Storhesten trail head by Venjedalssetra.
Route towards Storhesten from the path through the valley.
| Storhesten from
Venjesdalssetra Storhesten |
| Estimated net time | 2½-3 hours | ||
| Difficulty | No difficulties. | ||
| Drinking water | Running water from a stream close to the path through the lower half of the route. | ||
| GSM coverage | Coverage at the summit, not at trail head, and patchy throughout the route (August 2013). | ||
| Parking | Room for many cars at the car park by trail head. | ||
| Start height | 373 metres | ||
| Vertical metres | 660 metres for the roundtrip. | ||
| Trip distance | 7.0 km | ||
| GPS-file | X | ||
| Map |
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| Route photo |
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From the intersection of roads E136 and 64 south of Åndalsnes centre drive 5.6 km on road 64 in the direction of Molde. Turn right towards Isfjorden, drive 800 metres, and turn right towards Liabygda. Drive 1.0 km and turn right towards Vengedalen, and drive another 1.9 km and again turn right towards Vengedalen. Pay toll at the unmanned toll booth (NOK 50 per 2013) and drive 2.4 km on the single lane road up to the car park at Venjesdalssetra. Park on either side of the road.
Start your hike by continuing 20 metres into the valley from the car park. Turn right through a gate where signed for "Romsdalsegga" and follow the path 300 metres south/south-west into the valley before it starts to climb towards right (west). Follow the path up to flatter terrain, where you find a distinct cairn, and then continue another 1.0 km north-west into the valley. Leave the path and turn right when you see two large rocks approximately 150 metres from the path. Aim for these two rocks, and look out for a red circle on the left and larger of the two rocks. From here find your best way up Storhesten's south slopes, and continue north all the way to the summit, which is marked by a cairn and has a summit registration book.
Descend by reversing your ascent route.
I was on my way home after the week-end's fishing south of Lillehammer, and the plan was to do some hiking in Vermedalen. But I wasn't able to get any clear confirmation that I could drive the road into Vermedalen, and the owners of the key to potentially locked gates were not home, so I had to abandon the planned hike. This left me the options of either driving home or hiking one of the small tops along Romsdalsfjorden, and I couldn't really make up my mind. But a short stop along the road and a look at the map indicated that I would be able to find a path towards Storhesten. Hence I made up my mind to drive up into Vengedalen and have a go.
At trail head by Venjesdalssetra I realised that this was the same trail head as Romsdalsegga, which in turn gave me a fine path to the base of Storhesten. From here it was easy walking up to the summit, from where I had fine views and a really first class view of the majestic Store Venjetind.
This hike was definitely a positive experience, and I also got a first class view of the Romsdalsegga hike, which is definitely on the to-do list for some other time.