|
Hauggjelsvarden from Montana, via Ulriken
and Turnerhytten Hauggjelsvarden Ulriken |
| Estimated net time | 3-4 hours |
| Difficulty | No difficulties under normal conditions, but the relatively steep sections of slab towards the telecomm tower can be difficult when icy. This has been mitigated by a lot of hand rails in the steepest section. |
| Drinking water | No access to running water. |
| GSM coverage | Coverage throughout the route. |
| Parking | Room for many cars at trail head, but finding free space can be difficult. |
| Start height | 175 metres |
| Vertical metres | 700 metres for the roundtrip |
| Trip distance | 9.9 km |
| GPS-file | X |
| Map |
|
| Route photo |
On road 585, from the south end of the tunnel running underneath Haukeland hospital in Bergen, drive 800 metres south. Then turn left where it is signed for "Montana". Turn left again after another 1.4 km, again signed for "Montana", and park 100 metres later. You will see a sign for "Ulriken" here. Find parking around the Montana hostel.
Follow the signs for Ulriken, walking north-east on the tarmac. After 200 metres the road turns right, and becomes a gravel mountain road for pedestrians only. Follow this road uphill in a south-east direction. After 550 metres on the mountain road you will see two benches on your left (one of them marked "250"). You can turn left here and follow the path through the forest and then onto the south ridge of Ulriken. This path gives a nice view to Bergen city centre. Alternatively you continue another 100 metres and turn left, and follow this path up to the telecomm tower.
From the telecomm tower you have a fantastic view of Bergen, and you can see Ulriken summit just over 300 metres to the east. To get to the summit follow one of the many paths leading up to its summit from south.
Your route towards Hauggjelsvarden first runs south from the Ulriken summit, and then heads in an eastern direction. You will see the big cabin owned by Bergens Turnforening (Turnerhytten), and should aim for this building (per September 2008 it is grey). From Turnerhytten follow the ~2 metres high metal markers, and then gradually drift right from this marked route, towards Hauggjelsvarden, which is easily recognisable with its two cairns around 100 metres apart.
For the descent reverse your ascent route.
I was working in Bergen a couple of days and grabbed the opportunity for a hike on Tuesday night. After having dropped off two colleagues at Hotel Norge I drove straight to trail head and headed up to Ulriken on the path east of the south ridge. After a short stop next to the tower for photographing I headed up to Ulriken's summit. At the summit I tried to locate Hauggjelsvarden, but got very uncertain of its exact location. I therefore had to use the old trick of call-a-friend, and none is better suited to give advice on Norwegian west coast mountains than Arnt. After some confusion about my orientation Arnt was able to point me to the summit and also to give advice on what route to follow. He also estimated my hiking time across to Hauggjelsvarden to be around 30 minutes, meaning I wouldn't be back down to the car before pretty late. I therefore ran most of the way across to Hauggjelsvarden, took my photos, and ran all the way back down to the car. My descent route from the telecomm tower was via the south ridge, but I didn't really have the opportunity to enjoy the view since I was running out of time for my dinner appointment.
Back at the car I allowed myself the benefit of a quick stop at the local supermarket for a Coke and a chocolate, before driving down to the hotel. At the hotel I wasn't able to find any parking, and ended up parking a long distance from the hotel. So some more running was required in order to get a shower before the very promising Indian dinner, which turned out to be an excellent meal.