2,812-ft (857 m) Hogafjellet is the highest mountain on the island Osteroy, with great views from the summit. A further appeal for us in making the hike was several technical aspects en route, including ladders, boardwalks, bridges and staircases. We also walked under two power station penstocks, and passed three dams and two sets of hiker’s cabins.

From Stamnshella, we rounded the north end of Osteroy and anchored off the west shore at Kleppsvagen for two nights. The second day, we landed the tender at the nearby town of Tysso and spent most of the day walking up Hogafjellet. We really enjoyed the hike, although less so the extremely muddy return trip over an alternate path.

Below are highlights from Sept 18th and 19th, 2020. Click any image for a larger view, or click the position to view the location on a map. And a live map of our current route and most recent log entries always is available at mvdirona.com/maps.

9/18/2020

Underway Position: 60°41.85’N, 5°42.69’E Underway through the intimate channel where Osterfjorden narrows at the north end of Osteroy.

Aurdal Position: 60°41.66’N, 5°34.42’E The village of Aurdal on the mainland opposite the northwest tip of Osteroy. In the distance on the left is wharf for a major aggregate mine. We’d considered anchoring in the channel to the south, but realized it was a major traffic route for ships heading to and from the mine. So we continued south and instead moored at Kleppsvagen along the west side of Osteroy.

Salad Dressing Position: 60°36.75’N, 5°33.10’E Sometimes a simple task can turn into a major job. We were getting low on salad dressing and were making some more. We emptied the bottle of red wine vinegar in the galley and went to get another from down below. Since this consumed the last bottle in our easily-accessible storage location, we wanted to restock from a more inconvenient deep stores location underneath the floor of one of our stateroom lockers. But the floorboard was jammed. We eventually pulled it out, and couldn’t get it back in again. It had always been a little tight anwyay, so we sanded it down to fit better. Then we cleaned up, restocked the red wine vinegar and, finally, made our salad dressing.

Indicator Lights Position: 60°36.75’N, 5°33.10’E We replaced both green indicators for charger 1 and charger 2 in the lazarette dual-shorepower control box. Two years is a surprisingly short life for 24V LED bulbs.

Heimtun 2 Position: 60°36.75’N, 5°33.10’E The ship Heimtun 2 underway for the aggregate mine at Aurdal, viewed from the anchorage at Kleppsvagen on the island Osteroy.

9/19/2020

Tysso Position: 60°37.15’N, 5°35.22’E The tender tied off at the village of Tysso for a hike up 2,847-ft (868m) Hogafjellet on the island of Osteroy.

Tosse Penstock Position: 60°36.94’N, 5°35.48’E Passing under the penstock for the 3.5 MW Tosse power plant in Tysso. The original plant was built in 1920 to supply energy for the Tosse mill and the local community. This was replaced by a new plant in 1981

Osvatnet Position: 60°36.82’N, 5°35.68’E The dammed lake Osvatnet, whose (75m) fall feeds the Tosse power plant in Tysso.

Trailhead Position: 60°36.79’N, 5°36.24’E At the trailhead along lake Osvatnet for the hike to 2,847-ft (868m) Hogafjellet.

Starting Up Position: 60°36.79’N, 5°36.24’E One of the appeals for us of the description for the Hogafjellet trail was several technical aspects, such as ladders, boardwalks and staircases. The trail starts immediately with these stairs.

Osvatn Penstock Position: 60°36.79’N, 5°36.29’E Ducking under the penstock for the 2.3MW Osvatn power plant along the shore of lake Osvatnet.

Second Flight Position: 60°36.81’N, 5°36.35’E Climbing the second of several flights of stairs en route to Hogafjellet

Boardwalk Position: 60°36.92’N, 5°36.82’E Walking a boardwalk through a boggy section.

Third Flight Position: 60°36.86’N, 5°37.10’E The third flight of stairs as we climb up towards the lake Nedra Botnavatnet. We’re gaining altitude quickly and already are at 873 ft (266 m).

