Estimated net time	4-4½ hours
Difficulty	No difficulties. The route up to Brekkedalen runs on fine forest road. The path from here to the summit can be a little wet in places, and is very vague towards the top, but navigation is no problem on the ridge.
Drinking water	Only stable access to running water from the stream close to the forest road up to where you cross the bridge 350 metres before the start of the path.
GSM coverage	Coverage at the start of the route and above the forest (August 2010).
Parking	Room for many cars at the large car park by trail head.
Start height	93 metres.
Vertical metres	925 metres for the roundtrip.
Trip distance	11.3 km
GPS-file	X
Map		Google Interactive Map
Route photo	Parking and trail head at Hausdal.   Start of path in Brekkedalen.   Route from Sydpolen to summit.

From Bergen drive south to Nesttun, and then road E39 towards Os and Stavanger. Approximately 7.5 km from Nesttun, after having passed lake Kalandsvatnet on your right hand side, turn left where signed for "Hausdal". Drive this road to its end, where the bus turns, and proceed onto the large car park ahead of you. The distance from road E39 is 10.3 km. Park at this car park.

Walk to the end of the car park and turn right across the bridge. Continue another 2.1 km to where a forest road forks left, but ignore this fork and continue straight ahead. 250 metres later you cross a bridge, and from this bridge continue another 350 metres. You will now see a stony path going off to your left. An easy way to recognise the start of the path is by looking at the power line masts; all the masts are relatively tall and slim but the one close to the start of the path is broader and lower. Head directly for this "bulky" mast, and literally walk underneath it. Just behind the mast you will find a path, which will take you through the pine forest and up to the south ridge of Søre Gullfjelltoppen.

From somewhere around 650 metres the path gets a little vague, and the small cairns are very sparse, but by now navigation is easy up along the ridge. When you get higher up the path gets a little more defined again, and will take you up to the southern most view point of Søre Gullfjelltoppen. This point is marked by a large cairn and holds a registration book. This is the point known as Sydpolen ("the South Pole"). From here continue another 700 metres north/north-east to the unmarked summit. The hike across the plateau is a bit "bumby", with a number of smaller descents and ascents.

Descend by reversing your ascent route.

31. August 2010

This Tuesday was a grey and wet day, but during the afternoon the weather improved, so I decided to go for a hike. But by the time I had been back to the hotel and changed, and got into the car, the weather started to deteriorate. But I had set my mind at Søre Gullfjelltoppen, and was determined to defy the conditions. In hindsight I'm not so sure how sensible this was, since it was almost impossible to navigate across the summit plateau from the southern most cairn to the summit. My only back-up was that I would be able to reverse my route with the help of my GPS tracks from the ascent. I found the summit, by now freezing quite considerably thanks to heavy rain and strong wind, and with the aid of the GPS the descent was done with only a minor navigational error.

23. August 2010

I was spending yet another week at our factory at Hagavik, so normally I would crack a new mountain. But this Monday my right knee was extremely sore from some football last week, and topped with some longish hikes the following days. But the weather was very nice this afternoon, so after work I couldn't resist the temptation to go for a hike. And since Søre Gullfjelltoppen, more commonly known as Sydpolen (the South Pole), was my only mountain left to do on the Gullfjellet massif, I decided to pay this top a visit.

I set out from the trail head in Hausdal with a vague memory of a route description, and mentally prepared for some bush fighting to get onto the south ridge. But this all changed when I met a helpful local along the forest road, and asked him if there were any paths towards the south ridge of Søre Gullfjelltoppen. He obviously knew the area very well, and explained in detail how to find the path. His help did the trick, and I was able to find the path without any problems.

Luckily my knee seemed to cope well with the hike, and even the descent didn't do much damage. So back at the hotel I was a very happy man, which I would not have been had I stayed in the room, or the bar ...
Photos 23.08.2010