Each year the company I work for arrange an "expedition" - a trip somewhere, typically involving a hike to someplace nice. Last year we did Besseggen, which I made a thread about. This year, last weekend, we went to Trodla-Tysdal and Preikestolen on the western coast of Norway, so I thought I'd share some photos now as well.

We started out by plane from Oslo to Stavanger early Friday morning.

Then ferry from Stavanger to Tau.

Next up was a quick bus ride to our home for the weekend, before heading towards Vormdalen where we'd go by foot to the most remote still-active farm in Rogaland, Trodla-Tysdal.

We were well over 20 participants this year, almost the entire company.

One of my colleague's 7D.. I was slightly jealous.

Off we went.

Occationally stopping for coffee and a little rest. We all got wooden coffe cups with our names on them. Yay!

Trotting along seemingly endless forest paths.. we were going to the most remote farm, after all.

Our guide (who was over 80, and more fit than most of us!), stopped now and then to talk about points of interest.

An abandoned farm along the way.

Climbing... this is the *only* way to get to the farm by land.

Energy boost!

Whew! The sign on top tells the name of the valley we are entering. 25 points to whoever can tell me what the rest means!

Ascending down towards yet another abandoned farm.

The woman who lived here during the second world war recorded and transmitted weather observations to the Brits. She received Kongens fortjenestemedalje (The King's Medal of Merit) after the war.

Lemmings everywhere this year.

The farmhouse where the woman lived.

25 points to whoever can tell me what this sign says too :-)

My colleague Kevin amidst the frothing river.

Another colleague, Kent, flashing his 7D.

A nice waterfall a few minutes further on.

A fairly big rock..

The Doom's Day Rock, actually.

Jenga!

After another half hour or so, we finally arrived at Trodla-Tysdal.

Where cold drinks waited for us :-)

Sneakers were not ideal for this walk.

Kevin pondering the possibilities of opening a Trodla-Tysdal office.

Kjell Tysdal (who's lived here for 20 years) telling us about life on Rogaland's most remote farm. Most of his income is from tourists, the sheep he keeps are mostly for stopping the place from overgrowing.

We actually brought a chef along (matsafari.no), who cooked a most excellent dinner for us at the farm's guesthouse, and we stayed at the farm until 8 in the evening.

When it was time to go, we were ferried back to civilization.

Very convenient - I think most of us had had a little to much to drink to return the same way we came.

Nice atmosphere at the fly bridge.. good wine, good company, good clothes and an amazing view to the 900m mountains surrounding the lake.

The boat trip took just under one hour, and we ended the day with a quiz at the hotel.

Oh, I'm sorry, did you think that was the end of the post? You know me better than that! Here's day two:

Saturday arrived with a little better weather than the day before. We went by bus to Preikestolhytta, where we met with our guide for the day.

Today's destination was Preikestolen (The Pulput Rock), a rock formation formed by the retraction of the glaciers that once filled Lysefjorden.

We were off to a rough start. Lots of climbing, lots of hang-overs from the evening before

The fresh air quickly cured any headaches though, and the walk, although crowded (130 000 people visit the Pulpit Rock each year), was excellent.

Starting to see signs of the views to come..

A nice lake near which we dropped off our chef (of course we brought him along today as well!), who would cook for us while we were at the Pulpit Rock.

Nearly there.

Getting closer

Better watch your step, more than 600 meters to the bottom.

Eventually we were there.

It's an amazing feeling to look straight down more than half a kilometer into the fjord.

Of course, it's even more amazing to sit on the edge, dangling your feet.

Yours truly, enjoying the view.

This is life.. the perfect mixture of instinctive fear, pure awe and exhaustion.

Of course, with 130 000 visitors each year, you're unlikely to be alone up there.

After spending the better part of an hour at the Pulpit rock, we headed back to our chef. I kid you not, this is one of the best meals I've ever had. Quite a few jealous faces passed us by, enjoying the smell from our campfire.

The day ended back at the hotel, with an amazing dinner (smoked salmon for appetizers, lamb for the main course and vanilla cream and raspberries for desert). And obviously a few rounds in the bar afterwards.

The farm-turned-hotel where we stayed.

Getting ready for the bus back to Tau.

... and the ferry back to Stavanger.

... and the plane back to Oslo.

An excellent weekend. Can't wait for next year's expedition. And yes, I do work at an awesome company ;-) I hope you liked the photos.