Kvitingane trail head by Hydalsvegen.
| Kvitingane from
Hydalsvegen Kvitingane |
| Estimated net time | 3-3½ hours | ||
| Difficulty | No difficulties. | ||
| Drinking water | Running water from the stream in the lower part of the route, and also access to water from the small lake in the summit area. | ||
| GSM coverage | Coverage throughout the route (August 2013). | ||
| Parking | Room for many cars at trail head car park. | ||
| Start height | 1005 metres | ||
| Vertical metres | 585 metres for the roundtrip. | ||
| Trip distance | 8.4 km | ||
| GPS-file | X | ||
| Map |
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| Route photo |
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From Hemsedal centre, on road 52, drive approximately 5 km north and turn right where signed for Grøndalen. Drive 4.9 km and turn right onto gravel road signed "Hydalsvegen", and continue 2.7 km uphill. Park on the car park on the right hand side of the road.
Start your hike by following the gravel road from the car park. This gives two alternatives for the lower part of the route. Either turn right and downhill onto a path after 240 metres. This path is marked with blue paint, and will take you through a birch forest and to the base of Kvitingane's north ridge. Alternatively continue another 50 metres along the gravel road, almost to its end, and turn left onto a path. This path will take you to a river crossing which might be a little tricky if there's a lot of water in the river. Then continue directly uphill after the river crossing, and you will meet the path marked with blue paint after 50 metres.
From here follow the well marked path south and south-east up to the summit area. When the terrain levels out at a little under 1400 metres continue south on the well defined path, up to the summit marked by a large cairn, a trigonometric point marker, and a registration book. This point is marked as Leinesane on the maps, and Kvitingatn at the summit.
From Leinesane head back down the path, past the lake, and then turn right after another 250 metres. There's no path up here, but the highest point is marked by a small cairn and is quite obvious. This point is marked on the maps as Kvitingane, and its height is the same as that of Leinesane, and hence you should visit both tops in order to be sure you have visited the highest point.
Descend by reversing your ascent route.
This Thursday was my first day at Håvard's cabin above Nesbyen, and our plan was to hike some of the 1700 metre tops west of Skogshorn. But rain and mist made us change our plans, and instead we ended up doing a surprisingly nice hike to the two tops Leinesane and Kvitingane.
After the hike we stopped in Hemsedal for shopping, including getting to the wine monopoly two minutes before it closed for the day. Then back to the cabin for some nice food and drinks.