Nordic Adventures: Hiking Trip Part 4

On the fourth day we left Odda and the surrounding area to go to the Lysefjord. There, we wanted to stay in a hut for one or two days, and see the Preikestolen as well as Stavanger. After a 3 to 4 hour drive to Forsand, we arrived at our hut and were simply stunned by the size and the place in general. As pictures say more than thousand words:

First hut - Forsand

The living room... not only looked, but also smelled like a antiquarian shop ;)

One of the single rooms, in fact the room I slept in

The kitchen (or at least part of it)

First floor featuring a treasure chest!!!

The oven in the living room... we didn't use it, though

After setting in... cooking time! Masters at work:

Cutting vegetables...

Cutting meat...

And preparing the pans...

...resulting in this wonderful and very tasty dinner meal!!!

Naturally, happy faces all around!!!

And after the dinner, some relaxing card games, featuring beer and snacks...

This is the view from right outside the "hut"... splendid. The small city/village on the other side is Forsand.

And this is the view from the garden area, featuring a big transition bridge in the background.

Finally, the house from outside.

Ascent to Preikestolen

The next day we started early in the morning to visit one of the most iconic places in Norway, the Preikestolen above Lysefjord. It is a large cliff towering 604 meters above sea level, almost flat on the surface and with the size of 25 x 25 m. Because of its look, it is also called "Pulpit Rock" in English. Although it looks so perfectly shaped as to be made by man, it is most probable that it was created during a frost explosion in the Ice Age. The hike takes roughly 2 to 3 hours and covers a distance of almost 4 km.

Start of the hike, featuring a very rocky way

After climbing the first little hill, you reach this plateau. In general, the route is marked by steep passages that lead to flat plateaus

The path is often looking like this... notice the red T on the right. It is used to mark hiking routes all over Norway by the Tourist and Traveling Association

Textbook Norwegian landscape!

A first look over the shoulder... right of the lake is the parking lot and "base camp" for Preikestolen. Far in the background, exactly in the middle of the picture, lies Stavanger, which can be even seen from here.