Norway in Spring 2011. Climbing Preikestolen (Part 6)

3 Jun 2011, Climbing the Preikestolen

Preikestolen, in English meant the Preacher’s Pulpit or the Pulpit Rock, is located in the region of Rogaland, western region of southern Norway. The top of the cliff is about 600m above the Lysefjorden, and the famous Kjerag plateau is on the other side of the fjord. This site is one of the most visited tourist attraction in Norway, even though the path to see the cliff is not easier to hike. The nearest big city will be Stavanger which can be reached by ferry plus car in 1 hour.

  

It was a rainy and cloudy morning at Bergen. Our activities for the day was to hike the Preikestolen. . The Preikestolen is located in the Rogaland region and it is a 5 hour drive plus 3 ferry crossings from Bergen to the town of Jopeland where Preikestolen is located. We woke up earlier for the day to catch the morning breakfast provided by the hotel at 6:30am. Nothing fancy about the breakfast for a pricey tag of 1580 NOK for a night. All hotels at Bergen are expensive but of course there are camp sites outside the city. 

Breakfast at Comfort Hotel Bergen

We finished our breakfast and check-out at 7:30am and started the long drive along highway E39 to Stavanger and then to Tau and finally Jopeland. It was fairly easy to drive, just follow the sign boards for E39-Stavanger. As we moved away from the Bergen area, the weather started to clear up a little with sunlight breaking through the clouds once a while. 

Existing a tunnel and crossing a bridge

1st ferry of the day from Hathjem to Sandvikvag

Just 45mins of driving from Bergen town centre, we reached the first ferry crossing from Hathjem to Sandvikvag, It was a 34mins ferry ride at a fee of NOK 250 for a small car with driver plus one passenger. In the passenger lounge, i realized that there was free Wi-Fi and started checking emails and Facebook updates. Only then i know that the ferries have Wi-Fi. Maybe the need the internet connections for their ticketing as they accept credit cards. 

Weather getting better. Blue skies and green grassland

After disembarking from the ferry, we continued on the same highway. The clouds seemed to have been broken up by the sun and after another 20mins driving, we were greeted with blue skies. We were hoping that today would be a good day for climbing.

So who is watching who?

It was another 2 hour drive from here to our next ferry Arsvagen to Mortavika. The fee was NOK 202 for car with driver plus one passenger ( car with driver = 166 NOK, passenger = 36 NOK). We just missed the ferry and had to wait for the next one. But now the weather has cleared up and the skies were true blue and the sun was shining bright. While waiting the for the ferry, we walked about visiting the only the cafe beside the jetty. 

Small cafeteria at the Arsvagen ferry terminal

Enjoying the seaview while waiting for the next ferry

How they match the colour of the sky

At 11am, we board the ferry that would bring us to the final road to Stavanger.  The ferry came on time as scheduled and everyone was back in their vehicles starting up their engines.

Cars and vans all waiting for the ferry

There were tall and long bridges along way connecting islands together. In an hour driving time, we reached the city of Stavanger. 

On the road in the city of Stavanger

As we were rushing for time, we headed straight to the ferry terminal for the ferry ride from Stavanger to Tau. We made it just in time as the last car to board the ferry. The cost was a total of 172 NOK for this ride. We were wondering who is collecting payment as we have experienced from some ferry crossing that they collect before you board the ferry, some after you park your car. In this case, it was done by a staff walking within the passenger lounge collecting payment. Of course there was a ticketing counter where we just walked up and paid for the ride. At 1:30pm, we landed at Tau and we made a quick visit to the supermarket to stock up on some snacks and food for dinner.

Ferry leaving the city of Stavanger for Tau

Everyone out to enjoy the sun after days of bad weather

Approaching Tau, our car parked in lower deck

 

From Tau we took the route 15 in the direction of Jopeland and following the signboard for Preikestolen, we finally reached the car park at the Preikestolen campsite around 2pm. As it was warm and sunny, we took a small backpack with water and snacks and started the climb up. The entire car park was almost full of cars and people were walking around like some big family day outing. The number of people climbing was astonishing high. 

At the trail head for the climb

So many cars at the carpark below

At the trailhead, the first signboard of the red T pointing to the Preikstolen greeted us. We started climbing for 15mins and reached a viewpoint. There were so many people walking in 2 directions that after the viewpoint area, we followed the wrong group of people and ended up at the car park again. We did ask a passing climber if that was the right way and he just said it was correct and followed him along. Miscommunication over here. Maybe he don't under English or he thought that we were descending instead of ascending. In the end we wasted 30mins of walking time.  We started climbing the same route again to the 1st viewpoint and took the other direction. 

