Chapter 09: Sleeping Dockside and Hiking Pulpit Rock

Canoes, Hammocks, and the Trail to Pulpit Rock — Here’s How We Enjoyed Our Stay at Preikestolen Basecamp.

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After our epic Constitution Day celebration in Oslo, it was time to head to the coast to explore the incredible landscape Norway has to offer. We jumped on a quick 50-minute flight to Stavanger, which is located on the southwestern coast.

Image courtesy of Google Maps

As we descended through the clouds into Stavanger, the landscape revealed itself and it was nothing short of breathtaking. The aerial view boasted multiple fjords and waterways weaving in and out of steep partially snowcapped mountains. Having lived in various parts of the United States, I had never seen anything like it. I couldn’t peel my gaze from the scenery for our entire approach into the airport as my anticipation grew as I envisioned what it would be like to drive and hike our way through the incredible terrain. We were certainly about to find out.

We landed in Stavanger, grabbed our bags, loaded up our rental car, and took off through the countryside for our Preikestolen Basecamp, located at the foot of the Pulpit Rock trail. The scenery was even more spectacular than I had imagined from the air, and the photos certainly don’t do it justice. The short, 1-hour drive wound us through vibrant green farmland featuring signature Norwegian red barns, alongside peaceful fjords, all framed by towering mountains. I was having a hard time keeping my eyes on the road as we wound our way through this incredible landscape.

To our surprise, we arrived at a ferry port. After double-checking Google Maps to ensure that we were in the right spot, our excitement grew as we realized we’d be shuttled across the fjord by boat. We drove on the ferry and immediately jumped out of the car to experience the ride from the front of the ship. The layers of mountains, waterfront barns, passing boats, and a partly cloudy sky all parallaxed as we glided across the water – making it feel like we were floating through a painting. 

The ferry docked on the other side of the fjord, and we continued our journey up a beautiful mountainside to Preikestolen Basecamp, situated at the base of the Pulpit Rock trail overlooking Revsvatnet Lake. 

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Preikestolen Basecamp

During our minimal planning process, Hunter found the basecamp which offers various accommodations including a hotel-esque mountain lodge, private cottages, and a hiker’s camp. The three of us were on a call deciding where to stay when Kelly discovered the “Water Camp” option, which offered waterside hammocks to sleep in. Since we were seeking adventure on this trip, we decided to book it without hesitation.

We arrived at Preikestolen Basecamp and found the front desk to check in for our two night stay. While talking with the host, he informs us that the water camp is not on the immediate basecamp grounds. We’d need to take a 10-minute canoe or paddle boat ride across the lake to a small dock. This detail wasn’t clearly advertised on the site when we booked, so it certainly was a surprise to us. But hey, we were here for an adventure, so in our minds this made things even better. Kelly, who was the most excited about the news, exclaimed “That sounds f*cking awesome!” The host, surprised by our reaction, smiled and told us that’s not the response he typically gets when he shares that information.

Even more stoked about our decision to book the water camp, we packed what we needed for the next day into smaller bags and decided to eat dinner on the grassy patio of the lodge restaurant and take in the view.

The basecamp patio immediately overlooks the lake and the view was nothing short of spectacular. You’re completely surrounded by mountains full of tall green trees and sharp rocky slopes, somewhat reminiscent of Lake Tahoe or Mammoth Lakes in California, but much less developed. 

As we were taking in our serene surroundings, we finally realized we needed to order inside. At the counter, we were greeted by an older woman who we would later nickname “Ingrid.” The best way to describe her is a cross between a female version of the “Soup Nazi” from Seinfeld, and the “Sloppy Joe Lady” from Billy Madison. We ordered our food and a round of drinks from Ingrid, and enjoyed our meal outside while enjoying the view. 

I had the Mountain Stew which is a traditional Norwegian dish consisting of braised beef and root vegetables served on mashed potatoes. It was as delicious as it sounds. Unfortunately, I eat too fast, so I don’t have any pictures of it.

After we finished eating, we ordered a few more rounds of drinks to enjoy on the patio. In this part of Norway the sun sets around 11pm and the restaurant stops serving at 10pm. As closing time approached and the sun was sinking towards the mountains, we decided it’d be great to get some drinks to take on our canoe excursion to our campsite and enjoy them by the fire. So I walked back into the restaurant and approached Ingrid with a big smile on my face and said “Hi, can I just have nine pilsners, please?” A look of shock came over Ingrid’s face as my request had nearly infuriated her. Maybe I came in a little too hot. 

It turns out she’s a big stickler for the rules, and proceeded to explain, in a thick Norwegian accent, how strict the drinking laws are, and that all alcoholic beverages must be opened at the counter and cannot be taken off the restaurant premises. After feeling like I was back in elementary school being lectured by the principal for a few minutes, I returned to the table to inform Hunter and Kelly of the bad news.

