Stavanger – Pulpit Rock and Another First

    Today we were ashore in Stavanger and had another first ever experience. We were off the ship by 8 am – as soon as it was announced that we had cleared the port authorities. This involved a bus ride to the local ferry dock and then a 40 minute ferry ride across the bay to Tau then another bus ride for the 30 minute ride to the base of the hike to Pulpit Rock.

     

On The Trail

Pulpit rock is a ledge which is at the top of the fjord. The height from the start point is about 1000 feet. The length of the climb is 4 kilometers. Essentially is a straight up climb with a series of downhills in between each level. The entire climb takes about 22 hours. Pulpit Rock is one of the most visited sites in Norway. We did opt for a ship tour for this stop. It is not like hiking in the Rockies. This trail was essentially all rock all the way. The rocks themselves have been arranged roughly in steps but they were not easy to navigate. The climb takes about 2 hours without stopping for any length of time. We collected our lunch and a bottle of water and headed up. Most of the people on this hike were reasonably fit. No bad knees and hips here, just a lot of out of breath people.

    About an hour in we experienced another first. The rocks were very slippery - and got worse as the day wore on and the hundreds of people made their way through the water. Judy stepped and slid down, landing on her back. No problems. However she did stick her arms out and promptly cut and scraped them. We needed a bandage but did not get one until we reached the top of the rock where the guides were. She also needed to fill out an accident report which we did later. Oh, I slid down the same rock and so did the person behind us. My fall was broken by the backpack.

Made It!

Pulpit Rock

    The view from the top was outstanding. Shear drops, a long fjord, rocky outcrops and hundreds of people were all viewed from the top. It was worth the hike. We had our lunch (provided on the bus) as we enjoyed the rain free site. The time down was also around 2 hours but by the time we started down many more tour buses had arrived. The traffic going up the trails was non stop and with that the trail became even more slippery. I did my share of almost going down as we went down.

The Drop

When we were ready to head back to the ship, another first happened! Our bus had backed up in a parking spot, went over the barrier and was stuck! Essentially, it needed a tow truck to get back on the road. We needed to return to catch the ferry to make the sail away time. Fortunately there were 4 buses and the other 3 were not completely full. After much figuring all on our bus were able to find space on the others. We did not need to stand. We arrived at the ship just before it was to sail. The rain had moved in and continued throughout the afternoon. A beer, a slice of pizza and some down time were the order of the day.

After the hard day, we cut the evening short. We did have dinner at the appointed time but decided to skip the entertainer (lead singer of the Hollies). We are looking forward to a walk around shore day tomorrow in Flam. After the strain of the climb today, we can use a more relaxing day.