Since coming to London I've been itching to explore Europe's hikes. But unlike many of the trails in the US it's been a bit more difficult in finding details about them online, so I'll try and do my part in bringing some of the information together. Here's a first stab with Norway's Preikestolen (Pulpit Rock).

About Preikestolen
Formed 10,000 years ago by the physical fortitude of a glacier minding it's own business, Pulpit Rock is a 25x25m flat shelf located in Rogaland County. It stands just about 604m above the Lysefjorden.

About the hike
It's only roughly 3.8km from the trailhead to Pulpit Rock with a net vertical ascent of ~334m. This doesn't sound like much, but the  trail ripples up and down quite a bit so it's slightly misleading to just look at the 334 number. Overall, it's a well marked trail (follow the red "T") and whether it's a tough hike depends on the weather conditions.

There was still snow and ice in the latter part of the trail when I went. I'm not a big fan of hiking in snow and ice - mostly because I'm always thinking I'm going to slip and slide. And of course that's what happened. 

When I was returning from Pulpit Rock I took the "Hill" path, which was mostly still covered in snow and ice, a fact I discovered as I slowly meandered my way out. I lost count the number of times I heard the unforgettable sound of ice slowly cracking beneath my feet, followed by a few brief expletives. The Hill trail rejoined the main path at kilometer 3 (or technically that's where it starts off). That was where I saw this sign:

In total it was about 2 hours up and 2 hours down.  See photos of my hike here.

When I went

Early April 2016. I kicked off from the trailhead at 8:30, which meant fewer people at the top once I got there. There was a constant stream of hikers on their way as I was returning so I can only imagine how crowded it was later in the day.

Weather that day
Temperature: Min  -2.8°C  Average  2.8°C  Max 9.2°C. Clear blue skies, little wind. No precipitation.

How I got there
A short 80 minute flight from London to Stavanger.  From the airport I took the flybussen to get into the city (180 NOK RT). The bust stop is just to the right of the exit.  In Stavanger, I hopped on the 30 minute ferry to Tau (52 NOK one way) followed by a ~25 minute bus ride to the trail head (175 NOK RT). Both bus and ferry accept cash and credit card (sorry, no Amex).

Where I stayed
Airbnb

Other useful links
Visit Norway (for alternative and off season transportation options)

Remember: hike at your own risk as your safety is your responsibility.

A few days in Virginia - more photos here.

For the visually oriented, skip straight to the pictures here.

This was an early morning because I needed to be back and out of my Airbnb by 1PM. So I was in my car by 4:30AM and at the Old Faithful area by 6:40AM - just in time to see Old Faithful blow once more. Behind Old Faithful is the short 0.5-mile (one-way) up to Observation Point. There, I had an overlook of all the nearby geysers, as well as the lodge, visitor center, general store, etc.

When I was driving south down to Old Faithful, I saw signs for Fairy Falls, but driving north, the sign was missing. Earlier, I took note where the sign was, so I just pulled into the parking lot that I thought was it. Luckily, I was right. From the parking lot there's a bridge that crosses the Little Firehole River. From there, it's a mile's hike to the trailhead to Fairy Falls (to the right of this segment is the Grand Prismatic Spring at Midway Geyser Basin). The trail gives a view of all the fallen lodgepole pines that burned in the 1988 fire, and ends with the Fairy Creek plummeting 197 feet via Fairy Falls.

On the way back to the parking lot, I took one of the spur trails upwards so I could get a higher view of the Grand Prismatic Spring, the United States' largest (and the world's third largest) hot spring:

See photos of my day 2 at Yellowstone here.

For the visually oriented, skip straight to the pictures here.

Today's hike was to the Death Canyon Patrol Cabin, which sounds like a title taken straight from some horror movie.

While the distance between Rexburg and Grand Teton is shorter than that between Rexburg and Yellowstone, the drive to GT was less scenic and had a couple slow segments as the road goes through several small towns. After a circuitous route up and down a mountain, I suddenly came upon the entrance to the park. It came out of nowhere, and I almost drove right into it. I was glad for the good brakes.

