The route to Slogen from above Patchellhytta.| Slogen from Liasætra Slogen |
| Estimated net time | 7-9 hours |
| Difficulty | No difficulties (there are children <10 years old ascending Slogen every year), but there is some exposure at the summit. The final part of the ascent is very steep, but not difficult. |
| Drinking water | No access to drinking water after Patchell. |
| GSM coverage | Coverage throughout most of the route. Coverage at the summit. |
| Parking | Room for many cars at trail head. |
| Start height | 421 metres |
| Vertical metres | 1210 metres for the roundtrip |
| Trip distance | 18.8 km |
| GPS-file | Not available |
| Map |
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| Route photo |
The route to Slogen from above Patchellhytta. |
From Ålesund drive to Magerholm and take the ferry across to Aursneset. From the ferry port drive road 60 towards Stranda. When you get to the Esso petrol station jus above Stranda centre turn right and drive 1.9 km towards Hellesylt on road 60. Then turn right towards Engeset and drive 4.2 km, and then another 3.6 km to Liasætra. Here you will find a car park on the left hand side of the gravel road. Park here.
Start walking along the gravel road and then follow the path at the bottom of the valley. Do not walk the gravel road that climbs up to the right immediately after Liasætra. Follow this path all the way to Patchellhytta ("Patchell Hut").
From Patchellhytta you will see the two humps east of Slogen, at around 1200 metres. Approach the first hump from north-east and continue to the ridge of the humps. Then traverse the second hump and continue uphill on the path towards Slogen's summit. Stay left of the large area of snow. Then find your best route to the summit.
The descent route follows the ascent route. While descending don't be tempted to short-cut across the snow unless the snow stops well before the cliff or you're equipped with a snow-axe to stop your descent if you loose control.
My friend Pål took the initiative in getting this hike organised, and the total team ended up consisting of eight persons; Pål and his dad Per (66), Frank and his son Kristian (10), Bjørn and his son Peder (10), and me and my son Eirik (9). All except Bjørn and Peder set out together from Liasætra early Friday night, having driven straight from work to trail head. Bjørn and Peder were going to join us at Patchellhytta a little later. It was a beautiful evening, and the around two hours hike to Patchellhytta was a stroll.
A little after 8pm we where joined by Bjørn and Peder at Patchell, after they had had a major de-tour thanks to having selected the wrong route just above Liasætra. After their arrival we made dinner and enjoyed the food together with a glass of wine.
Saturday morning was just as splendid as the day before, and after a decent breakfast we headed for Slogen around 10am. We set out together, and kept a pace that would allow all to feel comfortable. In the section where the snow field is located Peder got some issues with his comfort in terms of exposure, and Bjørn, Eirik and me sat down with him for a while. Bjørn managed to talk him into try a little bit more, and after this episode it seemed like Peder's vertigo was gone (at least he didn't have any more problems during this hike; well done!). After this we tried so speed up to catch the others and up in the steepest section we were very much back together as one group.
I didn't know what to expect at the summit, and was a bit caught off-guard when I realised how exposed it was around the summit cairn. I therefore told Eirik to sit still and not run around on the small summit area. He did as he was told, and let me do the "running around", taking photos like a mad-man.
After photos and some food we headed back down to Patchellhytta. This time the group was separated into couples, with Eirik and me leading the pack. Back at Patchellhytta we stopped for a drink, and then picked up our overnight gear and headed directly for the car. The path down to Liasætra is quite good in most places so we did a fair bit of running. Back at the car we changed into clean clothes and then drove back to Brattvåg. I noted that it was 26°C outside when we drove across Strandafjellet, and it was a fantastic afternoon after a most enjoyable hike to an impressive mountain.