PREACH - PULPIT ROCK / PREIKESTOLEN, NORWAY - DAY 2

Hey Family!

Day two in beautiful Norway! I woke up at 2AM this morning and rolled over, waking up every hour until my alarm buzzed at 5AM. It was easy getting up because of the time change in the States, but little did I know, that was going to really hurt me when hiking Preikestolen / Pulpit Rock later.

I catch the earliest bus to the ferry, and take the first ferry out to Tau. Then the bus from Tau to Preikestolen. Looking out the window, I can only see an extension of a home I already know. Everything looks like Northern Sweden, and Sweden is my sole means of comparison- Only Iceland is dissimilar. It was raining from morning until night today, as was expected when I checked last night on the forecast. I was prepared, but regardless, the hike took it out of me.

Putting my body clock into perspective, according to the time at home, I woke up at 11PM and headed to Pulpit Rock. I started climbing around midnight, and reached the summit at 2AM. Once the bus came, I started heading back at 5:30AM... It was only 2:30PM here.

The hike in total was supposed to take 4hrs round trip. Minus spending time at the top and eating lunch at the peak, I think I did it in 3hrs.

Despite training at the gym, this totally rocked my body. With the time change, I was having a lot of trouble, and the hike isn’t just up and then down, it’s up and down going up, and up and down going down. You take large steps on massive boulders nearly the whole way. Plus with the rain, everything was really slick. I packed a huge lunch but it wasn’t enough, and I didn’t have enough water. I fixed that once I got the bottom at the cafe, but everything burned, and my eyes were bloodshot by the end of it. My body just thinks I hiked 300meters up *(roughly 1,000ft), in the middle of the night. The peak was actually 600 meters high, *(nearly 2,000ft), and tomorrow is 1000 meters at Kjerag *(3,200+ft). My gear held up pretty well, but it was a challenging hike, and I truly hope I can physically, ACTUALLY do the bigger one tomorrow. My pants were good and even though they were soaked in the hike, they were dry by the time I was on the bus back. Worth the investment. Also, my stomach is better, but still not 100%, so maybe that had to do with difficulty climbing the mountain?

Anyway...

The hike itself as I mentioned multiple times was grueling, and the rain wouldn’t quit. It only stopped once, briefly, where I took the drone out. The nature surrounding you is beautiful, with interspersed views overlooking the valleys and mountains, but mainly, you're in the middle of dense forest, and you're just focusing on the climb. As I mentioned previously, you go up, down, around, and sometimes it feels like you might take a wrong turn and get lost. Trust your gut, and just follow it straight up. Finally, I see an ascent. After hours of climbing, I finally made it to the top. I take a few breathes in victory, and take a few photos. My beaming, idiotic grin begins to fade when I look over to my right, and realize there's more to climb. "Aw, damn" I murmur to myself. I guess that's a metaphor for life; Just when you think you've made it...

I climb for another hour until I reach a flat, steep incline, made extra slick from the rain. This made me nervous as part of the last leg to the (real) top, because, although wide enough, it's just a cliff side. This is the stuff nightmares are made of. I was careful to test my footing before carrying on upward. I met another traveler from Malaysia. She was far ahead of her friend, but we chatted together on our way to the peak. This makes the final leg much easier. Finally, we make it. There are a few other tourists around already eating lunch, some French tourists are drinking wine. This girl and I take photos of each others' accomplishment- She wants me to get closer to the edge, but I decline the very kind offer. I manage to come to the edge of Preikestolen itself where she takes a photo of me. I'm very cautious, but a German couple notes in German to be careful, and giggle that maybe my rain poncho made big and fluffy from the wind could be a life-saving parachute if I fall. Hilarious.

The drop from the cliff is unbelievable! I laid down to look over the edge, and it’s just vertical and dizzying all 1,000 ft down. I hung my legs over for a photo but I was very careful- It’s no secret I’m afraid of heights. I want to eat lunch, but away from the other tourists. By now my new Malaysian friend has found her hiking buddy, and they meander off for more photos. I find a way to climb up the side of the mountain to eat in peace, over looking more tourists coming to find the ledge of Pulpit Rock, Lysefjord, and the houses opposite to us, cradled in a massive expanse of a valley, with Pulpit Rock as their view. I wonder what it must be like to live there, but then am disturbed at the idea of your only view being a line of tourists wearing hideously colored, neon ponchos and jackets. ...I also wonder if they saw the guy who fell off the cliff in 2013.

Unfortunately by now, the rain wouldn’t end. I must've looked miserable, kneeling in wet grass, trying to have my poncho cover myself, my lunch, and my camera bag, looking out into the distance, and munching on an apple. Truthfully, in that moment, I just felt like Ragnar Lothbrok from Vikings, overlooking my imaginary kingdom, contemplating my next strategy. Legendary. I’ve never felt more Viking in my life haha! After eating, I hiked by myself over to a side area, and sat in the rain for 30mins hoping things would clear up. When it stopped raining just enough, I took all of my cameras out, but it was drizzling and I was too nervous to get the drone and remote wet, so I packed it up again. Once I put everything back, the rain clouds moved in, and the view disappeared. Another photographer had his drone out as well in a nearby spot, but we both had the same issue. It’s too bad I couldn’t get the fjord from the drone, but I can’t say I didn’t try. When I hiked over to the ledge of Pulpit’s Rock there were only a handful of tourists. I was right to take the first ferry out, because by the time I’d left, there were a slew of tourists lining up for photos in their absurd neon ponchos and jackets, all waiting to get that precious Instagram photo. I'm not above it, I'm just saying.

When the tourist crowd grew, and after hiking to the side area for my last drone attempt, I called it quits. I was exhausted and soaking wet from head to toe for hours. I needed to get the f#%*k off this mountain.

The descent was faster but almost harder than climbing up. I was out of food except for almonds, and nearly out of water. My feet hurt, my legs burned, I was getting lightheaded, and my wet backpack, boots and clothes were weighing me down- Even with my poncho. Clambering through other tourists now coming by the masses in the opposite direction, the rocks were even more slick now. I had to stop and rest multiple times for fear of my legs giving out, or just passing out in general. The hike going down felt never-ending because I was totally spent.

I eventually made it to the bottom, and this felt almost an equal success in getting to the top. I filled my water, and nearly chugged the whole thing. I then boarded my bus, then the ferry, had an espresso because I needed to stay awake and eat dinner, and then took a bus back to my hostel.

As soon as I got “home”, I shed all of my clothes, put them on the heater, charged my batteries and took a scalding hot shower. I just wanted to lie down again, but I force fed myself another sandwich, and then put on some dry clothes and went out for more dinner. I don’t know how, but I walked to the grocery store and picked up some chicken wings and protein bars. I wanted to get wine for Ove too as a thank you, but the liquor store closes at 5PM, and my bus comes at 5AM-5PM, as the hikes are all day. Tomorrow will be the same, and the next day, I leave at 5AM for a 6AM ferry to Bergen...I’ll have to figure it out.

I came home in the middle of another downpour. I swapped my now dry clothes with my newly wet clothes, cooked some wings, and had some tea. I saved the rest of the wings for tomorrow night, and doubled my sandwich intake for tomorrow. I’m glad I’m going with a guide, but I really hope I can physically manage this. Preikestolen surprised me, and Kjerag is supposed to be even earlier, and 3-4 miles longer. Plus I’m taking water in my backpack, more clothes and more food, so my bag will be heavier than today. I’m going to bed now at 7:45PM. Love you all- Wish me luck!!

-eM