Not to be deterred, we devised another plan and switched up our approach. This time Kelly went inside and asked Ingrid if we could get a bottle of wine for the table. Knowing the caveats, she assured Ingrid that we’d open the bottle at the counter and drink it at our table. Since we were splitting it three ways, it was also the most economical option. Ingrid skeptically agreed and supplied Kelly with the bottle of wine and three glasses. 

Kelly returned to the table with a grin, showing off the wine bottle like a trophy. We poured small amounts into each glass to make it seem like we were drinking the bottle at the restaurant. Meanwhile, Hunter emptied his water bottle and refilled it with the remaining wine. I guess you could call him Jesus in this instance. 

Eager to get to our campsite and get a fire going, the three of us finished our small amounts of wine in about ten minutes. Then, we quickly gathered up our hammocks, sleeping pads, bags, and the rest of our stuff and took off down the path as inconspicuously as we could.

It’s a rather long walk down to the lakeshore for the amount of gear we had, but we finally made it to the dock where a paddle boat and canoe were waiting for us. We loaded our stuff into the paddle boat, including our precious water bottle of wine, and cast off for our campsite. Kelly and I took the paddle boat, and Hunter took the canoe. We put on some music for the ten-minute boat ride and enjoyed the trip across the lake smiling and laughing the entire way.

The campsite is literally on a small wooden dock on the side of the lake. There’s a picnic table by the fire pit, and a shed on the left side of the dock that houses cooking supplies, fire wood, and a few other essentials. The hammocks hang under a wooden shelter. Fortunately, it never rained while we were there, but if it had, I doubt the small overhang would have helped too much. There was an outhouse up the hill from the dock, and that was pretty much it. Exactly what we were looking for.

After tying up the boats, we quickly unloaded our stuff and set up our hammocks. The fire pit was right at the edge of the dock by the water, so we grabbed firewood from the shed and got a fire lit just as the sun set behind the mountains. We sat down at the picnic table and pulled out our water bottle of wine, only to realize we were missing one thing: glasses. So, we rummaged through the cookware items in the shed and found what looked like oversized measuring cups. Works for us. So we filled them up with wine and raised a toast back towards the camp restaurant. Joke’s on you, Ingrid.

As darkness fell, we sat by the fire, sipping wine and enjoying our peaceful campsite. We talked for a while about our journey so far and our excitement for hiking Pulpit Rock, but we had to be up early, so we called it a night shortly after.

I decided to lay my mat down on the dock and sleep next to the fire. As I lay there staring up at the stars, I reflected on our evening. Smuggling wine out of the base camp restaurant, paddling across the lake, setting up our hammocks, and starting a campfire on the lakeside dock. It really felt like we were living out our own modern-day Huckleberry Finn adventure.

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Hiking Pulpit Rock 

I awoke to the smell of the smoldering fire beside me and a beautiful sunrise. We slept surprisingly well considering our accommodations. The temperature dropped to about 40 degrees overnight, but my down sleeping bag served its purpose. We collectively decided to sleep in our hiking clothes to make things easy in the morning. So, we gathered our gear for the hike, loaded up the boat, and paddled back across the lake to get breakfast and coffee at the restaurant. To our relief, Ingrid was not working the morning shift.

Pulpit Rock is the most popular hike in Norway, so we knew the trail would be packed. Eager to beat the crowds, we quickly ate, packed our bags with snacks, filled our water bottles – with actual water this time – and took off for the trailhead. Limp Bizkit's Mission: Impossible track feels appropriate here.

According to AllTrails, the hike is 5 miles total (out and back) with 1,305 feet of elevation gain. The nice part about staying at Preikestolen Basecamp is that the trailhead is right at the camp. As soon as you get on the trail, it’s straight uphill. Fortunately, it’s a well-groomed path with stone staircases that make the ascent more manageable. As we continued climbing up the mountain we caught a few glimpses of our campsite through the trees.

During the initial uphill, we must have gained at least 600 feet of elevation in the first half-mile of the hike. It was steep. I was already sweating by the time the trail finally leveled out and opened up to a landing. This vantage point gave us our first real look at how high we had climbed. It was a beautiful 60-degree day, and perfectly clear, so the view was stunning. We could see Revsvatnet Lake far below in the foreground and beyond that, the city of Stavanger, where we flew into. In the distance, we could even see the North Sea.

We stopped here for a quick water break and to soak in the view before getting back on the trail. Fortunately, the path flattened out for a little less than a quarter mile. We crossed several wooden walkways over marshy areas, then began climbing more stone staircases that took us further uphill.

