjord, and speculated with a detour to this amazing vantage point. But since this meant a fair extra bit of hiking (mostly without any trails), we waited until Gurosete to make our decision. Unexpectedly, we even found a marked trail from Gurosete to Haugsnosi and hiking over there via the heights was nice and pleasant. When we then arrived at Haugsnosi, we were glad that we had included it. Looking down over 1200m towards Skjolden and the end of Lustrafjorden was more than a reward for this extra stretch of hiking (with heavy backpacks). :-)

To Fast via Ofsarvatnet

It was then not far from Haugsnosi, where we eventually left the marked trail and started to head for cabin Fast at the northwestern end of Åsetevatnet without any path (no problem at all, but taking a bit of extra time). We first took the chance to refresh ourselves a little in a lovely little lake near Haugsnosi and then crossed the little height north of Haugsnosi, before starting our descent towards Ofsarvatnet. Enjoying a wonderful summer day, we surrounded Ofsarvatnet in its west and continued around the eastern ridge of Kaldrasane towards Fast. The final descent down to Fast was a little steep, but no problem at all to hike. We long thought that we should find the trail that comes down from Hamarsdalsbandet, but even towards the end of our hike we were unable to locate it. This meant, at the very end, that we had to cross the river coming down through Langgrø without any bridge. Even though this was a little tricky (the river was deeper than pleasant near Fast and also a lot of water was moving with a great force), we still managed without any problem and ended up at the cabin only minutes later.

End of Day 1

After a long and wonderful hiking day #1, we then enjoyed the smaller of the two (small) cabins at Fast for the night, getting ready for day #2 of our five days hike through Breheimen.

Photos

Selected photos are available as Google photo album.

Useful Resources

See also the related FB-page Hiking around Bergen, Norway.
The National Park Breheimen has its own home page.
Web page UT.no from the Norwegian Trekking Association recommends another (shorter) hike to Fast (from Mørkri).