I believe we have established a tradition for our marriage. As we found ourselves on the top of a hill for our wedding, we find ourselves on top of another today. Our wedding anniversary. We also have a new game; Red Dot.
The rules are very simple, when you see a red dot, you say “Red Dot”. Then the other person sees the red dot and responds with “Red Dot”. It sounds very dull, but believe me it’s helpful to both be looking for and thinking about the red dots.
They are intermittently daubed on rocks and trees along the trails in Norway. When the call and response goes silent, you notice, and then start searching around for the next one. We found ourselves off course walking down today and had to back track to find the nearest red dot. I’ve read too many reports and heard too many stories of people wandering off course, thinking they know the trail is just over there and then getting themselves into a sticky situation. I’d much rather admit we lost the track and go back to find it.
We had to do that a couple times today as we got lost on the peak of Neverdalsfjell (obviously the fantasy land of Norwegian Peter Pan). It was an rather indistinct trail across a relatively flat peak that was covered with boulders, like the gods had dropped a box of malteasers. We couldn’t ignore them.
We may have set a high bar when establishing this new tradition. Before reaching the peak, we had spent some time peering 604m straight down off the cliff edge of Preikestolen – or Pulpit Rock. This incredibly huge square block of rock miraculously holds onto the side of the sheer cliff face like some sort of diving board for Thor. A sheep poo strewn mossy rock on the outskirts of Stoke is unlikely to better this impressive escarpment.
After a 5km walk up some brutal stone steps, we scurried along the cliff edge to the Preikestolen as far as we could. We were early, but not even close to being the first to arrive. Luckily it seems the summer hoards have not arrived yet so we had plenty of time to get good photos that will make mums stomach flip. I have to admit, even I was feeling respectful of that formidable edge.
To avoid following the crowds down, we choose the route up over Neverdalsfjell and then down towards the lake near the visitor centre. After 2 days of long hikes today we both felt a little tired. Looking forward to the visitor friendly path sure to circumnavigate the lake – like any good hotel would provide in the UK – we picked our way down the steep and infrequently travelled path, playing Red Dot. However our expectations were dashed. There was no easy, wide, metalled path around the lake. We were not disappointed, the walking was beautiful, but it reminded us of the folly of expectations.
With an ice cream coffee in hand and a few souvenirs we were perked up again. But 3 days of hiking had made us tired. Feeling lazy we picked up pizzas from the store and headed back to the cabin. We had an evening of Downtown Abbey and wondering if the wind would blow the chairs off the balcony.