"Fall" Colors

But not the fall colors you might expect me to post here. We planned to do Preikestolen, one of the most famous hikes in Norway, today. We had done it before with Jinni, but it was overcast then, and today's weather was forecast to be clear, though a little cool and windy.


The hike started fine. Sidney hiked almost halfway up (including the three hard, steep spots, by herself. We decided to put her in the baby-backpack, though, in the interest of time for the remainder of the hike. We had a picnic about that time as well, then started to make the final push to the top. The terrain was relatively flat, but involved going up and down a few rocks.

Now let me tell you a little something about Kimber. For those that don't know her well, she can be a bit stubborn. She also likes to do everything herself. You may notice in some of our blog archives of hikes that she is the one carrying the baby-backpack. That is not because I haven't offered, or even demanded, to carry it. It is because she absolutely insists on carrying it.

Until today.

As she was stepping down into a muddy area, she turned her ankle on a rock and went down in the mud. Sidney was fine because fortunately she fell into mud and didn't hit rocks. Kimber thought she broke her ankle. All this was three and a half kilometers up a rocky and very steep trail.

We got her up and I took over carrying Sidney. I asked, even begged her to let me call for help. After all, there has to be some sort of evacuation plan up there, considering this is one of the most popular and famous hikes in Norway. But Kimber insisted on walking down. She crabbed on her back the steep parts and limped where it was flat(ish). Kimber's defense - I think the only way out without my walking down would have been a helicopter and that just wasn't acceptable.

It took about two and a half hours to get down (thanks for anyone that met and helped us along the way, by the way), and we iced, wrapped and elevated the ankle at the car. We took the ferry across to Stavanger from Tau, then went to the hospital for x-rays.


Thankfully, the ankle is not broken. But it is several shades of purple and nicely swollen. Kimber has some happy pills, and crutches to help her walk (though this is currently discouraged. Needless to say, she won't be carrying the backpack anymore.