Hiking in Lysefjord

We spent a week exploring Lysefjord. The name means “light fjord”, in reference to the coloured granite rock of its cliffs. Lysefjord is 42 km (26 nm) long and offers several impressive hiking opportunities.

Getting to Lysefjord

To get to Lysefjord, we passed under 2 bridges, one to leave Stavanger and another at the entrance of the fjord. Both had well enough clearance.

Preikestolen – Mission impossible?

One of the main attractions in Lysefjord is a square rock that stands out 600 meters above the water called Preikestolen. An epic battle of the Mission impossible – Fallout movie takes place in this spectacular scenery.

It is possible to hike from the water up to the Preikestolen. However, there is no long term anchorage at the start of this hike. Therefore, like all other hikers, we took a bus that brought us to the base camp for the ascension to the famous rock.

This is the view from the water as we passed under the Preikestolen with Fabule. See the square rock in the middle?

The trail is made of stones with some steep climbs and offers great views along the way.

Florli – hydro energy

Another starting point for hiking along the fjord is Florli. In this roadless hamlet, the old hydropower building was converted to a B&B, café and exposition center. With lakes serving as water reservoirs on the top and steep cliffs, the Lysefjord has several hydropower production sites. The new installations are built directly in the mountain and not visible from the fjord.

In Florli, the mots famous hike is called Florli 4444: there are 4444 wooden steps that take you up to the mountain top. These stairs follow the water pipelines and the rails where a trolley used to transport people and materials up and down the mountain. We made it to stair no 798, where we could connect to a path down through the hamlet.

The next day, we walked up to the waterfall, where we had lunch next to the water.

It was such a nice day that we decided to continue toward another point of view (Kallaliklumpen). This took us along steep climbs and descends which took a toll on Yan’s knee.

Lysebotn – the east end

When we reached the east end of the fjord, we moored in Lysebotn. In addition to the 2 hydropower stations, this village is known for Base jumping, hiking up to the Kjerag and a winded road like you see in the Alps. On the other hand, we could just take a relaxing day.

In between stops, we tried to sail in a “loch/fjord style”, using just the genoa. However, the wind was very inconsistent and we had to motor most of the time. We enjoyed the scenery and spotted at least one eagle.

Viga anchorage

Finally, we came back to our starting point, Vika/Viga. We spent our first and last night at this lovely anchorage located at the beginning of the fjord.

The weather changes to colder and rainier days. Time to head back toward Stavanger to take care of provisioning, cleaning and replacing a fire extinguisher that triggered without reason in the engine compartment.