The fjords are really all around...inlets that are long and narrow, broad and flat...shaping the coastline and people's lives. As many as there are mountains in Colorado, there are fjords forming the water's outline on the land of Norway.
In Bergen we took a cruise on a cloudy day...the fjord was lined with houses and cabins near to the city, but these gave way to long stretches of woods and rock with occasional farms.
The spectacular fjords, though, are the ones that stand high above narrow tongues of the sea. Like Preikestolen in the first photo which is a ferry, bus, and hike away from Stavanger. The hike is longer than the guide books imply...up about 340 meters but quite steep in places...and begins at the two lodges that look over a wide lake.
Taking the cliff route leads you up and around to the main rock itself which drops straight down 600 meters (just shy of 2000 feet)into Lysefjorden. Once there, some folks dangle their legs over the edge. Others (like me) lie on their stomachs and just peek over the edge. On a sunny morning like this one, folks sunbath and enjoy the warm granite beneath them.
And me, I was happy to have made such a classic hike and to find some folks on the trail with whom to speak Norwegian and, afterwards, to share a beer.
