So this week, me and my fellow @steempress-io co-founder @howo have travelled to Norway to attend Spaceport Norway (a space technology conference I helped co-found some years ago before I joined esa). Of course, when visiting the south-west region of Norway doing a hike in the fjord is obligatory! So hiking we did.
@howo and @fredrikaa at the top of the Pulpit Rock
First of all it has to be said: @howo is one lucky bastard! Stavanger which is the 4th largest city in Norway, my home-town and the capital of Norway’s oil & gas industry as well as the fjord tourist attractions, is also well known for its shitty weather. In fact, it rains approximately 235 days pr year! For us then to arrive in mid-May to 20+ degrees Celsius and blue skies every day now for 4 days is a rare happening to say the least.
Leaving the Stavanger Docks in the morning to go deeper inside the fjords the weather was simply amazing!
The pulpit rock is by far the most popular hike in terms of the region. It’s estimated that during the summer season, 300 000 people make the hike up to the plateau. While it is neat for the region to have this attraction, it also means that the route is rather crowded. Indeed, walking up felt more like walking in a queue than running in the mountains. but who cares if you have people in front of you and behind you if you can turn your head around and look out and over this fjord?!?
On top of the Lysefjord which contains some of the most common attractions in south-western Norway
Tourists and fearless Norwegian-children both can't help but peek down the steep hills at the edges!
What makes this fjord so unique is the steepness of the mountains. Depending on your position in the fjord, you might find yourself on top of a 1000 meter free fall steep mountainside peering down at the fjords below. Needless to say, the view is fantastic but also a bit scary and borderline uncomfortable for those with a weak stomach. For a better appreciation of the share scale and size, I recommend this drone video from an area just next to our hike:
But the pulpit rock is famous for more than just the steepness of the mountains. The ice-age, which carved out the fjord to begin with, left some fascinating shapes behind. The pulpit rock (preikestolen in Norwegian) looks almost like a huge chair meant for a giant. (So needless to say, it's popular for visitors to try and sit on the edge and feel like they are on the top of the world!)
A picture I took while ascending up and behind the pulpit rock
Me sitting on the top and dangling my feet down above the main plateau
@howo with the most typical Norwegian hiking and skiing lunch snack you can have, turning this proud Frenchman into a proper Norwegian if only for a short time
Picture from behind with a view into the end of the fjord
If you haven't guessed so already, I would recommend everyone who loves travelling and would like to go to Norway to pay the pulpit rock a visit! It is truely a unique experience. Although I myself prefer to hike further into the mountains where there are fewer people and you are left more in touch with nature, this gem of a site has to be experienced at least once!
Interested in going to the Norwegian Fjords and would like some more details on how you can get there and other recommendations? Do feel free to ask me in the comments!
Anyways, it was one hell of a trip and also a place I find worth sharing :)
As always, take care!
@fredrikaa