The first quarter mile post entrance is paved, but turns rough for a few miles. As I approached the trailhead, a sign said something to the tune of "4-wheel drive" recommended. I took that as a hint to park and walk the remaining one mile to the trailhead.

After about 0.9 miles of hiking through lodgepole pines, I reached the Phelps Lake Overlook, which provides a 567-foot high view of, well, Phelps Lake. From there, a series of switchbacks took me down nearly to the lake shore. For about 1.5 miles, the trail consisted of a series of moderately strenuous switchbacks all the up to the Patrol Cabin. Since I was hiking early, and there was barely anyone around, I played NPR's TEDRadio on my phone's speaker as a way to warn any nearby bears of my impending arrival. Of course, I also had bear spray.

Death Canyon was formed ~15,000 years ago by glaciers, while the Patrol Cabin was built in 1935 at the junction between the Death Canyon and Alaska Basin Trails. Here they are!

See photos of my Death Canyon hike up to the Patrol Cabin here.

Total miles walked today: ~10
Total water drank today: a rainfall

Death Canyon to Patrol Cabin Trail Summary
Difficulty: Like drinking bad coffee - hard but doable
Length: ~9.9 miles (including the one mile RT from the parking lot to the trailhead)
Altitude change: ~2,040 feet (with the zenith at 7,825 feet)
Time: ~4-5 hours.
Tip: Be prepared to get scratch up a little as part of the trail gets pretty narrow between a bunch of shrubbery.

Remember: hike at your own risk as your safety is your responsibility.

For the visually oriented, skip straight to the pictures here.

A flight to Salt Lake City and a road trip up north to Rexburg, Idaho later, I was on my way to Yellowstone National Park. Like Yosemite, Yellowstone required a lot of driving - to get there from Rexburg, and then to the actual trails. I had a list of trails I wanted to do at Yellowstone, but failed to do the proper Google Mapping ahead of time. The day before I left SF, a quick check on the maps made me realized that some of the hikes are about four hours away from Rexburg. Heck no. Instead, I decided to concentrate my time in the Old Faithful area (2.5 hours from Rexburg), with a detour to the Grand Teton (1.5 hours from Rexburg).

My first morning drive to Yellowstone began at 5:30AM, with the sun gently rising in the horizon and lighting up the farmlands to either side of the road. It's a rather easy drive that's accompanied by gorgeous landscapes so I didn't mind the drive.

When I got to the Old Faithful area, the parking lot was about 80% empty (but a couple hours later there were wheels everywhere). After waiting for Old Faithful to blow its steam, I drove north to the parking lot to Kepler Cascades, took a quick walk to the Cascades, and then found the trailhead for the Lone Star Geyser. Round-trip, the trail was only 5 miles, but once I got to the end of the trail I had been turned into such a mosquitoes pin cushion that I didn't bother waiting for the Lone Star to blow. Instead, I hiked back out as quickly as I could and went back to the General Store at Old Faithful to get some insect repellent.

Lucky I did go back to Old Faithful, because I overheard a ranger saying that the Bee Hive was about to blow (which only happens once every 24 hours). Longer and larger than Old Faithful, the Bee Hive gave quite the show. I only had my phone with me at the time, so that's where the pictures came from.

I then drove back up north to Biscuit Basin, which holds a collection of thermal pools. Behind these pools was also the trailhead to Mystic Falls, a short hike that leads to a 70-foot tall waterfall off of the Little Firehole River.

See photos of my day 1 at Yellowstone here.

For the visually oriented, skip straight to the pictures here.

Four miles in and four miles out. Simple as that. Except, of course, if you miss the left turn that leads into the last 0.4-mile unmaintained portion of the trail. The rest of the route is very well maintained, but that last 0.4 miles requires a little bit of squeezing in between height level vegetation on either side. Despite what other hikers may say, I don't think there was much, if any, poison oak. I was scratched left and right by the vegetation and I'm as itch-less as I can be.

