Route to Fossebrea from lake Breatjørnan.
Upper part of route to Vermenuten from Fossebrea.
| Lauvdalsbrea, Fossebrea
& Vermenuten from Lauvdalen Lauvdalsbrea Fossebrea Vermenuten |
| Estimated net time | 3-4 hours | ||
| Difficulty | In general no difficulties, but climbing up to the summit of Vermenuten will require a couple of scrambling moves. | ||
| Drinking water | The only reliable sources of running water are from the stream draining from lake Breatjørnan, and a small stream towards the end of the hike. | ||
| GSM coverage | Coverage throughout the route (July 2012). | ||
| Parking | Room for many cars at car park by trail head. | ||
| Start height | 1210 metres | ||
| Vertical metres | 830 metres for the roundtrip. | ||
| Trip distance | 11.1 km | ||
| GPS-file | X | ||
| Map |
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| Route photo |
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Along road 7, a little east of the village Ål and 20 km west of the large round about outside Gol, turn north (right if coming from Gol) where signed for "Vats". Then turn right again in the T-junction after a few metres. After 10.9 km turn right where signed for "Hemsedal", and then pay toll after another 900 metres (NOK 50 per 2012, coins or credit card). This road is the mountain road that runs across to Hemsedal. From the toll gate drive 10.6 km and park on the car park on the left hand side of the road.
On the right hand side of the road, just before you get to the car park, you will find a signed path to Lauvdalsbrea. Follow this path east, and then south-east from 1320m. The path is easy to follow all the way up to almost 1500 metres, and when you get into rocky terrain there are cairns leading the way to the summit. Note that there is a wall a little above 1500 metres, which can only be easily ascended if you follow the path. Lauvdalsbrea's summit area has several cairns.
From Lauvdalsbrea descend back down below the wall and then turn right and head north approximately 550 metres to the small saddle west of lake Breatjørnan. Head down on the right (south) side of the lake and continue towards the slope west of Fossebrea. At the bottom of the slope you will find a track that will take you north-east between a small top on the left and the main mountain. Once up on the small plateau turn a little right and head directly east all the way to Fossebrea's summit, which is marked by a cairn.
From Fossebrea head back down via your ascent route to the small plateau at 1450 metres. From here turn a little right and aim directly for Vermenuten. Ascend Vermenuten via its east shoulder, all the way up to the wall surrounding the summit plateau. There are a couple of places where this wall can be ascended without more difficulty than a couple of scrambling moves. The most obvious route is by just continuing straight up from the east shoulder. Once this is done it's easy walking the last few metres to the summit, which is marked by a small cairn.
Descend Vermenuten by going back down where you scrambled up the wall surrounding the summit, and then turn right and head south-west back down towards your trail head. There is no path before you get down to approximately 1260 metres, and this path will take you back to the lower section of your ascent path.
Day #4 at Håvard's cabin above Nesbyen, and the original plan had been to hike Reineskarvet. But after the long hike yesterday to Trøymsfjellet, Håvard decided to prioritise painting his cabin, and since Reineskarvet is a mountain we both want to visit I decided to find something else. The decision was quite easy, since I had had Fossebrea in the back of my mind ever since we hiked Såta exactly one year earlier. And this also gave me the opportunity to include Lauvdalsbrea and Vermenuten.
My initial plan had been to drive up to Blåbergstølen, south-east of Fossebrea, but since I didn't find the road leading up here I ended up driving up to the pass between Lauvdalsbrea and Reineskarvet. Here I found a signed path to Lauvdalsbrea, and this removed any doubts on how suitable this trail head would be.
The whole hike was relatively easy walking, although a little strenuous, and gave me some excellent views and a very nice outing in slightly remote territory. And the only other humans I saw was a father with two kids on their way up towards Lauvdalsbrea when I was almost back to my car.
After the hike I dove back to Håvard's cabin, and helped him a little with the painting before taking on the difficult task of finding a couple of cold beers in the fridge.