Åshovda trail head by Røungsdammen.
| Åshovda from
Røungsdammen Åshovda |
| Estimated net time | 1½-2 hours | ||
| Difficulty | No difficulties. | ||
| Drinking water | Running water from the stream draining from the small lake Ostjørn, around half-way along the route. | ||
| GSM coverage | Coverage throughout the route (August 2013). | ||
| Parking | Room for many cars around trail head. | ||
| Start height | 965 metres | ||
| Vertical metres | 190 metres for the roundtrip. | ||
| Trip distance | 5.7 km | ||
| GPS-file | X | ||
| Map |
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| Route photo |
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From the three-way junction (Geilo, Nesbyen, Rødberg) north of lake Tunhovdfjorden, drive 1.8 km west in the direction of Geilo. Turn right just after a small grocery store ("Joker" per 2013), where a small sign says "Storestølen". Drive 1.7 km to an unmanned toll booth (Nok 50 per 2013, cash only), and then another 5.7 km to the dam at the east end of lake Rødungen. Park wherever you find space, which there is plenty of.
Start your hike by crossing the dam and then continue on a path left of the fence after the dam. The path forks a few metres after the fence, and either leg will take you up to a cabin by lake Ostjørn, approximately half-way to the summit. If you follow the right leg you will walk along lake Rødungen, which is nicer than the forest route. From lake Ostjørn continue west along the lake, and then through some more forest. When the terrain opens up and you can see the summit you need to pay a little attention where the path turns left and then follows the east ridge to the summit. You first get to a trigonometric point marker, and then the true summit another 80 metres further west, where you find a pile of stones.
Descend by reversing your ascent route.
This Friday was my second day in the Nesbyen area, and the plan was for Håvard and me to do a short hike before spending the afternoon fishing. But after breakfast Håvard decided to prioritise some recovery service after the too late and wet night before, so I set out on my own. I hadn't planned much, but found Åshovda to be a nice candidate. This proved right, and included some nice cloudberry fields east of the summit, where I picked approximately one litre of berries.
After my hike Håvard was back in action and we walked to one of the lakes above his cabin to try our luck with the trout. I was very optimistic after having lost a reasonably big one two nights earlier, but neither Håvard nor me had any luck this afternoon.
When we got back to the cabin Hallvard had arrived one or two minutes earlier, in order to join us for next day's hike to Reineskarvet.