The waterfall was a little bit less impressive and anticlimatic, but maybe that's due to the drought. Regardless, it was a relaxing and leisurely hike. To get to the falls from where the trail ends, I had to do a bit of scrambling down some rocks, but nothing that would scar me for life.

See photos of my Alamere Falls hike here.

Remember: hike at your own risk as your safety is your responsibility.

For the visually oriented, skip straight to the pictures here.

After the Half Dome hike yesterday I wanted to give my legs a rest. At the same time I didn't want to drive all over Yosemite for a series of short hikes. I was thinking about going to Upper Yosemite Falls, which is only 7.6 miles round-trip, but it apparently consists of a lot of steps. My knees vetoed that option. Instead, I went for the Four Mile Trail, which is kind of misleading because it's more like the 4.7 Mile Trail (or 9.4 miles round-trip).

I originally thought about parking my car at the Visitors' Center and then taking the shuttle to the trailhead, but the El Capitan shuttle didn't start until 9AM. I didn't want to sit around the Visitors' Center for an hour so I went off on my own. I started from the trail at 8:30, so the temperature was still cool.

A series of switchbacks slowly took me above the treeline and lo and behold the great Yosemite Falls was in the distance. It was a pretty sight - too bad I only had my wide angle lens with me so I couldn't zoom in on it. I seared it into my memory instead.

Continuing up I eventually reached the trail gate, where the view opened up even more. Now the Half Dome and North Dome, as well as Tenaya Canyon and the Royal Arches were all visible. By then I started to feel a slight fatigue to my calves from the Half Dome hike yesterday. But as I was already ~2.7 miles in, it would have been silly to turn back. Onward I went.

The last fifth or so of the trail flattens out and leads into the forest before opening back out onto Glacier Point. The crowd factor suddenly jumped from zero to a hundred. Since Glacier Point is accessible by car, a lot of people just drive there. There was also a crew there filming an ad for the state of California. So it was a party up at Glacier Point.

Here are some of the views from 7,200 feet up:

There's a shuttle that goes from Glacier Point back to the Four Mile trailhead, but that's $25 a head. Heck no. 

See photos of my Four Mile Trail hike here.

Total miles walked today: ~9.4
Total water drank today: a rainfall x 2

Four Mile Trail Summary

Difficulty: Like drinking bad coffee - hard but doable

Length: ~9.4 miles

Altitude change: ~3,200 feet 

Time: On average, 6 hours. I was up in 2 hours and down in 1.5 hours (mostly driven by my suddenly overactive bladder).

Tips: If you're only going to hike in one direction, go bottom up instead of top down. Otherwise, the views get more and more anti-climatic. 

Remember: hike at your own risk as your safety is your responsibility.

For the visually oriented, skip straight to the pictures here.

Yay! It's the day of the Half Dome! I've read a bit about the hike and was pretty excited to do it, both for the challenge and the views up top. It was going to be a long day. My alarm went off at 4AM and I was in my car by 4:30AM, at the parking lot near Curry Village by 7AM, and at the trailhead by 7:30AM. With my 15-pound backpack tightly strapped on, I headed off.

The ~7 mile one-way route, starting at the Mist Trail, is broken up by a series of landmark stops, beginning with Illilouette Fall followed soon by the Vernal Fall Bridge about 0.8 miles in. However, as I approached the trail leading up to Vernal Fall, I realized why it was going to take me longer than I thought. Steps! As someone with a height disadvantage (read: short legs), hiking up giant steps, to put it frankly, simply suck. It gave me immediate flashbacks to my Lost City trek in Colombia's jungles. Except the humidity was only ~17%, not 100%. I refilled my water bottle here and continued onward to the top of Vernal Fall, followed by Nevada Fall. I got lost a bit and had to climb a couple boulders, but hey, I never said spatial orientation is one of my strengths. The misty spray of Vernal Fall was a welcomed cool down. But also as a result of the spray the steps are very slippery, so take it easy if you find yourself here.

