Preikestolen is a popular area for hikers, located just southeast of Jørpeland. You can drive near Preikestolen, then park and hike the final 3 kilometers to the rock, the final destination for most visitors. On the way up, the landscape is a mixture of woods and rocks - lots of rocks. Below right is a view of the landscape of the area. Where you are not walking across the great rock mass like above, you are on rocky paths. The path at left is just a portion of the rocky path to the top (this portion thankfully in the shade and a slight incline, which wasn’t the case for a good portion of the way). Obviously a lot of manual effort was put into making the path, but considering the number of people who trod this way every day, it was the only way to protect the environment. Above right is one of the several mirror-like lakes we passed on the way up. Many visitors took the opportunity for a cooling swim when they got to this point (a little over half way).

At the top, you get a commanding view of the Lyse fjord below (photo above left). The white object near the bottom of the photo is a very large tourist ship, coming to visit the easy way. But what people really hike all this way for is to sit on the point( above right) where you see Verna sitting. The close-up above left was to verify that it really was Verna up there!

Below right, Jim standing in front of the Lyse fjord as it fades into the distance. Below left, a profile of the Preikestolen cliff looking southward.

It was a tiring hike due to the vertical gain and uneven path, but well worth the effort. We stayed at the Preikestolhytta near the base of the path so we didn’t have to drive off all hot and sweaty. At right is the morning view over the lake near the hut.

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