| Melderskin from Kletta Melderskin |
| Estimated net time | 4-5 hours | ||
| Difficulty |
No difficulties. From the initial gravel road you hike on a well defined path up to the south-west ridge. From here there is a mix of path, rock and easy boulder. The route across rock and boulder is well marked. |
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| Drinking water | The stream close to the path through the forest is very close to the path in a few places. Also likely to be running water in the flat section before the final climb. | ||
| GSM coverage | Coverage throughout the route (September 2010). | ||
| Parking | Room for many cars at trail head. | ||
| Start height | 155 metres | ||
| Vertical metres | 1270 metres for the roundtrip. | ||
| Trip distance | 9.5 km | ||
| GPS-file | X | ||
| Map |
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| Route photo |
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From Bergen drive south-east, onto road 48. Follow road 48 to Gjermundshamn and get the ferry across to Årsnes. From the ferry port at Årsnes continue on road 48 towards Rosendal. 9.3 km from Årsnes, after having driven through Rosendal centre, turn left where signed for Kletta and Baroniet. Drive 600 metres along this road and turn left. Stay left in the fork immediately after, and drive 1.4 km up to Kletta. Park on the left hand side of the road, a little before the road's "no entry" sign.
Start your hike by walking uphill along the road, in total 570 metres from the car park. You will now see a sign for Melderskin on the right hand side of the road. Pass the gate and follow the path leading uphill. This path is well marked and will take you all the way to the summit. First along a small ridge, then through the forest, and next in zigzags up to the south-west ridge. Along the ridge and through the rest of the route you will walk on a mix of path and fine boulder. The red T's are frequent, and are also supported by a number of small cairns. You will reach the summit less than 200 metres after you have made the final climb up from the flat section at 1200 metres.
Descend by reversing your ascent route.
This beautiful Sunday was the last day of this year's annual fishing trip with good friends, and after having done a little bit of tidying up and cooking some breakfast, I headed off towards Rosendal. Fortunately my timing for the Gjermundshamn-Årsnes ferry was within acceptable waiting time, and I arrived at Kletta while there was still space at the car park.
I had been consuming more than sports drinks over the last couple of days at Tysnes, but felt fine, and after the initial walk along the mountain road I picked up the pace up the steep hill side, overtaking a number of other hikers through the forest. Above the forest I met a hiker descending, who claimed to have been to the summit, so he must have started early. We chatted a little, and I got confirmation that the snow would not be a problem for this hike. The next hikers I saw were two seniors that I met in the flat section before the final climb to the summit. They were very talkative and we had small chat. I later overtook these hikers, while descending, and then had a long and interesting chat. One of them was clearly an experienced mountaineer, and had done many challenging climbs. Today he was very happy because he was about to complete his first hike to Melderskin after getting an artificial hip.
At the summit plateau there was a 10-20 cm thick layer of snow from a recent snow fall, but the night had been cold so the snow was hard and easy to traverse.
While at the summit a team of three guys arrived the summit, and we talked a lot, and they also helped me in identifying various mountains that could be seen from Melderskin. I spent a long time at the summit, enjoying the nice weather and the fine views, and reflecting on the differences between mountains in my home area at Sunnmøre and the Hordaland mountains.
During my descent I met a lot of hikers, and I assume a few tens of persons made it to Melderskin on this fine Sunday. I talked briefly with some of them, and it struck me how happy almost all seemed to be. One exception was a man trying to keep the pace of his wife, but I'm sure he would be just as happy as everyone else when he got to the summit.