By the top of Nevada Fall the trail had been pretty much either steps or uphill inclines. But, at Little Yosemite Valley hikers get a short mile reprieve of flat flat flat land. At the top of Nevada Fall, the trail actually switches from the Mist Trail to the John Muir Trail, which is the route used by mules and horses. Hence all the crap on the trail. Watch your step as they say.

After the relative plateau is another stretch of hills until the trail takes you out of the forested area and into the open blue sky. Another short stretch later is the Sub Dome, which to me sounds pretty ominous. At the base of the Sub Dome is a ranger checking for permits. No permit, no go. The Sub Dome is the "hump back" of the Half Dome. The route up it is a series of very narrow switchbacks that sometimes disappears and you have to make your own path by climbing up boulders. Luckily, the steps are small so they weren't a problem for me. It was during this section of the trail where I started seeing people turning back out of fear and anxiety. A couple folks were on their butts slowly making it back down. Caution is a virtue here because a sudden and even minor dizzy spell can mean falling off the edge. Since I was carrying a heavy backpack. I tried to keep my back facing the dome so if I fell backwards, it wouldn't be to my demise. Big tip: don't look down! At least not unless you're on steady footing or sitting down.

After making it up the Sub Dome, the final ascent to Half Dome was in full view. And boy, it was quite the sight. If there ever was a time when I almost turned around it was then. The 400-foot vertical climb up consists of nearly 70 pairs of poles anchored into the side of Half Dome with wooden boards connecting each pair of poles (so you can stand and rest at each pair). The first couple pole-pairs are on a low incline but they very very very quickly turn steep to anywhere, I'd guess, between 45-60 degrees upwards. While a number of people have sadly died during this segment, I reminded myself that many of the tragic deaths were likely preventable (e.g. those climbing in a rush, when the cables / Half Dome were wet, lightening was imminent, etc.). If the last sentence didn't come through, do NOT climb if there's ANY chance of rain or lightening. It's stupid and dangerous. Go with the weatherman on this one.

After a little self pep talk, I put on my climbing gloves (necessary in order to get a good grip on the cables). There's a pile of gloves at the base for anyone who didn't bring a pair. The first few meters up were cake, but then it got challenging as my arms and shoulders expressed discontent from having already carried a 15-pound pack for over 7 miles. I took my time and rested at each pole-pair before continuing. Although upper body strength is important here, so is leg strength as that helped propelled me forward. I climbed up like I was rappelling upwards, which allowed me to use the entirety of my arms to pull me up. I saw other people put one hand on each cable, which feels safer but it also means they're relying more on their smaller pectoral muscles to go up. And obviously shoes with good traction is a must. If you're wearing tennis shoes it's time to go home.

The incline decreased during the last few meters of the ascent. It was low enough that I just ran up it so I could more quickly find a place to sit and rest. Four hours later, I was finally at the top (elevation: ~8,880 feet)! Let's not think about the 3.5 hours back yet, because first, there's the 360° double-chin dropping views of Yosemite's greatest hits (see below and in the photos gallery). It's rather spacious at the top, where I wandered about for an hour before heading down.

The little blue dot at the edge of the cliff is me:

The climb down is much much much easier than the way up. I don't think I even broke a sweat going down. The technique was similar to that going up - going down like I was rappelling down, but at the same time pushing down on the cables and making sure my feet were in full contact with the dome to maximize friction. However, the actual descent took a lot longer than the ascent, because someone was frozen further down and was unable to move. No pressure to rush as the views were pretty amazing even just standing there.

On the return trip I stopped upstream of Nevada Fall to soak my feet in the refreshingly cold water. Afterwards, instead of taking the trail back down the Nevada Fall steps, I took the John Muir Trail. It's about 1.1 miles longer, but it has fewer steep steps, which are also dry (read: less slippery). The JM trail is rather boring, but is very well marked so taking the wrong path is difficult.

See photos of my Half Dome hike here.

