The whole hike is done on forest road and a good path.
Trail head at Heihiller.
Turn left onto wide path 630 meters from trail head.
Short scrambling section at around 760m.
| Ottanosa from Heihiller Ottanosa |
| Estimated net time | 2½-3 hours | ||
| Difficulty |
In general the hike is easy, but there is
one slightly difficult point, the cliff-band at 750 metres, where one
climbing move is required. However, there is a small ladder and a rope
which can be used to reduce the difficulty. The whole hike is done on forest road and a good path. |
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| Drinking water | The only stable source of running water is from the river that is crossed 800 metres into the hike. | ||
| GSM coverage | Coverage throughout the route (June 2010). | ||
| Parking | Room for many cars at car park by trail head. | ||
| Start height | 335 metres | ||
| Vertical metres | 745 metres for the roundtrip. | ||
| Trip distance | 6.6 km | ||
| GPS-file | X | ||
| Map |
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| Route photo |
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From Bergen drive south on road E39 to Os, and then continue towards Hatvik on road 552. At Hatvik take the ferry across to Venjaneset, and then drive approximately 13.8 km along road 552 to where you meet road 48. Turn right here and drive 5.2 km. Then turn left where signed for Øvre Hålandsdal, by Holdhus school. Drive another 400 metres and turn left, following signs for Hammersland. Drive 2.3 km along this road, to an unmanned toll gate (NOK 40 per June 2010), and continue another 2.5 km to a large car park. Park here.
Start walking by following the forest road that exits the car park at the far end. After 630 metres turn left onto a wide path going downhill. This exit is signed Ottanosa. Walk down the path, cross a stream, and turn right onto a path going up into the forest. This path junction is 200 metres from the start of the path. Follow this path, marked by red paint, all the way to the summit. Note that at around 740 metres there is a slightly difficult section, requiring usage of hands. This section is not long, and a small ladder and a short rope has been put in place to aid ascent.
The descent is best done by reversing the ascent route.
This grey Tuesday was the first day of another week at our Hagavik factory, and I drove to the Hatvik-Venjaneset ferry straight from work. Being very time efficient I used the ferry crossing to change into hiking gear, so I would be ready to start my hike as soon as I arrived trail head. But thanks to road works around Eikelandsosen I was stuck for 10-15 minutes waiting for the road to open in my direction.
Locating trail head was straight forward, and the large car park has been made for the cross country and biathlon ski-centre. The start of the route follows one of the cross country skiing routes, and while ascending Ottanosa you cross the skiing course several times. The skiing facilities here are quite impressive, and one can understand why this small community is continuing to produce world class biathletes.
The hike up to Ottanosa is a very enjoyable hike, and also made a little interesting thanks to a short scrambling section. And although this was a grey and foggy day I met a few other hikers, and chatted with most of them. In total I met seven other hikers.
After a short summit stop I headed back down to the car and drove straight back
to Os, except for a small de-tour at Skjelbreid to get a photo of Ottanosa.
Photos 22.06.2010