Nedra Botnavatnet Position: 60°36.81’N, 5°37.13’E The lake Nedra Botnavatnet, barely visible in the fog. We expect conditions to clear by noon.

Second Breakfast Position: 60°36.76’N, 5°37.78’E Enjoying a hobbit’s second breakfast overlooking the lake Nedra Botnavatnet. The fog began to lift just as we sat down.

Footbridge Position: 60°36.47’N, 5°38.83’E Footbridge over the river between the lakes Nedra Botnavatnet and Ovrebotnen. The fog returned, so normally we’d get a fabulous view to the lake here.

Dam Position: 60°36.46’N, 5°38.89’E Crossing the dam on the lake Ovrebotnen.

Ladders From Hell Position: 60°36.49’N, 5°38.86’E Looking down to hikers behind us climbing the “Ladders from Hell”, a set of three ladders leading to lake Ovre Botnavatnet from the footbridge we just crossed (click image for a larger view). We picked up the name from a blogger who’s struggled to ascend them with his three large dogs. For us, they were fun to climb.

River Position: 60°36.70’N, 5°39.08’E Crossing a river through a gulley just north of the lake Ovrebotnen.

Ovrebotnen Position: 60°36.91’N, 5°39.75’E The view southwest down to the lake Ovrebotnen from 2119 ft (646 m).

Sheep Standoff Position: 60°36.71’N, 5°40.09’E We startled this sheep on the trail, who seemed determined to stand its ground.

Hogafjellshytta Position: 60°36.32’N, 5°40.25’E Looking back north to the mountaineering huts at Hogafjellshytta at altitude 2462 ft (750 m). The hikers behind us are just visible, wearing red, below the huts (click image for a larger view).

Hogafjellet Position: 60°35.93’N, 5°40.47’E At the peak of 2,847-ft (868m) Hogafjellet. We’d really enjoyed the climb.

Lunch Position: 60°35.91’N, 5°40.78’E Lunch with a view east from the summit of Hogafjellet.

Finger Board Position: 60°35.92’N, 5°40.46’E We decided to make a loop of it and return down on the marked trail to Gangsto and then walk north along a trail to Tysso that we could see on the topographic maps. We’d arrived at stripped down to T-shirts, but soon donned several layers plus gloves as it was fairly cold atop Hogafjellet.

To Gangsto Position: 60°35.32’N, 5°37.83’E Walking among mountain meadows and lakes towards Gangsto. We quite enjoyed this part of the hike as well.

Bernessetra Position: 60°35.15’N, 5°36.89’E We reached the hikers cabins at Bernessetra about an hour and a half from Hogafjellet on a relatively easy and well-marked trail.

Mud Position: 60°35.23’N, 5°35.26’E From Bernessetra we descended a steep, muddy and slippery slope to the lake Gardstjorna, where we picked up the trail north to Tysso. We initially were relieved to finally get on this final trail, but it turned out to be even muddier. We slogged through about a mile of bog until eventually reaching a gravel road.

Cattle Position: 60°36.25’N, 5°35.85’E Normally cattle depart when we near, but these ones on the road towards Tysso seemed a tad aggressive and reminded us the field of bulls we’d crossed in Ireland. It looks like the bench may have said something inappropriate. :)

Romarheimsfjorden Position: 60°37.04’N, 5°35.22’E View to Romarheimsfjorden as we descend back to Tysso. Despite the muddy finish, we had a great time on the hike.

Happy Hour Position: 60°36.78’N, 5°33.09’E Happy hour on the back deck after a warm shower following our hike up Hogafjellet.

Click the travel log icon on the left to see these locations on a map, with the complete log of our cruise. On the map page, clicking on a camera or text icon will display a picture and/or log entry for that location, and clicking on the smaller icons along the route will display latitude, longitude and other navigation data for that location. And a live map of our current route and most recent log entries always is available at mvdirona.com/maps.