How to get there:
The starting point is parking next to the hydro power building at Hodnaberg,
This location is near N60.55852, E006.211258, elevation near 590 meter.
To drive there, you may leave E-16 in Dale and drive up Bergsdalen (narrow road).
From the Voss side, you drive towards Hamlagrøvatnet by leaving E-16 at
Bulken. The last kilometer is a side road, road fork is at location N60.56572, E006.19833.
Route description:
Walk the road a bit more than 400 meter along the lake. Take the first fork
that heads uphill (left). There is a sign for Kiellandsbu.
The next waypoint is the lake Nedre Kvålsdalstjørni. The summer route
is the trail to Kiellandsbu. In winter, it may be better to cross a bit higher and descend
to the north end of this lake.
Continue towards Kiellandsbu through the more narrow Hardingaskardet. Next, leave the route
by going left, climbing gently, then descend
to lake Songrøvatnet.
Continue up the valley going south, then more east towards lake Svartavatnet. From here, there
is nice terrain towards the north
summit of Middagshorgi, turning left before the terrain gets
steep. Follow this valley, then ascend a slightly steeper slope to gain the summit. Note that the
summit point 1264, marked on the map, is not the highest summit.
A track is posted on Peakbagger.
Comments:
The forecast was very nice. The winter had not been very good for skiing and
my motivation for getting a mountain ski trip with Easter like conditions was high.
I woke up early and decided that this was good in order to return before the end of the day.
In the steep and narrow road above Dale, I still met a car coming down. He had just passed
a place where one could meet, thus I expected him to back up to there. No sign of doing this.
Eventually, a guy came out and asked if I could go reverse instead because he had 9 people
in the car! What logic is this? Perhaps minimize loss of life when trying to back up on
a dangerous mountain road? Of course, no more traffic, I proceeded to the Hamlagrø lake.
With a 0740 start, I had a lot of time. No hurry today. I would test my new "hybrid"
ski, mountain ski uphill and rando ski downhill.
Descending to the north end of lake Nedre Kvålsdalstjørni, all the snow in
the lower part had melted. Thus, a 50 meter ski carry. Otherwise, skiing was fine all the
way. Quite rugged terrain as I
turned left before Trongedalen.
The route across to
lake Songrøvatnet was just fine, and similarly skiing up the small valley
towards lake Svartavatnet. The final ascent was very nice indeed.
Good, open slopes, then a
small valley before the final uphill slope.
I was there at 1135,
having also made several short stops along the way, testing my new skis.
Good views directly to the Hardanger fjord. I took a long rest in the nice weather, then skied
across to the 1264 summit marked on the map.
I left the summit area at 1200 and skied back (mostly down) to my car, arriving there at 1350.
A very good trip, that will be remembered, had come to an end. I did not see a single ski
track, but the snow and the weather were like what you think of when it is Easter time in Norway.
I drove back via Bulken, thus avoiding the steep and narrow road back down to Dale.
