July 18- Trolltunga, Norway

Well, we survived Trolltunga! And we had a fantastic time doing it!!

Ryan, Courtney and I met up with a small group of SASers to head to the bus station in Odda together. The weather outside was already beautiful, and it looked like it was going to be a nice day. I packed a lot of layers and my raincoat for just in case. I was also a little worried about our water situation because I knew it was going to be a 10-12 hour hike. Most of us only had our one water bottle, but we figured we’d just have to ration it out. We met a bigger group of SASers at the bus, and together we all headed to Trolltunga.

The bus ride was surprisingly long. We went waaaay up in the mountains, a lot farther than I thought we were going to. We also gained a lot of elevation. I mean, the mountains are pretty big here, but if the bus was already taking us up so high then how far were we going to have to hike? After a lot of narrow, windy roads, we finally made it to the trailhead. There was quite a few number of people there. I guess it’s a popular hike, but unfortunately that meant that there was going to be a lot of people on the trail (which there was). I guess I’m just used to hiking in pretty isolate places where you don’t usually run into anyone else. I didn’t really like that there were so many others on the hike, but I didn’t let that detract from the day.

At the Trailhead

Courtney and Ryan

The beginning part was pretty difficult. Now I’m a pretty experienced hiker (compared to the friends I was with), but I’m also very out of shape. I haven’t done any strenuous exercise in the past two months (oops). But it wasn’t that bad, and it only lasted about 45 minutes. We had to climb up some very steep terrain, the worst part is that it was very rocky. Once we got to the top of the steep part, the rest of the hike got much easier although it did take about four hours. On the way there, we took it pretty slow. We had a few breaks and took a lot of pictures.

Right from the start, Ryan, Courtney and I separated from the group of girls we had been traveling with. We wanted to go at a faster pace, so we joined another group of SASers: Mike (aka Carmello), Fasil (Ryan’s roommate), Brian, Paul and Amanda. I didn’t know any of them except Fasil before the hike, but they were all pretty cool and I enjoyed spending the day with them.

The hike was beautiful! Early on in the hike, one of the guys said, “This really reminds me of Lord of the Rings.” I was seriously thinking the same thing as soon as he said it. The Trolltunga hike felt exactly like Middle Earth! It was so cool!! I was trying not to geek out the entire time. Every time we would get into a new area, it would remind me of a different scene from Lord of the Rings or the Hobbit. I’ll even admit that I took out my iPhone at one point and played the Lord of the Rings Soundtrack (yeah I have it downloaded on my phone).

At one point, we found a patch of snow. Everyone was really excited, and I was like, “Yay. Snow. That white stuff that I have to deal with 6 months out of the year.” We took a short break so they could have a snowball fight. At another spot along the way, we had to cross a creek at the foot of a waterfall. At that point, we were all pretty desperate for water. We were only a couple hours into the hike, and most of us had drank nearly all of what was in our water bottles. We decided to take a risk and drink out of the creek. We also knew that we could refill out bottles on the way back too. Thank God I did it, because I would definitely have been dehydrated today without it.

Our friend Mike (aka-Carmello) staring off dramatically into the distance

Courtney liked the snow!

Middle Earth

Me with Courtney and Fasil

So beautiful! It was unreal

Almost to the Troll's Tongue...

So after several hours of hiking through Middle Earth, we finally reached the Troll’s Tongue. However, there was a TON of people already waiting there, and there was a line to actually go out onto the rock to take your picture. We had to wait a whole hour until it was our turn, but I’ll be damned if we didn’t hike all that way to end up not getting out picture taken. We broke into two groups, and Courtney took pictures of Mike’s group while Mike took pictures of our group. While we were waiting in line, we saw some people do some pretty insane antics. There were people doing funny poses, dangling their feet over the edge, taking group photos, doing yoga poses, doing headstands, jumping into the air, girls taking topless photos, and other crazy stuff. And yes, there were even several guys who went out on the rock naked. I don’t know why you would want to commemorate your hike to Trolltunga in that way, but to each their own.

The Troll’s Tongue sticks out over a 2,300 foot drop. That is very, VERY high. I honestly couldn’t even look over the edge of the cliff while we were in line because I thought it would psych me out before I got my picture. When my turn finally came, I didn’t even have time to think about it. I just ran to the tip of the rock, quickly (but very carefully) scooted myself to the edge, and posed. I didn’t even look down. Then I got a few single shots and a couple with Courtney as well. Crazy!

Finally made it!

2,300 foot drop

"Come to me Courtney, my love."
This picture was not planned. It just turned out epic.

Soulmate roommates

Cheesy heart pic

"We are victorious."

Jumping for joy!

Courtney

Group shot with Fasil

This took some courage.
Fasil "Spermanned" off of Trolltunga

Courtney peeking over the edge

Ryan
The best shot of our overall view

By the time we were done, it was almost 4:30. We knew the last bus left the trail head at around 8:00, so we did the second half of the trip much faster than we did the first. Going back was easier because it was mostly downhill and we knew what to expect. We filled our water bottles up again at the same stream as we did before. Eventually, the guys group pulled ahead away from us, but we were still making good time so we didn’t push it. It was tricky to go down in some spots. A few of the areas were so steep that it was hard to get up it let alone try to go down it. We made it safe and sound at the end though.

Oh yeah, we also ran into many SASers on the trail today. When we got to the bus stop, there was a BIG group of us waiting for the last bus. I was a little worried there wasn’t going to be room for everyone, but thankfully there was two buses instead of one. Tired, dirty and sweaty, we hopped on the bus back to Odda.

After the bus dropped us off, Ryan, Courtney and I went to the grocery store to get some food. None of us felt like eating at a restaurant. I just wanted a loaf of grainy bread, some cheese and some fruit. And that’s exactly what I got. Ryan bought a loaf of bread, Courtney bought a tub of icecream, and I bought some cream cheese, crackers and a nectarine. We all shared our food and had a delicious picnic by the waterside. I don’t think I’ve ever tasted anything so good. It was the perfect, healthy dinner to have after a long day hiking.

We then walked back to our hotel, took a shower, and now we’re all ready for bed.