Hattemakaren trail head in Grøndalen.
Route to Hattemakartjørna on our way towards top 893m and Hattemakaren.
Our descent route down Hattemakaren's south slopes.
| Hattemakaren & Kvitegga
from Grøndalen Hattemakaren Kvitegga |
| Estimated net time | 4-5 hours | ||
| Difficulty | The route has plenty of wet sections in the lower part, and don't expect to find anything other than sporadic sheep tracks. If you follow the route described below you must expect to use your hands a little but there's nothing more difficult than YDS 2+. | ||
| Drinking water | You will find running water in the streams up to 720m, and also in the pass between the two tops. | ||
| GSM coverage | Dodgy coverage through most of the route, and no coverage at trail head (October 2015). | ||
| Parking | Room for a couple of cars at trail head. | ||
| Start height | 457 metres | ||
| Vertical metres | 1000 metres for the roundtrip. | ||
| Trip distance | 8.4 km | ||
| GPS-file | X | ||
| Map |
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| Route photo |
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From the junction between roads E39 and 60, approximately 2 km north of Grodås
- Drive E39 7.6 km in the direction of Ålesund (along E39) and turn right towards Kalvatn, and then turn right after another <100 metres towards Kalvatn.
- At 8.1 km turn left towards Nordfjordeid.
- At 17.9 km turn right onto the road Grøndalsvegen.
- At 19.9 km park at the end of the road.
Start your walk by heading up towards the saddle east of Hattemakaren, more or less directly north-west from where you parked your car. You might, or might not, find some sporadic tracks as you find your way through the wet terrain up towards the saddle. When you get up to the saddle continue on either side of the lake Hattemakartjørna (south side is probably easiest) and head south (left) where you find the best route. Then gradually turn west (right) as you approach top 893m, head down to the small saddle and head up to Hattemakaren.
From Hattemakaren walk more or less directly south, aiming for the highest point between Hattemakaren and Kvitegga. Expect to have to use your hands in places, but there's nothing difficult. From the saddle head uphill on a mix of grass and rock, and start turning right from 1070m. Walk north/north-west until you get to the microscopic summit cairn.
From Kvitegga head south/south-east and follow the east slopes down to the south side of lake Litlevatnet. From here continue east, making sure you avoid the sections of boulder. As you get down to below 600m you're likely to get into some slightly nasty forest (boulder covered by fern), but this section is only maximum 100 metres long. Once below the forest you can gradually turn right and aim for your car.
I called Kjetil on Monday night and we agreed to have a go at these two tops this Wednesday during the autumn vacation. Kjetil picked me up at our Fjellsetra cabin a little after 10:00 and by 11:50 we were on our way up the wet and boggy "path" towards Hattemakartjørna. Things got better as we got above the lake, but on the other hand the wind started to pick up and made life slightly less ideal than perfect.
From Hattemakaren we headed down the south slopes, finding a relatively fine route, and then directly up the east slopes of Kvitegga before heading north to the summit. Despite grey weather we had OK views in all directions, but again the wind was making life a little more challenging than we would have asked for.
Our descent down the south-east slopes was pretty straight forward, but when we got down below Storaksla the terrain was getting very wet (again), and further down the terrain got really nasty with boulder covered by fern. Luckily this section wasn't very long and we were soon down in more open terrain and could head directly for the car.