Estimated net time	5-6 hours
Difficulty	There are no technical difficulties, but the ascent up from road 60 is very steep and can be slippery, and you'll be likely to use your hands for upward movement. Also the south slopes of Herdalsnibba have some steep sections. Both the ascent from road 60 and the south slopes are a bit cumbersome with boulder and bushes. The descent from Båsenibba requires the use of hands in one short section, but is not difficult in any way. There are a couple of places where there are considerable exposure a metre or so east of the path.
Drinking water	There is running water by trail head and towards the end of the hike.
GSM coverage	Very patchy down Ljøbrekka and back towards trail head, else OK (October 2012).
Parking	Room for a couple of cars at the short gravel road on the east side of road 60, and room for many cars at the large car park on the west side of the road.
Start height	437 metres
Vertical metres	1030 metres for the roundtrip.
Trip distance	10.9 km
GPS-file	X
Map		Google Interactive Map
Route photo	Route towards Herdalsnibba from road 60.   Route up south slopes of Herdalsnibba.

From Ålesund drive road E39 south towards Bergen, and then exit onto road 60 just south of Ålesund. This road is signed for Stranda. Follow road 60 to the Magerholm ferry port and get the ferry across to Aursneset. From Aursneset ferry port follow road 60 for approximately 35 km to where you get to a T-junction. There is an Esso petrol station on the right hand side of the road (per 2012). Turn right here and continue 18.1 km along road 60, towards Stryn and Hellesylt. Turn left onto a small gravel road approximately 150 metres before the first of the tunnels between Stranda and Hellesylt and. Park here. Alternatively park at the large car park on other side of the road 150 metres back along road 60.

Start your hike by crossing the stream next to the gravel road where you've parked. If there's too much water for a direct crossing you can walk back up to the road and cross by the tunnel under the main road. After having crossed the stream head directly east across the flat area. There are several small streams, but none of them are likely to be difficult to cross. As you start your ascent you need to make sure you aim left of the lowest cliff band, and it's adviced you aim for the narrow strip free of bush and trees. This section will take you towards a steep cliff band, and you should turn right towards the saddle a little before reaching the obvious obstacle. This will take you up to an area of boulder, which you cross in order to reach the south slopes of Herdalsnibba.

There are no paths up the south slopes of Herdalsnibba and the vague trails are nothing to rely on for more than a few tens of metres. Hence it's best just to find a route uphill with which you feel comfortable, staying away from the bush as much as possible. When the terrain gets a little flatter you can either aim for Herdalsnibba's south top (1213 metres) or you can circumvent it on the right (east) side, and then proceed north to the summit. You will find a proper summit cairn a few metres north of the true summit.

From Herdalsnibba return back down to the saddle where you came up from road 60. From here continue south, either up and down across the small tops or by staying a little left (east) in order to avoid the many ups and downs. As you get closer to Båsenibba you will hit a path, marked by red paint, which can be followed up to Båsenibba. You will find an old trigonometric point marker on the ground, but no summit cairn.

From Båsenibba continue south on the marked path, noting the vertical drops down on the left hand side a couple of places, and down to approximately 800 metres. Turn sharp right at a small view point, and walk north towards the top of the zigzagging path coming up from north. Follow this path down the zigzags and then on a wide path back down to the large car park in Strandadalen. From here return to your car.

06. October 2012

I had been wanting to do Herdalsnibba ever since I did Åkernesnibba in July, since this would complete my adventures on the east side of Strandadalen. And with reasonable weather forecast for the early part of the week-end I sent a text message to hiking mate Kjetil and proposed Herdalsnibba on Saturday morning. And as usual he didn't need any persuasion.

Kjetil picked me up at our cabin by lake Nysetervatnet at 8 on Saturday morning, and we drove straight to our planned trail head just before the north-most of the tunnels between Stranda and Hellesylt, and decided to park down at the bottom of the short gravel road on the east side of the road. From here we didn't have much ideas about exactly where to go, but from trip reports on Westcoastpeaks and Fjellinordvest we knew what to aim for higher up. Hence we started our hike with the purpose of finding a route that wouldn't be too cumbersome, and would end up in the boulder section in the saddle north of Herdalsnibba.

We had to find our way through some forest and bush at the beginning of the route, but it was much more open than anticipated and it really only was a short section where we had to fight a little bush. However, a few minutes later we wish we had had some bush to grab hold onto; the long 3-4 metres wide section of no bush or trees before heading right towards the boulder was very steep and quite slippery because of wet and semi-rotten ferns. When we got to the top of this section we started to consider our options for the descent, and pretty soon concluded that we could descend across Båsenibba and down Ljøbrekka, which would also let Kjetil bag a second new mountain.

Above the less than comfortable section we turned right towards the boulder, crossed this and started the ascent of the south slopes. I had anticipated this to be a walk in the park, but soon found out that there was more cumbersome terrain ahead of us, with both bush and also some slightly steep sections. Not difficult, but a bit surprising when your assumption is that the terrain would be relatively easy walking. But once the steep section was done we were in very easy territory. The walk across to the summit was done in light snowfall, and at the summit it was fairly windy, making the summit stay relatively short.

Descending Herdalsnibba's south slopes was yet another cumbersome experience, and we also had to do a small de-tour since we ended up above a steep section. This was quickly recovered, and after a few sections of boulder and bush we made it to the saddle. From here we had easy walking ahead of us, and decided to do a straight line towards Båsenibba, which would prevent us from doing a lot of ups and downs. And when we hit a path north of Timbjørgheiane we had an easy ride up to Båsenibba. And even better, by now it was a little sunny and the wind was much calmer than when at Herdalsnibba.

From Båsenibba we followed the normal route down north and then followed the old postal route back down to Strandadalen and our car, meeting a few other hikers along the way, including my friends Torill and Pål.
Photos 06.10.2012