From Ålesund drive road 60 towards Magerholm and cross the fjord on the ferry to
Aursneset.
From the ferry port at Aursneset drive 10.2 km towards Stranda on road 60, to
Straumgjerde. At Straumgjerde turn right, drive across the bridge (crossing
Norway's shortest salmon river), and continue north. Drive 3.9 km from road 60.
You are now at Erstad, and turn left onto a gravel road. There is an old sign on the right hand side of the road pointing towards
"Riksheimdalen". Follow this gravel road uphill for approximately 600 metres.
You now get to a gate, and could in theory continue to drive uphill. But most
likely the gate is locked, and if it isn't you might well risk that it is locked
when you get back down. You should therefore find parking somewhere close to
this gate. There are several places where a car can be parked along the road,
but you need to make sure you don't block access for tractors etc. to the
fields.
Start walking by following the mountain road uphill. At 320m you get to
lake Dammen, and from here proceed another 4 km up to the end of the mountain
road at 670m. Note that it would be highly beneficial to cycle up to here,
particularly for the descent. Head up to the small cabin and follow the path,
marked with red "T"s, into the valley. When you get to lake Storevatnet the path
forks and you could in principle follow either leg, but the easiest route is
probably found by forking left. This path is very vague in places but there are
red "T"s at frequent intervals. When you get to lake Tridjevatnet at 874m cross
the stream by the lake and continue on the path on the right (west) side of the
lake. At the west end of the lake the path fades away, and from here on there
are only sporadic traces of a path, in addition to faint dots of red paint.
From lake Tridjevatnet head towards the stream coming down from lake
Fjerdevatnet. Start the ascent a little before you get to the stream, and show
some care on the slab if it's wet. Stay on the right hand side of the stream up
to the lake, and then pass the lake on the right (west) side, where you will
find a vague path a little above the lake. From the south end of Fjerdevatnet
continue east and up to a small lake, Femtevatnet, which you pass on the left
(north) side. Aim for the left hand side of the gully coming down from the
valley and find your best route through scree up to approximately 1200m. From
here turn a little left and head north-east up to a distinct gully a little
right (south) of Blåbretinden's summit.
The gully requires scrambling, and several moves definitely requires the use of
hands for upwards movement, but the hand holds are good and most reasonably fit
people will find it technically easy. But there are a lot of loose gravel and
small stones, which requires care both with respect to climbers below and also
danger of sliding on the gravel. If you're several hikers in the group you
should either ascend one at a time or be close together. At the top of the gully
turn left and walk the final few metres to the summit, which is marked by a
cairn.
Descending the gully is a little more challenging than ascending it, but not
technically difficult. Note that all the moves can be done with the back inwards
(i.e. face downwards), at least on dry rock. Once the gully has been descended
follow your ascent route back down to Erstad.
13. July 2014
Blåbretinden had been very high on my wish list since the spring of 2011, but I
hadn't found the right combination of sufficient time and good enough weather to
take on this long hike before this Sunday. I was joined by Kjetil and Trond for
this hike, and we all met up by lake Tridjevatnet in Riksheimdalen; Trond had
been staying the night up in Riksheimdalen and Kjetil and me joined forces at
the top of the mountain road since he was walking and I had a bike. Trond's dog
Akira was also part of the group.
Hiking Blåbretinden via Riksheimdalen is probably the easiest route to this fine
mountain, but it's a long walk and the 6 km of mountain road from Erstad and up
into Riksheimdalen is definitely not the most exiting route. But with fantastic
mountains all around there is plenty of nice scenery, and the road makes for
easy walking. From where Kjetil and I met Trond, by lake Tridjevatnet, things
get a little more exiting, and the lakes amongst the mountains are a fantastic
combination of the best of Norwegian nature. Our walk past the next three lakes,
in gorgeous weather, was an easy stroll, and then things got a little more
strenuous as we started the climb up to Blåbretinden's west slopes. There was
very little snow, but we did find some stretches of snow which would make the
descent a little easier than descending through the boulder.
At the top of the hill in the west slopes we finally got to the gully that would
take us up to the summit ridge. After a quick look at the gully we all concluded
that it would be best if Trond and Akira ascended first, with Kjetil and me
waiting in safety a little to the side of the gully, since it was very likely
Akira would kick small stones down the gully. After a few minutes Trond shouted
that they were up on the ridge, and Kjetil and me then followed close together.
When we re-joined Trond up on the ridge he told us he had had to lift Akira in
one place, but otherwise there had been no issues for a dog to come up via this
route.
We walked the last few metres up to the summit and enjoyed the spectacular
summit views, and also dug into our lunch sandwiches and rested a little before
starting the descent. When we got back down to the gully both Trond and I
hesitated a little and weren't quite sure how to approach the upper couple of
metres of the gully, but Kjetil quickly came to our "rescue" and showed the way.
The rest of the descent down the gully can best be described as easy scrambling,
but focus is required since there's a fair bit of gravel that can easily cause a
slide.
Below the gully we crossed the little snow there was, and then down to the small
lakes above Fjerdevatnet. I couldn't resist a quick swim in the lower of the two
(Femtevatnet), which was a most refreshing experience with still ice/snow
covering some of the small lake. Down at Tridjevatnet we got ourselves a big
surprise when we saw a sheep swimming in the middle of the lake. It had probably
been frightened by Akira, but as it was now it clearly had problems. None of us
had ever seen a sheep swimming, and it was obvious that this animal is not a
good swimmer. But luckily it managed to get to the shore before it got too deep
in the water, and towards the end it was only a little bit of its head sticking
up above the surface of the water.
When we got to the top of the mountain road Trond and I jumped onto our bikes
and left Kjetil behind, and I soon concluded that whatever pain you might have
in getting a bike up the hills it is such a benefit to be able to cycle back
down the 6 km of mountain road.
Photos 13.07.2014
For Blåbretinden fork left in path junction east of lake Storevatnet.
Route from lake Tridjevatnet in Riksheimdalen towards Blåbretinden.
Upper part of route to Blåbretinden via gully.