Skamtinden (08.06.2012)
| Start point | Rekvik |
|---|---|
| Characteristic | Hillwalk |
| Duration | 4h 00min |
| Distance | 5.0km |
| Map |
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| Ascents | Skamtinden (884m) | 08.06.2012 |
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This was a really great evening trip after work, one that nearly didn't happen because it had been a bit of a rainy day and I was thinking to postpone the hike. Fortunately, neither Ane or myself decided to call each other in the end and we met up as planned, at the K1 car park. We took my car out onto Kvaloya and took the road around the northern side of the island towards Tromvik. Up until then the road surface had some bumps but then between Tromvik and Rekvik it turned to gravel instead, so it took a long time just to drive those few kiometres further to Rekvik, where we were starting the hike from.
So, straight out of the car it was cool but not cold, and it was straight up the mountain from there. It was a well-marked trail through the forest on the lower part of Skamtinden, which helped us to make good time, and we were both surprised that there was so little snow until about 500m up the mountain. And, actually it turned out to be pretty reasonable weather for hiking in the end. We didn't get a drop of rain and got the good views out onto Sessøya and Håja in the west and also the impressive drop down into the village of Rekvik. Behind Rekvik was the nicely shaped mountains Rasmustind, Sørtind, Mellomtind and Tromtind. Very impressed already. The snow field leading up to the summit rib was in pretty great shape too. Unlike earlier in the spring, now the snow was very well settled and compacted and made it quite light for hiking in. So unless you got near to the rocks, it remained quite nice shallow snow. Only once we reached the foot of the rocky rib we traversed out to the north to gain the skyline ridge, following a small bank of snow until we got onto the summit rib itself. Once on this the 'path' sort of disappeared and it was a matter of just taking a slightly exposed scramble to get up to the summit proper. By this time unfortunately we'd lost the views because the cloud had closed in a bit more, but it made it all the more atmospheric I think! After some delicate moves both Ane and myself were at the Varden, and taking in the rather jaw-dropping views down the length of Ersfjord in an east direction. It had been truly worth the effort to drive round and get ourselves out for some evening exercise.
Unfortunately it wasn't possible to make out the summits of Storstolpan, and on the south side of Ersfjord should have been Middagstind, Skitntind and Storsteinnestindan, but they were obscured by the cloud base. But it was all good. Some careful moves to downclimb the crambly bit we'd climbed up got us back on the snow field again, and an attempt to bumslide as far as possible was made. However, I think a combination of slightly soft snow and heavy bums made this attempt more of a failed success. Once back at the rocks we took a short break for something to eat and drink, and I took off my hiking boots to clear out the snow.
By this time I think the adrenaline had worn off and we were both feeling quite hungry. I guess it was past dinner time, so that didn't come as too much surprise!
The trail back down into Rekvik seemed a lot longer than it had been on the way up and it seemed now much steeper on the knees! I was quite glad to be back on flat ground again, and it had taken us about 4 hours for the return trip, including our stop at the top. But we'd been really lucky with the weather, and both of us had had a really great time enjoying the route and the views!
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