Estimated net time	5-6 hours
Difficulty	The gully from Straumsdalen up to the saddle between Itljehønnjet and Trollkyrkjetindane is likely to be partially filled with snow, so an ice axe is useful. The south ridge of Itljehønnjet requires some use of the hands, but nothing difficult. The summit area is small.
Drinking water	There is access to running water from the small river in the valley Straumsdalen.
GSM coverage	Coverage at the summit (August 2007).
Parking	Room for many cars at trail head.
Start height	64 metres
Vertical metres	1220 metres for the roundtrip
Trip distance	9.1 km
GPS-file	X
Map
Route photo	The route up the gully and towards the Itljehønnjet ridge.

If arriving Sykkylven by the Magerholm-Aursneset ferry drive road 60 for 10.2 km towards Stranda, to Straumgjerde. Turn right here, signed "Riksheim". Continue for 200 metres, crossing Norway's shortest salmon river. Turn left where it is signed for "Slettegjerde stadion" and "Folkesti" (public path). After another 300 metres you cross a small bridge, and immediately turn left. 200 metres further on you get to a parking place (the road continues to the left, and there is a gate to the right). Park here.

Walk through the gate, and immediately turn left. After a few hundred metres you get to a cabin ("Trollskoghytta" - Troll forest cabin). Continue to the right of this cabin, through the spruce forest. Out of the forest you turn right (north west), and will soon get to a small waterfall. Just after the waterfall turn left onto the path going west.

This path has a steady incline through the forest, gradually turning north. After another few hundred metres you will see Sykkylvsfjorden in front of you, and a path going up to the left. Follow this path until you get up to the remains of the old stone buildings, Straumsheimsetra. A couple of hundred metres after the old summer pasture buildings you will have to make a decision whether to follow the river or continue on the path in the north slope of the valley. Whatever you choose you take you to the same point at the bottom of the gully leading up to the saddle between Itljehønnjet and Trollkyrkjetindane.

Assuming you decide to follow the path north of the valley floor you continue on this all the way till it fades away. From here it is best to keep the height gained, and find your best way up towards the centre of the gully. If the gully is covered with snow it is best to use the ice axe in the steeper sections, although it is not a must. In the upper section of the gully you will again have to make a decision; follow the gully all the way up to the saddle, or turn right earlier. Following the latter route has one major advantage; you will not have to cross a small glacier on the west side of the Itljehønnjet ridge. Turning right early will take you onto a steep section of moss, but without any difficult sections. When you get to the south ridge of Itljehønnjet you will have to cross over to the west side of the ridge. Use of hands is required, but it is straight forward scrambling two metres up and two metres down. You then continue partially to the left (west) of the ridge and partially on the ridge edge the reminding 150 metres to the summit.

The summit itself is small, and towards north there is a steep drop; dancing and jumping wildly is not recommended!

The descent is done the same way as the ascent route, but for variation one can now follow the small river at the floor of the Straumsdalen valley back to the old stone buildings, and then the path through the forest.

10. August 2007

We were spending some of our summer holidays at our cabin at Fjellsetra so a drive down to Straumgjerde to hike Itljehønnjet didn't mean hours in the car. I left the cabin just after 08:00 in the morning this fine Friday, and started walking at 08:35. The temperature was then 13.5°C.

I had brought my ice axe, so the areas of snow towards the saddle between Itljehønnjet and Trollkyrkjetindane didn't cause any trouble. Up at the ridge the rock was dry so walking along here was like a walk in the park (not quite; you do need to use your hands a few places). After spending a few minutes at the summit, enjoying the fine view, taking photos and treating myself with some water and a sandwich, I set back down the same way as I had ascended. After having passed the snow I decided to follow the river at the floor of the valley. I stayed by the river a little bit too far, but it turned out to also have a positive side to it; I found an area with ripe cloudberry, and decided to bring them home for lunch. I still had the wrapping for my sandwich so I made a small bowl out of the paper and collected my ½ litre of cloudberry. Then back down to the car, after three hours of walking, excluding summit stop. The temperature was now 19.5°C, and I was looking forward to a swim in lake Nysetervatnet.

Photos 10.08.2007