The path can be quite wet, and is a bit boggy in places.
Parking and trail head by Ulsetstemma.
Towards and onto Ulsetvarden's south ridge.
| Geitanuken from
Ulsetstemma Geitanuken |
| Estimated net time | 1½-2 hours | ||
| Difficulty |
No difficulties. The path can be quite wet, and is a bit boggy in places. |
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| Drinking water | Nothing reliable along the route. | ||
| GSM coverage | Coverage throughout the route (April 2010). | ||
| Parking | Room for several cars at trail head, but you might need to ask for permission during day-time. | ||
| Start height | 130 metres | ||
| Vertical metres | 315 metres for the roundtrip. | ||
| Trip distance | 4.5 km | ||
| GPS-file | X | ||
| Map |
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| Route photo |
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Drive road E39 north from Bergen, to the first round-about in Åsane, approximately 12.2 km north from Danmarksplass (the big junction where roads E39 and 540 meet, south of Bergen). At the round-about turn left, onto road 564, signed for "Salhus". Drive 400 metres and then turn right, continuing on road 564 and again signed for "Salhus". Drive another 1.4 km and park on the right hand side of the road, in front of some industry building. You might need to ask for permission to park during day-time. Another couple of hundred metres ahead of you there is a building related to electric power.
Start walking by walking 130 metres back along the road the way you arrived. Cross the road and change direction 180° onto a path. Follow this path 50 metres and then turn left, heading directly south, along metal poles previously used to hold a fence. You will now see a ridge ahead of you and should aim for this ridge. There are several vague paths you can follow to get up to this ridge, and it doesn't really matter which one you choose. Neither does it matter if you happen to loose the path; the important thing is that you make it up to the ridge.
Once on the ridge turn right (west) and follow the well defined path towards the spruce forest. When you get to the forest the path continues on the left (south) side of the forest, partly in the forest, and will take you up to a small top called Ulsetvarden. From here you can see Geitanuken on the other side of a valley. But instead of heading directly across the valley you proceed west along the ridge of Ulsetvarden before turning left and down into the valley. When you get up to the western ridge of Geitanuken you should turn left and head across to the summit, which is marked by a concrete cairn, and also is the location of some telecomm masts.
The descent is best done by reversing the ascent route.
I was going to spend the week-end in Bergen, and on this grey Friday afternoon I had business to sort out at IKEA. I'm not a terribly keen IKEA shopper, but since IKEA doesn't keep control of their own inventory my wife had had a failed visit to IKEA-Leangen, so I was ordered to go to Åsane while in Bergen.
As soon as I had completed my duties at IKEA I drove to Ulsetstemma and my trail head for the day, and after a fair bit of searching for the exact trail head I was on my way. The first part of the route, across the fields towards the east ridge of Ulsetvarden, was quite wet and a little bit boggy, but things improved as soon as I got onto the ridge.
The views from the summit of Geitanuken are fair, but on this grey afternoon I could only partly enjoy the views, and so there wasn't motivation for a long stay at the summit.