MSC Magnifica-Stavanger-Preikestolen

Thursday, August 2, 2018 Stavanger

Anyone who has hiked with me before knows that I don't conquer mountains, but rather crawl up like a snail. Nevertheless, it was clear to me right away that if we dock in Stavanger, I definitely want to hike to Preikestolen. Preikestolen, lovingly called the Pulpit Rock, is the famous pulpit in the Lysefjord. It is a platform approximately 25 meters by 25 meters in size, located 600 meters above the Lysefjord. This makes it the ultimate goal for all hikers in and around Stavanger. Difficult to climb, but with a fantastic view as a reward once you have conquered it. In the run-up to the trip, I drove all my experienced hiking friends crazy with my question of whether they think I can make the 4 km to the 600 meter high mountain. The opinion of everyone was that I should definitely give it a try. Those who have been to the mountain before said that you simply have to go up if you're nearby. So, our tour baggage also contained a pair of hiking shoes and hiking pants. The MSC Magnifica reached the port of Stavanger punctually at 09:00. Since the offered excursion from the ship was way too expensive for us at 129.00 euros, and I also didn't want to be driven up the mountain in a herd, we decided to do the tour on our own. After disembarking on Deck 5, we were the first ones to leave the ship in order to catch the ferry to Tau. The ferry to Tau departs from Stavanger's "Fiskepirtermind" every 45 minutes. To reach it, we walked through the picturesque streets of Stavanger. Although picturesque, Stavanger is Norway's fourth largest city with a population of 130,000. It is also Norway's oil metropolis. During the Viking Age, Stavanger was a center of power. The Old Town "Gamle Stavanger", through which we walked to the ferry terminal, consists of 173 restored, listed wooden houses from the late 18th and early 19th centuries. This makes it the best-preserved collection of wooden houses in Northern Europe. Unfortunately, we had only a short time to look around, as we definitely wanted to catch the 9:45 ferry.

At the ferry, there were two providers of shuttle buses to the parking lot at Preikestolen. One was Pulpit Rock Tours, and the other was Tide. At Tide, you can buy tickets for the bus and ferry together, and even in advance on the internet. At Pulpit Rock Tours, you only buy the bus ticket for NOK 240 (approximately 25.00 euros) and pay for the ferry ride directly on it. This costs NOK 60 (approximately 6.30 euros) per way. We decided to go with Pulpit Rock Tours, hoping that the buses would be less crowded due to the lack of online sales. After all, we were only in port from 10:00 to 19:00, and we couldn't afford to get stuck on the way back due to overcrowding. The buses and the ferry are coordinated. The ferry departed on time at 09:45. It took 45 minutes to get to Tau. The green bus from Pulpit Rock Tours was already waiting for us. After a good 25 minutes of driving, we reached the public parking lot at Preikestolen. A sign promises that, from the parking lot, a person can make the climb in two hours with appropriate weather conditions and good fitness. However, it is warned that the scree field is not easy. In addition, one should not suffer from vertigo, as the path becomes narrow in places and steeply slopes downward on the side. So, bravely, we set out on the ascent. The first 500 meters were already quite demanding. It was quite steep. We could recover from the effort on a flat section of the path with wooden planks in a bog before it went uphill on stone steps. The ascent was quite strenuous. Countless crowds of people were hiking up the mountain with us, so sometimes it was only possible to make slow progress. It had started drizzling again, which I welcomed as a refreshing mist. After about 2.5 km, there was a platform from which we already had a great view. We continued past 2 mountain lakes to another platform and from there another approximately 1 km over a rock upward until we finally reached the pulpit. Especially the last kilometer felt endless and was quite demanding. But what a feeling to finally stand at the edge and look down into the fjord after 2 hours and 15 minutes of hiking. Indescribable and worth all the effort. The water sparkled blue, and the excursion boat below us in the fjord looked infinitely small. About 300,000 visitors hike to Preikestolen each year, so it was correspondingly crowded. It was necessary to wait in line for photos at the edge of the plateau. We decided to skip that. However, I ventured close enough to the edge to dangle my legs over it and felt like a champion while also feeling tiny surrounded by this natural wonder. It's hard to believe that experts believe that the rock plateau of Preikestolen could eventually break off and fall into the fjord. The reason for this concern is a crack that is about half a meter in size and was formed in 1930. In May 2018, it was found that it had increased by a few millimeters for the first time in 22 years. If the rock ledge were to really fall into the fjord, it would cause a tsunami that would destroy all life in the vicinity. There is also a Norwegian legend that states that this event will happen on the day when seven sisters from the Lysefjord region marry seven brothers. Lying flat on your stomach and looking down, it is worth thinking about how such a rocky promontory was formed. According to geologists, this happened thousands of years ago due to frost wedging. This means that frozen water plucked stones in large blocks and thus formed the rock I was currently sitting on. Time passed too quickly, and we had to start our descent in order to catch the ferry to Stavanger and our ship on time. The descent was truly challenging. The 1 hour and 45 minutes downhill took a toll on our knees and feet. The rock boulders were unpleasantly noticeable even through the hiking shoes. I was infinitely relieved when we just managed to catch the 15:45 bus. Back on the ferry to Stavanger, which we reached at 17:15. There wasn't enough time and energy left to visit Stavanger itself. We were glad to be back on the ship and able to relax our tired bones in the sauna. Here, we also watched the ship leaving port from the jacuzzi.