Trolltunga AKA “troll’s tongue”
It’s all about perspective
There is a half hour wait for a minute staring into infinity. I feel a rush of vertigo as I look over the edge and I jump back.
The lookout at Trolltunga, meaning “troll’s tongue,” is not as scary as it looks because there is not such a steep drop as it appears, and the rock is securely attached as it has been for thousands of years.
The hike there is beautiful with lots of snowy mountains surrounding Odda in the distance. I set up camp in the alpine marsh at the beginning before the steep climb. My stamina is good but my toes begin to jam walking downhill.
The alpine landscape with its classic Norwegian mottled lichen-covered rocks looks straight out of a movie. The snowy peaks on the other side come into view around some alpine lakes and waterfalls. This is the protected zone, though I take a lunch break over the view of the gorgeous lagoon.


This lagoon is actually the fjord, I soon discover, and trolltunga juts out over it. The water is a nice aqua as the sun comes out. This halfway point marks an impressive gulley carved by ice, forming the classic “U-shape.” Beautiful waterfalls cascade into the basin. The circular shape almost reminds me of a crater, like Quilotoa, although this rock was carved patiently by glaciers expanding and retracting over millenia.
The mountains glow blinding white, and I continue around the bend to where I see the Trolltunga lookout . Though not the best view of the hike, it is quite stunning especially out on a ledge. The cliffs are not as steep as the Naeroyfjord, but it is still a force to be reckoned with. The cliff above the edge is quite steep.
I wait 30 minutes and take all number of pictures until there was no line left after 3pm. Because I set up camp, I wait a long time until the framing is right.
The wind picks up and I head back, stopping to cool off from the heat in an alpine lake. The sun is in full force finally, although I was sure to come today because of the one sunny day on the forecast.





I watch as the green lichens and grass shine with a new hue and marvel as the sun dazzles through the clouds over the snowy capped mountains. I walk leisurely back through the tundra, mostly downhill. I am beat and blistered from the hike. I struggle to find my tent, but see the wind tipped it over. Luckily the rain fly did not blow away, as it comes undone really easily. The tent kept blowing over once the wind picked it up. With nothing to anchor it on the rocks, pretty exposed low shrubs, and against the rules to move rocks to anchor the tent, I pretty much spent the morning anchoring the tent myself, running around outside to briefly change position as the wind rolled me right over along with the tent. Changing the angle and moving my bags as weight in the right places helped. Or the wind died down and I was so tired I fell asleep anyways.



The next morning is beautiful and the mountains around the Odda fjord look spectacular. Taking shuttles down I get plenty of time to appreciate what appear to be glaciers and waterfalls on the way out.

Though it was a windy night, this was still one of my favorite camping spots.