Difficult but trying to put the experience in words about the trail..
Preikestolen - " The Rock Pulpit "
We started from Bergen by bus to Stavanger (5hrs drive) on Friday 18th Oct 2013 at 5,30pm. The highway E39 twice crosses the sea where there is no road and the vehicles go on a ferry. The roads as usual are scenic and beautiful. One more astonishing thing I found was the technological enhancement of Norwegians in making Tunnels. We encountered about 8 to 10 tunnels enroute to Stavanger. The length of the tunnels were ranging from 6 Km to 11 kms (and we used to think that the Bergen 2.8 Km tunnel linking to City Centre as big !). One of the 10 km tunnel even had a " T " bend.
After 5 hrs reached at Stavanger and stayed at a colleague's house. Next day morning we took a ferry from Stavanger to a place called Tau ( a beautiful picturesque small town). Generally from Tau there are busses up to the base camp of Preikestolen. However as the season ended in September the bus service was stopped, so had to take a cab up to the base camp at an elevation of 270 mtrs( a picture of mine besides the name plate ). We started the Climb at 11:00 hrs with the first 0,5 km stretch giving us the taste of tough trail lying ahead and also the level of fitness our body has ( ekdam aukat mein aa gaye). There are small stretches of flat terrain which is a big solace and a breather. A very long stretch of Stone covered steep hike follows after it. We could see the water streams getting iced (check FB pics). There is a wooden suspended bridge ( scary view from here as well) before the final stretch of climb to the mountain. The trick is not to look how far it is and not to look at the watch.. The entire stretch was marked with arrows, unmanned and serene. What I found that there were no rescue or any SOS booths. The arrow marks on the rocks are your guide and hello from the people coming down is your oxygen. Some sad news in the back of the mind about last week one Spaniard slipping of the Rock and dying triggers some jitters. The wind plays a lot of role as to where you can stand. The Rock is developing a fisher now and I hope the site will not be closed in future.
On reaching the top the view was worth every pain taken. The Rock has a flat top of 25 x 25 mtrs. Daring people could sit at the edge with legs hanging down (not my cup of tea). We looked below from the edge by lying down. Fortunately the wind speed was only 1m/Sec or less otherwise we have to hold each other. The Fjord below is an amazing stretch where cruise ship take you to give the glimpse of Preikestolen from the Fjord. We had carried good old garam chai in the thermos flask and some Omlet and Bread. Spent about an hour at the breath taking site before finally bidding adieu and then started climbing down. Meanwhile slight drizzle had started and the trail became a bit wet. Going down the rocky terrain gave us jitters and satisfaction about what we had climbed. After 2 hours we reached at the base camp and everyone had a tremendous satisfaction of achieving the feat. We were also fortunate with the weather and lucky that even with the season ending we could reach the top. The knees, legs, calf muscles all were giving signals to the brain of their existence with the soul feeling selfishly satisfied on a major life time achievement.
Observed that some couples carried their small kids on the back which was commendable. Many kids from 4 yrs onwards also climbed the Rock which made me think of our cultural lacuna as regards to physical fitness starting from our child hood. We are so wrongly protected.
My belief strengthens here, that for India - Sangh, Sameeti, Suryanamaskar and physical games is the need of the hour to imbibe discipline and fitness in the new generation.
With utmost satisfaction I write this gist of Preikestolen.
Site : Preikestolen (A Rock formed by erosion of glaciers some 10000 yrs ago with a flat top of 25 x 25 mtrs) - " The Rock Pulpit "
Height : 604 mtrs above fjord Lysefjorden Stretch : 3.8 kms Duration : 2 hrs (up) + 1 hr (top) + 2 hrs down = 5 hrs Stavanger to Tau : By Ferry 30 minutes Tau to Preikestolen base camp : 30 minutes by road.
Essentials : Hiking Shoes, Water, Food and Clothing suitable for weather.
Trek Quotient : High
Trek Trail : Easy but enduring. Marked, unmanned and serene.
Check : Weather Conditions and Wind Speed.
Best Period : May to September
One more "Been there....Done that !! " added to the existence.