We continued our trek to the other side of the mountain. As we emerged from the tree-lined area we were once again presented with an amazing view. This time, looking east. We could see layers of mountains in the distance, with fjords winding through them. It really was the perfect day for this hike: the skies were clear, the visibility was incredible, and the water below was a beautiful vibrant emerald-blue. We stopped for another water break here, and enjoyed the mesmerizing scenery.

Getting back on the trail, we continued our ascent. Lysefjord, the fjord that Pulpit Rock overlooks, was becoming more visible, so we knew we were getting close. At this point, the trail starts to narrow, and there are several points where you may not want to look down. Fortunately, the path is wide enough that the height doesn’t feel too terrifying. It’s a crowded hike, but for the most part, there’s enough room to let on-comers pass, or go around slower hikers.

We wound our way along the face of the cliff, and as we turned a corner, Pulpit Rock came into view. The cliff is a towering 1,982 feet above the water. Walking along the path towards the rock, the view is remarkable, as you can truly appreciate the magnitude of the ledge and how high it stands above the fjord. 

As we approached the rock landing, there were swarms of people who had already completed the hike, and a line had formed to take photos in front of the iconic view. The plateau is actually quite spacious. Certainly large enough for many groups to hang out, eat lunch, and take in the view. Or, if you’re a Mission: Impossible fan, apparently even large enough to crash-land a helicopter, as they did in Mission: Impossible - Fallout.

After waiting in line, the three of us nervously inched our way toward the edge of the cliff and posed for our picture, with the mountains and fjord in the background. We had a healthy respect for the height, but standing at the point was a surreal experience, accompanied by a total sense of accomplishment. It’s places like these that truly make you appreciate the vastness of the world, and how small we are as human beings, in comparison.

We hung out on the plateau for a while, taking in the scenery, then climbed around a few other nearby rock formations, before beginning our descent the same way we came up. Walking down the stone staircases was a welcomed sensation at this point. As we made our way down the mountain we had fun telling out-of-breath hikers they were close to Pulpit Rock, even though they weren’t. They looked like they needed motivation.

As the basecamp came into view at the foot of the trailhead, we decided to grab lunch at the cafe, which was packed with hikers who had finished the trek. We managed to snag a table outside, but since it was so busy, they were out of nearly everything, except hot dogs. Whatever, we earned it. So, we sat overlooking the lake, and refueled – if you want to call it that.

One nice amenity that Preikestolen Basecamp provides is a selection of saunas on the premises. Two of which can be reserved for private use, and are actually floating on the lake. After lunch, we decided to book one of the floating saunas for later that afternoon. 

While waiting for our sauna time slot, we drove to a gas station about 15 minutes away to load up on snacks and beer for our campsite later. We weren’t going to make the same mistake as the night before and let Ingrid ruin our post-hike celebration. We grabbed some Ringnes pilsner tall boys along with cheese and crackers, and a few other snacks to ensure we’d have a proper evening around the campfire.

When we returned to basecamp, the sauna was ready for us. We changed into our bathing suits and walked down to the edge of the lake. The heaters are powered by a wood-burning stove, which the staff had started for us while we were gone. As we approached the sauna, we could smell the fire and see the smoke rising from the chimney. After dropping our stuff on the wooden deck of the floating building, we walked into a toasty 175-degree cedar room to get our sweat on.

The coolest part of the sauna was the windows. Since it’s floating at the dock on the lake, we had a great view of the water and surrounding mountains. We also had extra wood and a bucket of water to pour over the stones and increase the heat as we pleased. At one point, we had the temperature up to 210 degrees Fahrenheit. Once we were hot enough, we jumped off the deck into the 48-degree lake to cool off. Not a bad way to relax and recover after a strenuous hike.

We continued that cycle for the better part of two hours. Typically sweating it out in the sauna for 15 minutes, jumping in the lake for about 5, then taking a short break on the deck before starting all over again. Once we’d had enough, we jumped in the lake one last time. We all agreed the final plunge would suffice as our shower for the evening. Again, some real Huck Finn sh*t.

After drying off, we made our way back up the hill to the restaurant to eat dinner on the patio once more before taking our boat trip across the lake to the campsite. If you thought we’d let Ingrid off the hook just because we had already bought beer and snacks, you were wrong. This time, we ordered two bottles of wine. We poured a glass each to enjoy at the table, then filled our water bottles with the rest. 

We cracked beers as we paddled our way to the campsite. As soon as we arrived at the dock, we lit a fire and kicked back to enjoy the sunset. Fully stocked with beer, wine, and cheese and crackers, we finally had a proper camping night, and celebrated successfully hiking Pulpit Rock.

It was the perfect end to our stay at Preikestolen Basecamp, and looking back, it was easily one of my favorite parts of the entire trip.

See ya when I see ya

-Doug