English

Slaettaratindur

måndag 8 augusti 2011 Die Fär Oer, Färöarna

We woke up hoping for good weather especially at Slaettartindur, since it was Ylva's last day it was her last chance to climb the mountain. So we drove to the mountain to check it out, it was really bad, cloudy and rainy so we couldn't see far at all. We only had very vague road descriptions, find the highest point of the road, park the car and follow the fence and then the trail? Since no one of us knew the topography of the mountain and the visibility level was very low. I felt that this was far from ideal conditions, but at least we had to give it a try.
I saw a sheep walking upwards and disappearing into the mist, I jokingly told the others that it was a sign and that it was our guide (guiding sheep). After walking almost straight up for a while we started to see the outline of two smaller peaks on the ridge. I really hoped that was the top?
Once there we climbed up on the left peak, it was quite scary, it was windy, foggy, cold and very slippery wet stones. On the other side of the ridge it was just a very steep mountain slope and I mean really steep. Since the weather wasn't that spectacular today we decided to descend quite quickly. The funny thing with this mountain was that the weather were worse below the peak. I guess the challenge of this mountain wasn't the height but rather the bad weather.
http://sv.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sl%C3%A6ttaratindur

Then our plan was to drive back to Gasadalur and explore the place a little bit more. But first we needed some gas for our car. We all got very surprised when we stopped at the gas station and noticed that our left tire was totally flat, what had happened? We chose to pump the tire full and see what would happen, nothing seemed to happen? Maybe it was a very small leak?

Somewhere on road 40 on the way to "Sandavagur" on the right side of the road (maybe close to Reynastindur?) we saw an epic view of a canyon with a waterfall inside. I couldn't resist it, time to explore again. Would it be possible to climb all the way to the source of the waterfall? Maybe? At least I had to try!

Ok back to Gasadalur the tunnel to the village was finished 2004. I can't even imagine how the living conditions were before that, since it is quite an isolated place. We explored the (earlier?) connection to the rest of the island a very steep staircase down to the sea level and a cable car freight system. I don't know why, but steep long staircases without any good railings, to hold on to, scares me more than steep mountains. But it was well worth it going down the stairs, facing my own fears of heights and experiencing one of the most scenic spots on the island (at least that I have seen so far). The view outwards to the sea watching Tindholmur, Gasholmur and Mykines and the view of the coastline, the waterfall, Gasadalur and the surrounding mountain ridges its, absolutely stunning. But as always we had a deadline, to leave Ylva at the airport because she was leaving one day earlier than us. We left her at the airport and drove home to Torshavn. I was totally exhausted by all our physical activities and all the impressions.

Anmäl