For our first big day of hiking, we chose the most popular target: Pulpit Rock. While Stavanger is the most common starting point, the trip to the trail head still involves another bus+ferry combo, which made Grant a pretty happy camper. However, it did also mean that our transit started at 8:30, so we still had an early morning ahead of us, much to Jess’ chagrin.
After a quick breakfast and the good ol’ bus-ferry-bus dance, we reached the trail head, along with ~a bajillion other tourists. Seems like this trail is more like the Disneyland of hiking as we saw groups of all ages and capabilities strapping up and heading out. Not ones to be left behind, we immediately did the same.
After a short while on the trail, we could see why it is so popular – it’s impeccably well maintained, with almost cobblestone like quality to the trails, and a fairly gentle, though consistent grade. The climbs, when they did happen, where fairly short and well spaced out and the trail excellently marked, even without the scads of brilliantly clad tourists traipsing up and down the hills. In short – it’s basically the most family friendly hiking trail I’ve ever been on that still feels like you’re actually hiking. A++ Norway; Croatia, take note!
In addition to the nice trail, there were, of course, beautiful panoramas and waterfalls. This IS Norway, after all! We dutifully stopped and “oooh-ahhh” and took lots of shots, but we didn’t want to be slowed down too much as we wanted to make it to Pulpit Rock before it got to crowded.
And finally, 1.5 hrs and ~4 km later, we turned the corner and there it was, jutting out over the fjord (and thankfully, not crowded at all!). Pulpit Rock is a naturally occurring, semi-square rectangle platform that stands ~604 meters above sea level, which is a lot when you realize it’s base rests at the fjord! It’s an amazing thing to see and experience, especially how close they let everyone get to the edge – no rangers, ropes or guard rails here, friends! So of course, we had to take advantage:
After clambering all over the rock itself, and then climbing higher for a bird’s eye view, we realized we’d cut our timing to get back down a little close, and had only an hour to get all the way back to the parking lot if we didn’t want to be stranded there for the next 3 hours! Driven by ambitions to not be left behind, we started a mad dash down the mountain when disaster struck – Jess dropped the Nikon SLR camera, breaking it into 3 pieces 🙁 THIS IS WHY WE CAN’T HAVE NICE THINGS! But Grant was an awesome sport about it and quickly bundled it away, for later inspections and hopefully, repairs. The mad dash continued, and we made it back in a record 57 minutes and onto the bus – the camera did not die in vain!
The camera might not have made it down in one piece, but we did!
Once back in Stavanger (we only napped on the bus – don’t get too excited), we decided to get clean and then visit one of the more popular burger bars – Døgnville – for dinner. We both had a pint (Jess, coincidentally finally finding one of her favorite beers on tap!) and while Grant enjoyed a burger with brie, Jess had a tasty salmon fillet with soy-honey vinaigrette. Then, inspired by the menu, we both had adult milkshakes for dessert! Grant had a tasty double chocolate with bourbon, while Jess got an almost pancake tasting Vanilla + Blueberry with Bailey’s. It was a scrumptious way to end the day!
We also FINALLY managed to buy beer at a Norwegian grocery store. The day is full of victory!
Dinner and a view – who could ask for anything more?
After dinner, we wandered around Stavanger’s downtown for a bit, but it had started to get cold (in Norway? Shocking, I know!) and we had another big day of hiking ahead of us, so we decided to head back. Laying down never felt so good!
On the way to dinner we found a statue we just HAD to replicate!
– J & G