June of 2012 saw us in Stavanger Norway for Kate’s KBS conference. It’s a pretty historic harbour town with lots of pedestrian friendly areas. That’s Kate and I at lunch at left – note that we’re dressed for the cooler weather. Nearby I went on a boat trip and hike to “Pulpit Rock” (Preikestolen) which overlooks this huge fjord (Lysefjord). The rock is a viewpoint of about 30m square that sits 600m over the fjord with a sheer drop down to the water. Lots of folks would sit on the edge of the rock; others would stand near the edge or lie on their tummies and look over the edge. I could do neither; the vertigo was too much for me. I did find several YouTube videos of fellows doing base-jumps off the rock. Very scary! Friends tell me there’s an even scarier spot you can visit further up the fjord. There’s this big round boulder (called Kjeragbolten) stuck in a crevasse that you jump onto (sic!). It’s 1000m over the fjord so if you miss the jump you’re toast.... I can’t imagine doing that.
The hike to Pulpit Rock takes about 2hrs each way. There’s a vertical rise of 300m (you take a bus to a lake side resort in the mountains) over a distance of about 4km. Most of the hike is over rough scree that’s very hard on the ankles. When I came down off the hike my knees and ankles were exhausted. Of course there’s several pretty Norwegian 20-somethings running up and down the trail as you stumble along. They’ll be sorry some day when their knees and ankles wear out prematurely.Stavanger is a pretty historic town. I have posted a photo album if you are interested.
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