Looks okay from the diagram, but difficult to hike

Very warm day. Off with the jackets

Now the path was right and more and more red T signs painted the way and more and more people were descending. I was really surprised by the crowd making the way up and down. Some brought children as young as 5 years old and dogs for the climb. There was one incident when the owner stepped on the tail of his dog and it made a loud shrieking sound. Poor dog. The path was very rocky and there was no fixed way to walk on them. Everyone climbing may pick a different rock to step on. Focus during the hike was to pick the right and stable rock to step on. It could be that previous day was raining and some of the rocks were slippery. 

Heli evacuation

After the view point, an ambulance helicopter was circling around the area and indeed an accident had happened. An elderly climber was slipped and fell on the rock path. Luckily from the looks his injury was not that serious but unable to make his way down. As the rescuer hooked the injured climber and airlifted him up, he waved to his fellow climbing companions. After seeing that, we went on our way with more caution. In 20mins, we reached a flat clearing with a path with a wooden platform. This look like a wetland area with signs of summer as small flowers and grass were growing along the path.

At the open wetland area

Signboards & signboards (or just follow the crowd)

The path continued with more rocks and it was quite steep at some parts. But seeing people decorated the path, it gave the wrong impression that this is a walk in the park. Many streams run across the path and many areas are actually mini waterfalls and we were just walking on the rock steps with water gushing down. As we were getting closer to the destination, we need to do some careful placement of our feet to cross some narrow areas. I would say those with fear of heights may have problem crossing some of the paths. 

Human traffic jam. This is really the most visited spot in Norway

Lotsa rocks to climb

Doesn't look scary from this pic, but it does.

We reached the wooden bridge near the top after 1.5hrs since we started. It seemed short in timing but the climb gave the impression that we had climb longer. 

"Almost there", I always say

Lysefjorden down below

Finally after another 30mins, we reach the rock platform. The cliff was amazing from the sides, a sheer drop of 600m into the fjord below. It gets a bit scary walking close to the edge and taking a photograph of yourself standing close to the edge takes some courage. 

The rock platform, the Preikestolen

Yes, wave at me please.

Sitting on the edge with the world down below

Next please ..

The area was big enough for many climbers to enjoy the view of the Lysefjord below and have their picnic. From some of the online pictures, this rock platform can be packed with climbers on a peak season. Since we arrived at the 5pm, there were actually lesser people and doing some of the scary photograph feats were attracting lesser attention. To make the climb complete, we decided to take the courage do a photo shot of sitting on the ledge. With such a height and open view and the idea of nothing below except the waters, it gets a bit scary for me. So i just sat down on the rock and edge myself closer until i actually dangle my feet over the ledge. It is the movement that is scary, once we sat still there, it was actually less frightening. But the thought of sudden strong winds making you lose balance is always there. Luckily the weather was optimal and little chance of sudden wind shear,

The other side of the rock platform

On the right side of the rock

On the way down just a few meters from the platform, there is a hill trail marked with the red T that leads to the cliff above the Preikestolen platform, it took me around 5mins to get to the top. From here, you can see the entire square platform. 

Made a 10mins climb to the hilltop for a top view of Preikestolen

A pile of rock on the hilltop overlooking the Preikestolen

 

After enjoying the great weather and scenery, we started our slow descend down the rocky path. The descend was more enjoyable as it was less strenuous and the crowd was minimal. Only to meet some climbers still making their way up in the evening.

Everyone has gone home

Walking back to the carpark

Starting our descend at 6pm, we reached the car park at 7:40pm. While leaving the car park area, we had to pay a parking fee of 80 NOK. Seems like the parking fee has become an entrance fee for drivers. In this season, there are actually buses from Tau to Preikestolen car park. Taking a bus for those without transport is a good option for those staying overnight at Tau. 

Lysefjord Hytter (reception is closed)

From here it was another 20mins drive to our cabin accommodation at the Lysefjord Hytter campsite. This is a popular accommodation for people climbing Preikestolen as it is near the ferry to cross from Oanes to Lauvvik. We cooked a simple dinner and off to the beds. 

Our car parked outside our cabin for the night at Lysefjord

Let's move on to Part 7