Pulpit Rock

The highlight of our trip to Norway was spending time in Stavanger with Luke's friend, Oystein.   Thanks to gmail and Facebook, the boys have been able to stay in touch in a way that wasn't possible when we were young.  "In the old days, we didn't have internet or email and we had to actually write letters to friends we met overseas."   "Did you?"  "Well, no..."  [But I wonder if  Donna, Nancy and I would still be friends with the kids we met in Penang who joined us for Kick-the-Can every evening if we'd been able to friend them on Facebook?  Or the three brother in Cyprus who took the three of us out to a disco?  Hmm.  Maybe just as well we didn't have the internet.]

Oystein took us on a hike up to the Preikestolen, known as the Pulpit Rock in English.  Our guide book warned that it was a rigorous two-hour hike with a heart stopping view, but Oystein assured us that it was easy. 

 "We run up it sometimes," he said, "and, don't worry, even old people can climb it."  Girded by these words, we donned our best climbing shoes and trekked up the mountain.   

It was treacherous in parts as we scrambled up over rocks, steep paths and at one point had to go single file along the edge of a cliff.   After about an hour and a half, we neared the large mountainous rock  protruding out over the Lysefjord.  Luke and Oystein had raced ahead of us all the way up, but suddenly Luke hung back, staring wide-eyed at the precipice.   "I don't want to go any further," he said as we started to venture onto the face of the cliff.  But he took one tentative step and then another until the four of us were right in the middle of the Pulpit Rock.  After a picnic of sandwiches and homemade muffins, thanks to Oystein, we moved closer to the edge and peered over.   My stomach knotted up.

 "Is this as tall as the Empire State Building or the Sears Tower?"  Luke asked.  He and Jeff have been to the top of both of those.  "Even taller."  Pulpit Rock soars 1982 feet into the sky.   Sears Tower boasts 1451 feet, and the Empire State a mere 1250 (not that I'd braved either).   We took our photos and made our way back down, feeling proud of our accomplishment on behalf of old people everywhere.