Trolltunga

Trolltunga, or “the troll’s tongue,” looks much like how it sounds.  It is a giant rock sticking straight out of the side of a cliff, high above a majestic fjord.  We had heard that the hike was long and very difficult, ranging at least eight-ten hours round-trip with several thousand feet of elevation gain.  For this reason, many people choose to split it up and camp somewhere in the middle.  We did not have the time to do this, so we set our minds on doing it all in one day. It proved to be well worth it!

We began the hike early in the morning, at the bottom of an old wooden funicular which was not in operation.  The trail zigzagged up the side of the fjord near the wooden rails.  Almost immediately, we hit fog… and lots of it.  When we reached a relatively flat spot near the top of the funicular, the fog was so thick that we could hardly see 50ft down the trail! We kept turning around, expecting to be rewarded by the view after gaining such elevation...but we could see absolutely nothing but fog. We just kept pressing on, and remained hopeful that it would burn off by the time we reached the tongue a few hours from then.

Hoping it got better...

Along the way, there were small houses here and there, hidden in the fog a ways off the trail. For a majority of the time the trail was undefined, and the dampness of the smooth rock made it very hard to climb. At times, there was not exactly a trail, but more a general direction marked by the occasional red “T” painted on some random rock nearby. They were especially hard to find in the thick fog, but we managed to never get too far off track. Every so often, we’d encounter a signpost that told us the number of kilometers we’d traveled, and the number remaining.  At least we kept our conversation riveting, otherwise four hours in a cloud might have become slightly tedious. 

Only 1 km to go! (notice all the fog still...)

Finally, we reached the tongue!  And just as we did, the clouds began to lift!!  Although we only saw a few other hikers on the trail, there were crowds of people at the tongue who had all been waiting for the fog to go away.  As it lifted, the entire fjord slowly came into view, and everyone formed a line to take turns getting their picture taken out on the edge of the overhang.  It was a bit nerve-racking, since the thickness of the rock was really only a couple of feet near the end.  But, this didn’t stop everyone from doing a “jumping” picture. 

We had packed a picnic lunch which we ate sitting on the edge of the cliff above the tongue, with a complete 180 degree view of the fjord and surrounding mountain range topped with glaciers and teeming with waterfalls. It was difficult to take in the depth of the beauty before us, and we all sat in awe as we nibbled our carrots and trail mix. We could have stayed at the lookout point forever, but with such a long hike back and another big hike planned for the next day, we took our pictures, ate our food, and began the trek downward – only this time in full view of the fjord!  And what a different experience it was.  We actually appreciated this fact, because “hike backs” can often seem redundant and pointless, but for us it was totally new, and every step was breathtaking!

Picnicing...and staring.

That T was one of our trail "guiders". 

Arriving at the top of the old funicular, we had to choose between stumbling down the same trail that we had taken up the mountain, or squeezing through a hole in the fence (marked "do not enter")  and walking down the wooden steps.  We of course chose the latter, since the view would be amazing the whole way down, but we really didn’t have a clue as to exactly just how many steps it would be!  In addition, the steps themselves were thin, narrow pieces of old wood separated by several inches at times, and the only thing we had to hold on to for stabilization was a steel cable, beyond which was a good 20ft to 30ft drop off at times!  Our legs were shaking the entire 1.7 km of narrow steps, begging for relief; it seemed to never end!

View from the funicular climb down. Well worth it!

Conquered!

By 6pm, we had reached the bottom, and felt quite accomplished! We couldn't wait to get back to our little cabin, and continue dreaming of the most incredible views of our lives.