When I woke up at 5:30 yesterday morning, I heard rain. I had been really hoping that it would finally clear up after two days here, and I still hoped that by the time I actually got up to the rock, the weather would be glorious. A friendly front desk clerk, who had been checking the weather, I suppose for everybody, told me it was supposed to clear up by noon. That's just about the time I would be starting the three hour hike.
To get from Stavanger to the Pulpit Rock, you take a ferry across the Lysefjord and then a bus ride to the point of departure for the hike. It remained dreary the whole time. It was the second time in two days I had taken a ride through the gorgeous fjord and the second time that views of all those gorgeous islands and mountains had been somewhat marred by overcast skies.
The hike up to Pulpit Rock is challenging, to say the least. The path is often rocky and straight up, leveling off only once in a while for all too brief stretches. The challenge is worse in the rain. The rocks get wet and slippery, even with good hiking boots. About half way into the hike, I had already seen several young people with sneakers slip but not seriously hurt themselves. Just as I was feeling smug and patting myself on the back about being a smart adult and wearing sensible hiking boots, I slipped and skinned my shin. A battle scar! But one that will heal with just a little bit of time.
You hike through a beautiful mountain forest with spectacular views all over the place. Lakes, ponds, little water falls, rivulets, rocky cliffs, and beautiful vistas are all there to divert your attention and to admire. I could see that they were all there on the way up in a steady light rain but wouldn't be able to fully appreciate all the splendor of the nature there until the hike back down when the clouds and fog finally gave way to the sun.
Because of the challenges of the trail, my age and those two stents in an artery, I took my sweet time hiking up. I rested several times for five to ten minutes. I took photos and watched all the young people and parents with kids and even an occasional dog hike on past me. One Russian family was hiking with a boy who couldn't have been much more than eight. Of course, he was whining and occasionally crying. At one point, his father got angry and said, "That's it! We're going back! Home!" The boy started screaming even louder. His mother came over to comfort him, and the father's heart quickly softened. He took the boy's hand and both parents kept saying, "That's it. Slowly! We're going slowly!" I had to laugh to myself. I thought, "The boy has to go slowly, because he's too young, and I have to go slowly, because I'm too old!"
When the Pulpit Rock finally came into view, it was shrouded by clouds. I kept hoping against hope that they would suddenly lift and the sun would come out. I overheard one young American say something to his girlfriend about posting a picture on Instagram and then posting a stock web photo of the rock so that people could see what it really looked like! I struck up a conversation with him and his Norwegian girlfriend.
Once we got up to the rock itself, you could hardly see a thing for more than a few feet. I could see that there were figures up at the edge, but I could barely see the edge, let alone the fjord below. My new friends invited me to have lunch with them. We found a place, talked, laughed and hoped to wait it out. We walked around and took pictures. It didn't look very promising.
Suddenly after a good half hour up there, you could make out the field on the other side of the fjord! People all rushed over toward the edge and, striking while the iron was hot, started taking photos like mad. Quickly, it got brighter and brighter. You could actually see large patches of blue and the fjord below wending its way through the countryside! It was everything that I hoped it would be. As you can see from the pictures, I got very close to the edge but while lying flat or siting. I don't think I could have stood that close to the edge, but lying and sitting didn't bother me at all.
On the hike down, I could see in all their splendor all the things I knew were there on the way up but whose splendor in the sunlight I could only imagine. I took lots of pictures and will post them along some shots of the way up so that you can appreciate the difference.
The whole way down, I was looking forward to another ride, this time with a ferry, on the fjord. It was wonderful! Even now, the next morning, I can look at a blue sky without one cloud. I'll be leaving Stavanger for Bergen in a couple of hours. I'm so glad I got to see it on a sunny day and so glad that the fog lifted in time for me to appreciate the Pulpit Rock in all its glory.
It wasn't so hard for me to get this close to the edge while lying. I could never have stood here.
The entire three hour hike up it was overcast and lightly raining.
A young man I met while waiting for the fog to lift.
Sitting close to the edge didn't bother me either.
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