Fræneggen trail head at Malme.
Fræneggen route from Kaldbaken.
Fræneggen route up to Luten.
Fræneggen route up to Kvannfjellet.
Fræneggen route down from Kvannfjellet.
| Fræneggen from Malme to
Moen Julskartinden Kaldbaken Butippen Bjørnen Luten Kvannfjellet Røsetåsen |
| Estimated net time | 10-12 hours | ||
| Difficulty | No difficulties, but this is a long hike, and with touches of exposure on Kaldbaken and Bjørnen's west ridges, and also on Kvannfjellet's east ridge. | ||
| Drinking water | In wet periods there's water in most saddles, but in dryer periods you will have to leave the main route to find water. The most reliable places to find water is by the lakes south-west of Luten, and from the stream south-west of Kvannfjellet. | ||
| GSM coverage | Coverage throughout the route, except a couple of patchy sections in the most narrow saddles (August 2013). | ||
| Parking | Room for several cars at the car park by trail head, and also room for cars by the shop where your hike ends. | ||
| Start height | 125 metres | ||
| Vertical metres | 2710 metres for the roundtrip. | ||
| Trip distance | 26.1 km | ||
| GPS-file | X | ||
| Map |
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| Route photo |
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NOTE: This route description assumes you have two cars, one at the start of the route and one where you come down from Røsetåsen.
Assume your starting point is the round about east of Molde centre where roads E39 and 662 intersect. Drive 4.2 km east on road E39 and turn left in the round about, towards Eide. Follow road 64 11.4 km and park just before a shop on the left hand side of the road (Bunnpris per 2013), paying toll after 5.6 km (NOK 20 per 2013). Leave one car by the shop and drive 5.4 km back towards the toll booth. Park on the right hand side of the road, on a small car park, less than 200 metres before reaching the toll booth.
Start your walk by following the road 150 metres towards where you parked the first car and then turn right onto a gravel road, where you find a wooden sign for "Galten". Follow the gravel road 140 metres and turn right onto a path. Follow this path through the forest, and then to the small top Øygardsfjellet. Continue north-east and leave the path at 690 metres in order to visit the point Galten on the left (north) side of the path. From Galten head back east to re-join the path, and head up to Julskartinden.
From Julskartinden walk north and then east down to the saddle Julskaret. From the saddle follow Kaldbaken's south-west ridge up to the summit. From Kaldbaken descend north-east and east, down to a small cairn at 920 metres, and then aim for the small top at 850 metres north-east of Kaldbaken, and then continue north-east to Seterfjellet. The path now vanishes, but you should head north down to a little above and west of the saddle Gjengkleiva, before heading east into the saddle. From a little above the saddle you will find a path that takes you up to Butippen's west top, before continuing east to Butippen's summit.
From Butippen descend north-east to the obvious saddle, before ascending Bjørnen's fine south-west ridge. From Bjørnen follow its north ridge down to Bjørndalsskardet saddle and then north and north-east up to Luten. Note that Luten's highest point is the first cairn you get to, at the south end of the ridge, but the summit register is located at the north end, by the larger cairns.
From Luten's north point descend north-east towards the crags, through some scree, and the pick up the vague path that runs along the crags. Once past the highest point turn left and head south-west down to the saddle north of Kvannfjellet. Continue west from the saddle and ascend the small top Nonsfjellet, and then aim for Kvannfjellet's east ridge. Follow the ridge until it merges with Kvannfjellet's more gentle south-west slopes, and turn right (north) and head up to the large summit cairn.
From Kvannfjellet head south-west and then south to join the ridge north of the small top at 786 metres. Follow this ridge south-west down to 600 metres and then turn right (north-west) in order to cross the small valley below. Then turn west and walk across Låglitua, where you will pick up a path running south-west down to the saddle Rødalsskaret. From this saddle follow Røsetåsen's east ridge, where you will find a path after having ascended a little, if you aim left of a small cliff band. Follow this path towards Røsetåsen's summit area. Røsetåsen consists of two small tops, where the eastern (the first you get to) is the higher of the two. After having visited the summit continue west to the lower top, where you will find a registration point a little below the summit.
From Røsetåsen continue down the good path towards west, and make sure you follow the main paths whenever you get to path junctions down in the forest. This will take you down to the upper houses, from where you can head down to road 64, and then left to where you parked the first car.
My friend Amund had mentioned this hike, Fræneggen, to me already when we hike Børsetkjeringa together in September 2012, and we also discussed it earlier this summer. But the decision to take on this hike was made only twelve hours before the start of the hike, after I got home from my annual fishing week-end at Brøttum. There were several factors we needed to get sorted before we could take on this hike, including my work appointments, the weather, and Amund's fitness. The latter I'm sure shouldn't be on this check-list, since he's a fit guy unless he has to indulge in uphill running. We agreed to meet in Molde just after 8am this Monday morning, and then drove two cars to Fræna.
The weather was probably as good as we good hope for, with a temperature of a little above 15°C when we started, but with a light layer of clouds stopping the sun from making it too hot. And the cooling wind was also welcome, although it was a little on the windy side in some sections of the first third of the route.
Since Amund had given the name "Fræneggen" (the Fræna ridge) to this route we were quite strict on following ridges wherever practically possible, and this worked out well. The only issue was that Amund isn't quite accustomed to exposed terrain yet, but still he didn't have any problems.
Our only real issue during the hike was that the terrain was quite dry, and hence finding water proved to be an issue. Amund did in total three de-tours to find water, and one of the involved a considerable number of vertical metres. While he did this particular de-tour, in the saddle between Butippen and Bjørnen, I was enjoying a large quantity of black crowberries.
Back at Moen, almost twelve hours after we set out from Malme, it was perfect to arrive at a shop that sold cold drinks, which made my drive back home that little more comfortable. For me it ended up being a 16 hours day, and enjoying every minute of it.