Total miles walked today: ~16.5
Total water drank today: a rainfall x 5

Half Dome Trail Summary

Difficulty: Hard like a diamond

Length: Depends on the route, but the above was ~16.5 miles

Altitude change: ~4,737 feet

Time: On average, 10-14 hours, but be generous with your estimates. Have a hard stop for turnaround time, because hiking back in the dark probably won't be fun nor safe.

Tips: Bring plenty of water and food. Wear good gloves and broken-in shoes. Carry a flashlight and jacket in case you end up walking back in the dark, which apparently is a frequent occurrence. Be patient. Don't rush yourself or anyone else. Build your arm strength. Importantly, use common sense. Don't go beyond your limits.

Remember: hike at your own risk as your safety is your responsibility.

For the visually oriented, skip straight to the pictures here.

Half an hour before sunrise, I hopped into my car and began the drive to Fresno, CA from Cedar City. Google was predicting ~560 miles and ~8.5 hours. It turned out closer to 11 hours. The scenery was rather uninteresting. Although, I did managed to turn my car into a gasoline mutt, putting in a gallon of gas at this station, another gallon at another, and so on for five stations in total. I did it because I didn't want to pay $4.30+ per gallon! Plus, I needed to keep myself entertained. Each station got cheaper and cheaper, but the risk of me running out of fuel got higher.

Fresno was my home base while I explored Yosemite. One of the hikes at Yosemite is the Half Dome (more on this later). Importantly, only 300 hikers are allowed on the Half Dome each day. To get permission, I needed a permit either from the pre-season lottery (which I didn't apply for) or the daily lottery (which I was gunning for). I submitted my permit request the (Saturday) morning of my long drive to Fresno, and got the permit to climb Half Dome (for Monday). So, Sunday - my first day at Yosemite - I took it easy.

The drive from Fresno to Yosemite was mostly farmlands in the early part of CA-41, slowly transitioning into a lot of circling up the mountain. Apparently that was going to be the theme of the ride. Once past Oakhurst, the town just outside of Yosemite, CA-41 enters the Sierra National Forrest. The road got narrower and snaked continuously round and round.

When I was booking my Airbnb, I chose Fresno because it was cheap and only an hour's drive away (same as Cedar City - Zion). However, I didn't know that once I arrived at Yosemite, there would be another hour's drive from the entrance to the trailheads I wanted to go to. Doh. This involved driving on even narrower "S" roads that were perpetually extending itself. Not only did the curves keep coming, but the road itself was also slanted at each turn, making it quite the fun roller coaster ride. Well, it was fun the first 20 minutes, but the number of times I had to do it over the next few days was much less exhilarating. I couldn't exactly zone out. Not that I would recommend zoning out while driving. That's just crazy.

Thirty-four miles into the Yosemite entrance, I arrived at the trailhead for Sentinel Dome. The trail's pretty easy to follow and a relatively short one. The reward is a panoramic view of Yosemite's landmarks, including Yosemite Valley, Half Dome, El Capitan, etc.

At the top of Sentinel Dome itself is the ever so famous Jeffrey pine tree that appeared in Ansel Adams' 1940 photo. It's dead now, but I'd say it aged pretty well.

I wanted to take it easy, but not that easy. On the way back down the dome, I took a detour meandering here and there for about two miles until I started getting tired. I thought that was weird since it was only about 4 miles total of walking. I had 16+ miles of hiking to do the next day! Then it hit me. To paraphrase, Billy, "It's the altitude, stupid." While the 2,470 meter elevation of Sentinel Dome is nothing compared to Huaraz's 5,000 meters, I had just come from Fresno, which stands at a mere 308 feet above sea level. Good to know.

See photos of my Sentinel Dome hike here.

Total miles walked today: ~4

Total water drank today: a rainfall

Sentinel Dome Summary

Difficulty: Easy as sitting on the couch and eating Chipotle

Length: 2.2 miles round-trip 

Altitude change: 400 feet

Time: This should be a leisurely hike, taking ~1.5 hours RT.
Tip: If you're easily cold, bring a jacket. It's windy up at the top.

Remember: hike at your own risk as your safety is your responsibility.