Estimated net time	2½-3 hours
Difficulty	No difficulties.
Drinking water	No access to proper drinking water during ascent. A couple of small streams during descent.
GSM coverage	Coverage throughout the route (September 2009).
Parking	Room for one car on the left hand side of the road next to trail head. Room for a couple of cars along the road approximately 50 metres before you get to the trail head, on the right hand side of the road.
Start height	90 metres
Vertical metres	470 metres for the roundtrip.
Trip distance	7.1 km
GPS-file	X
Map
Route photo	Trail head for Rødsfjellet, at Gjemdal.

From the round-about in Os centre (Osøyro) drive road 552 towards Hatvik for 1.3 km. Turn left where signed for "Samnanger" and "Lønningdal". Continue on this road for 7.1 km, and you will see signs for "Rødsfjellet" on the left hand side of the road. Parking can be found along the road immediately after the trail head, or approximately 50 metres before the trail head.

Start walking by following the wide path (an old forest road) towards west. After 70 metres another old forest road forks off to the right, but you should continue straight ahead (following the left leg). The path soon starts to climb into the forest, and after approximately 1.1 km you will see a sign for Rødsfjellet. This is one of two well marked routes to the summit, called Route-A and marked all the way to the summit with red paint. Follow this path to the summit, and noting the path marked by white paint joining Route-A from the left 160 metres before the summit. At the summit you will find a proper cairn and a registration book a few metres south of the summit.

The descent follows the path marked with white paint, Route-B. Follow this path all the way down to the old forest road, and then turn left and follow this wide path back to the car.

If you don't want to do this hike as a round trip, but instead hike either Route-A or Route-B it is recommended to use Route-B, which exits from the old forest road approximately 700 metres further into the valley than Route-A. Route-B has a better path, in particular when the rock is wet and slippery, but is a bit steeper in places.

16. September 2009

This Wednesday was my last evening at our factory in Hagavik, before going home the day after, and I wanted both some exercise and to bag another mountain. Since I lived at a hotel along the road between Osøyro and Hatvik it seemed natural to pick a mountain in the area, and since the weather was fairly miserable there was little point in taking on something terribly adventurous.

After having quickly changed into suitable gear after work I drove to the trail head, and set off along the old forest road. After not long it started to rain, and when I got above the forest there was a strong wind. On two occasions I fell from slipping on wet rock, but without any other damage than muddy hands. As I got close to the summit the rain stopped, but the view was obstructed by low clouds, and it was just a question of time before it would start to rain again.

From the summit I decided to try Route-B for my descent, assuming it couldn't be worse than Route-A in terms of slippery rock and boggy terrain. This alternative route proved to be a much nicer route back down to the forest road, and I was almost happy with myself when I got back down.

After the hike I drove to Osøyro and treated myself with a Coke, before driving back to the hotel and a nice meal together with colleague Harald, who had been out for a run along the roads.

Photos 16.09.2009