Preikestolen

One of the activities we designed our vacation around was hiking, actually two specific hikes -- Trolltunga (Troll's Tongue) and Preikestolen (Pulpit Rock).  Trolltunga is the more difficult of the two, and the weather was simply not cooperating.  It rained and snowed there for three days in a row, including our scheduled hiking day.  Mona is still nursing a sore knee, so we changed our plans and spent more time in Flam.  We did a shorter hike there to the Brekkefossen waterfall.

Preikestolen was not to be missed.  It is a very popular hike in Norway and the trail gets very crowded, especially out at the Pulpit Rock plateau at the end.  We stayed at a lodge that's located at the trailhead and were up at 4:30am so we could be on the trail by 5:00am to beat the crowds.  The entire way up we only saw a few people traveling down so it seemed as though we had the whole trail to ourselves.

The trail has three very steep sections including a long uphill climb that starts at the trailhead.  About 5 years ago, Norway had a team of sherpas from Nepal come to Preikestolen and rehab the trail with fantastic results.   The sherpas built/rebuilt numerous steep sections with large stones, essentially creating staircases, which helped make these steep sections safer and more well-defined.  It didn't necessarily make the hiking any easier.  My watch calculated I climbed the equivalent of 124 flights of stairs on this hike.

The payoff for this hike is the end.  Towering 604 meters above the Lysefjord, Preikestolen is a cliff with a relatively flat top that provides amazing views of the fjord.  The more adventurous will sit on the edge with their legs dangling.  When we reached the plateau, there were only about 10 other people there.  We were able to take some great photos and enjoy the sights and sounds in relative peace.  It was a phenomenal experience and truly one of the best hikes we've ever done.

As we made our descent, a steady stream of hikers were making their way like ants to the top.  Fortunately, we already had our mountaintop experience and were able to avoid the crowd.