I just have to return to Norway after I become a hiker in Portland. The nature there has been haunting me since 2015.
You might know that I worked in Oslo, Norway in summer 2015 for an internship. Back then, I wasn’t a hiker at all. After moving to Portland post graduation, hiking becomes one of the most popular social activities because of the beautiful mountains and forests, and PNW residents’ healthy lifestyle. Ever since then, the landscape of Norway kept popping out of my mind, especially the two famous rocks that I see featured all the time on various platforms. Summer of 2018, I decided to return to this beautiful country full of cliffs and fjords and complete the two hikes that have been calling my name.
Both hikes Preikestolen (also known as Pulpit Rock or the fjord where Mission Impossible was shot) and Kjeragbolten are most easily accessible from the city Stavanger, about 7-9hrs by train from Oslo. After flying into Oslo and crashed at my friend Nari’s place (while she’s away – I broke into the condo with her hide-a-key) overnight, I spent a casual day drinking coffee, strolling on the streets, bathing in the sun at the harbor and feeling extremely relaxed and grateful for sunshine like the rest of Norwegians. At 10PM, I hopped on the overnight train heading to Stavanger. I prayed for the train to arrive on time in the morning so I have 2hrs buffer time to check into my Airbnb, pick up some food, eat & change, and hop onto the daily ferry then catch the bus to Preikestolen. Thankfully, my plan worked flawlessly!
Although the hike itself is not challenging, I was exhausted from all the travelling nonstop. After a nap at my lodging, I treated myself to a seafood dinner in the city center. There I had my famous person encounter – sitting next to me at the next table was Australian former professional cyclist Robbie McEwen. He’s in Stavanger as a reporter on a cycling event. It started raining so he offered me to join his table. It was a cool experience chatting and learning about his life as a professional cyclist while being a husband and dad for his family.
Next morning, I got up at 5am to catch the shuttle organized by Outdoor Life Norway to Kjeragbolten, the famous boulder stuck in between two cliffs! Different from my usual style, I decided to book a guided tour because it’s still early in the season, and the road condition might not be the best due to snow and the colder weather. They also provide gears like hiking poles so I don’t have to worry about carrying my own. Highly recommend! On the ferry to the trailhead, we got to see the boulder from down below. See if you can spot it from the photo!
The actual hike itself was epic. I’ve never hiked anything quite like it before. We hiked over meadows, boulder, snow, and even trail made by goats where you could see the little paw prints! May is also such a wonderful time to be here because I get to see that short magical period of spring where winter was still lingering around just a little bit while summer shows that it’s ready to take over.
It is a strenuous hike. Unfortunately not everyone was able to keep up. A few hikers decided to turn back to the trail head and rest. According to the stats from our guide, for those that make it to the top, 1 out of 4 people would choose to go stand on top of the boulder. I was excited, nervous, and thrilled when I finally see the boulder. It didn’t take me long to get ready to stand onto the boulder. It is one of the goals of my trip so I had to to it. Our guide carefully showed us the right way to get on and off the boulder, and warned us about things not to do, before during and after. When it finally came to my turn, I felt that my heart is jumping all the way up to my throat, and my legs are getting that warm rush and feeling just a tiny bit softer. But I did it, stroke a pose for a few seconds, and called it! I am proud of myself!
