Styrmannen (27.06.2013)  5

Written by hmsv1 (Hannah Vickers) GSM

Start point Vasstrand
Endpoint same
Characteristic Hillwalk
Distance 10.0km
Map
Ascents Styrmannen (818m) 27.06.2013
A view worth waiting for.
A view worth waiting for.

It had been a looooong week without any trips and only sitting in front of a computer and staring out of the window at the rainy weather. So today was a not-to-miss opportunity for an evening trip after work since the weather was finally going to be nice for the whole day. Elise and her friend Mari were joining too which was nice, especially since we had not met up since the trip to Djeveltanna at least a month ago. Neither of them could think of a mountain they particularly wanted to visit, so I suggested Styrmannen. It is one of the mountains easily accessible from Vasstrand, and located on the southern side of Ersfjorden so we expected some fantastic views from the top. It was warm though, almost 20 degrees and even before we had started the trip we were already being head-hunted by flies. Fortunately they were not mosquitoes though.

Breitinden and Litleskaret seen from Botnvatnet
Breitinden and Litleskaret seen from Botnvatnet
A very quick stop on the way up towards Styrmannen
A very quick stop on the way up towards Styrmannen

We parked close to the snuplass at the end of the road and took the vague path that went up through the forest on the right side of Yttergårdselva The grass was long but not wet, and the first kilometre or so was easy to follow. Thereafter we had to find our own way across the Vasstrandmyra and around Stappen. Unfortunately a fly-experience-from-hell began very soon after we left the forest behind. I can't quite remember the last trip I'd had when there had been so many flies but tonight it was particularly bad. For a while I think we all regretted that it was summertime and were wishing for winter to come back soon! It was a shame because the first 1.5 hours of the trip were not much fun, and there was never a good time to stop, enjoy the view and take pictures - otherwise we would be harrassed by huge swarms of the beasts. The only advantage was that they weren't interested in biting us......

Mari taking a stop to admire the views
Mari taking a stop to admire the views
Heading up on boulders towards the top
Heading up on boulders towards the top

The myrområde was fortunately not too wet, but damp in some places so it was good to have boots on and not training shoes (which Elise had on). We didn’t really gain much height for a while and walked toward the western end of Stappen and around the southern side of Botnvatnet, not actually knowing that the northern side was actually drier. It worked out OK anyway and after passing that we followed the river upwards towards the valley between Styrmannen and Blåskreen. There were nice views behind us towards the ocean and islands now, and for a few minutes it seemed like the flies had left us temporarily and we decided to stop and take a short break just before a smaller lake at around 450moh. Fortunately the number of flies gradually decreased from there and once we reached the steinur in the valley we were more or less free of fly-harrassment. Finally we could actually enjoy the trip – but it had taken a lot of perseverence!

I had thought that the most obvious route up to Styrmannen was to follow the valley up to the pass between the two tops, but since it was quite slow-going to clamber over and in between the boulders, Elise and Mari suggested to go straight up the left side of the mountain closest to us where we noticed ’en slags sti’. So we did that. It was definitely a more direct route, with a mixture of rullestein/grass/boulders, some of which were stable to walk or climb over, and some which were not at all fixed to the ground. It turned out that the sort-of-path which we saw from below was actually the remains of a rockslide i.e. a trail of small loose stones.

So that wasn’t really ideal to follow. Nevertheless, it was quite fun and more exciting to look for a route straight up the mountainside while not really knowing what we would find – or have to scramble up. The upper part of the mountain consisted mostly of good rock, and there was some very good scrambling to be had there. But the most surprising for all of us was that we ended up exactly on the summit of Styrmannen. I thought that we would probably meet the summit ridge by going straight up the side of the mountain, and then have to walk a little way along the ridge to get to the top, but it turned out not to be necessary. It was probably just luck that our choice of route got us directly to the top!

Panoramas from the way up and from the top
Panoramas from the way up and from the top

We spent a relaxing half hour on the top. Elise ate pizza while both Mari and I had regular sandwiches. The views over Ersfjorden towards Skamtinden, Storstolpan and Store Hollendaren were every bit as amazing as we expected to see. There can never be too many times to look at Ersfjorden, especially when you see it from a different viewpoint each time. And there was of course gorgeous summery evening light over Kattfjorden and Angstaursundet and all the islands I was becoming used to seeing – Håja, Sessøya, Tussøya, Sommarøya…….the list goes on. After appreciating all of this delightful scenery around us and the fly-free environment, we took a slightly different route back down by following the ridge down to the pass between Styrmannen and Blåskreen, then descended down towards the lake again. We held some height by not descending straight down the centre of the valley but keeping on the northern side of it which seemed to work out quite good. It wasn’t as if we were able to descend quickly since it was mainly bouldery-type terrain, but it was definitely more straightforward than the direct route up we’d used.

But it was a relief to be past the boulders though, and from the small lake at around 450moh it was straightforward and easy-going to walk, if only a little damp in places. Our choice of walking around the northern side of Botnvatnet was a good one, much quicker and drier. Only when we reached the western end did it become wetter again, butt hat was most probably because we were back on the Vasstrandmyra again. At least this time there had been surprisingly fewer flies to irritate us, which made it a much more pleasant experience, if only a bit long. Amusing that we all mentioned how nice it would have been to have skis on at that point – the way down seemed to drag on a lot longer than the walk up! We finally made it down and through the forest to reach the car again for kl.22, so it had been a good 5-hour trip with all the stops included. Great to have spent a decent few hours enjoying the sun again, even if there was some amount of frustration induced by the insects!

Descending the ridge to the pass, Vasstinden in the background
Descending the ridge to the pass, Vasstinden in the background
Finally past the steinur
Finally past the steinur
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