Preikestolen (Pulpit Rock) Norway

I’ve been recounting my adventures while not on the road. After a travel day to Stavanger, Norway we planned to hike Preikestolen (Pulpit Rock) today.

Preikestolen

When we had planned this Scandinavian trip, taking a short detour to hike up Preikestolen had been high on our list so today we would be doing just that. The weather had been cloudy and wet for us since the evening we arrived so we were hoping for good enough weather this day.

To get to the beginning of the hike you will need to take a ferry across the waterway to Tau. From there it was a short 20 minute bus ride to start of the hike.

The Hike

The start of the hiking area is similar to others. There’s a small building with facilities and a lodge. After a short stop at the facilities we started our hike to the rock!

The hike itself isn’t extremely difficult. It was a good mix of sections of elevation and then some flat sections. There were great opportunities to just take in scenery and really admire this awesome world we live in! I’m thankful that it wasn’t a super clear day because the fog and clouds we were in added to that “mystical” factor of the area!

Mid Mountain Reprieve

About two thirds of the way up, we arrived at this rocky clearing with a very beautiful mid mountain pond and this cool rocky plain.

Crossing the plains, we then rounded the edge of the cliff, skirted the edge and our destination was in sight!

Pulpit Rock!

After arriving and taking in the view, we spent some time along the edge of the rock.  We took pictures of the view and while I’m not entirely comfortable with heights, dangling my feet off the edge was something I really wanted to do.

There was a path at the back of the rock to get to a more elevated position. So my sister and I climbed up for some spectacular views!

The day couldn’t have turned out better. While it looked like the weather could have turned miserable at any moment, it never rained on us while we were on the hike. In fact just as we got to the top the clouds cleared a little allowing us unobstructed views of the valley and Fjords below.  The minute we got back down and in the bus to the ferry, the clouds opened up and it started raining. What a blessing that we missed this until we were back at the bottom! This is such a beautiful area that if you find yourself in Norway I highly recommend taking some time out to travel here and enjoy Creation at its best!

For those of you wondering. The hike itself isn’t very strenuous. There are parts which require a bit of (very) light bouldering, but for the most part anyone that has an average level of fitness should be able to do the hike. I did it in runners, but had it rained, there would have been times where the rocks would be slightly slippery so please dress accordingly. All in all the hike took us about 3 hours up and down.

Return to Stavanger

Upon returning back to Stavanger, we had scoped out a thai place near our hotel. It was at this point that we started missing some of the asian cuisine we were use to at home so we treated ourselves to some well deserved soupy noodles on a cold, wet but amazing day.

After dinner we retired to our rooms to shower, stretch and pack. We would be taking a boat to Oslo tomorrow and had a long day of travel ahead.