What we came to Norway for

Pretty excited about today.

The main reason we came to Norway was to stand on a rock. A pretty famous rock called Trolltunga or Troll tongue. When we were chatting with locals in Oslo about this they kept telling us that it was a really challenging hike and they have a rescue helicopter on standby just for this mountain. How hard can this walk be?

The day started extra early to get the first bus at 6.30am. After another half hour bus ride around the fjord/lake, past amazing waterfalls and up a mountain we arrived at the Skjeggedal carpark, which was already full. We started hiking at 7am.

From our extensive research we found out that you can only hike this route unguided from mid June until mid September. We also thought that this hike was 11 km up to the rock and that the first 4km would be the hardest. Turns out to even get to the start, we had to walk 3 km up a road. The road goes straight up the side of a mountain and boy it was steep.

After our unexpected warm up, we started the walk proper, and headed straight up the side of the mountain. The first 1.5 km went up 450 meters. It then evened out a touch for a while before hitting some rock steps and a section of steep smooth rock that took us up to the ridge. This was hard and fair to say the calves and the lungs were burning by the time we reached the top. The final 7 km to the rock were over dried up river beds, up and down a few smaller inclines, and finally over some glacial potholes before we arrived to the main event...Trolltunga itself.

The views along the top section of the track and from Trolltunga are ABSOLUTELY worth the hike up there. This was one of the most amazing places we have ever been.

The rock itself was formed during the last ice age 10,000 years ago when the valley was formed by a glacier. When the glacier met the cliff, the ice froze in the crevices of the rock and broke off large chunks which were carried away when the glacier melted. This left Trolltunga, a rock suspended 700 meters above Lake Ringedalsvatnet. High school geography is slowly coming back!

Once we made it to the top, we had to get in a line to stand on the rock itself. The popularity of this place has exploded in the last few years. Approximately 800 people hiked it in 2010. In 2016 more than 80,000 people hiked it. It may look like we were the only ones around, but there would of been at least 100 people in the line and twice that hanging around watching. After waiting for an absolute age we were able to get an Aussie to take our photoshoot - Thanks Kirsten!
Was brilliant to meet you and share the hike :-). Walking out onto the rock is weird. It slopes up so you can't see over the end (unless you are Jo and got a massive adrenaline rush after momentarily getting over your fear of heights!), but you know you're a long way up with nothing around you. It was a surreal feeling!

After a quick lunch of soggy sandwiches and an apple, we started the long walk home. It was about 3 km into the walk home we realised how people get into trouble. A storm hit with wind, dust, and rain lashing us on the exposed track until we started to head into the next valley. Once we got over that ridge however, we appeared to have left it behind us and the sun came out again. Nature is weird.

By the time we made it back to the carpark, we were shattered, that last 3km down the switchbacks was tough going. Had a well deserved beer at the bottom. Even though it did cost 10 pounds or about NZD$20 for a pint, it tasted so good after the hard day! Back home to Odda for a jump in the fjord/lake and a quick dinner before passing out and hoping not to be too stiff tomorrow. One hell of a day.