Epic Hikes of the World ( PDFDrive )

© Nenad Nedomacki | Shutterstock
a reminder that it’s a long way down.
I round a final corner and suddenly it’s there: Trolltunga itself, jutting out from
the sheer cliff-face, a granite promontory perched 2296ft (700m) above the valley
below. Even though I’ve been hiking for four hours and it’s only mid-morning, there
are still a few hikers here already to share the view. Carefully, they creep down the
rockface and inch on to the troll’s tongue itself, matchstick figures dwarfed by the
scale of the landscape, and the sheer drop below. Contrary to appearances, the
tongue itself is actually surprisingly wide, at least a few metres across. That said it
pays to keep well away from the edge; fatalities have happened here. I watch as
the group snap selfies, smiling and seemingly oblivious to their position on a slip of
rock dangling over the void.
And then it’s my turn. Gingerly, I walk on to the precipice, like a diver edging out
on to the high board. The wind rushes past, plucking at my jacket. Empty space
engulfs me, and the yawning blue chasm opens up below. Clouds race past, and
for a moment, I feel the rock drop away, a figure suspended between earth and
sky. And then the moment’s gone, and I’m inching my way back on to the cliff
edge, and the safety of bare rock and terra firma.
I take a last look at the view and a swig from my water bottle, then begin the
long trudge home. I may not have seen a troll today – but I feel like I’ve glimpsed
some magic all the same. OB
POWER RANGER
As you follow the shores of the fjord north from Odda towards the Trolltunga turnoff,
you’ll pass through Tyssedal, home to one of Norway’s most historic hydroelectric
power stations, a masterpiece of early 20th-century industrial design by the
pioneering architect Thorvald Astrup. You can take a guided tour of the power
station, and high above the fjord, follow the clifftop path once used by engineers,
which has been turned into a thrilling via ferrata.