Hiking Korea's Tallest Peaks: #3 - Hallasan

Jeju-do, the pink island on the map

     As I'm sure you've been waiting for...the last and tallest peak of Korea, Hallasan!  Going to Jeju Island was kind of a last minute decision but since we didn't have anything else going on during our winter vacation, we booked a flight to leave on New Years Day for 4 amazing nights in Jeju-do.  Flights from Seoul's Gimpo Airport were only about $120 round trip so we figured might as well see what Jeju has to offer (not bad for booking them 3 days before we left).
     Jeju-do is a self governing province and Korea's largest island.  It's about 130km south of the mainland and was formed entirely by volcanic eruptions some time ago.  It's a very popular destination for Chinese and Korean tourists alike and believe it or not, in 2013 Jeju-do surpassed Bali, Hawaii and Okinawa as a tourist destination with about 10 million visitors!
Hallasan National Park (elevation 1,950m or 6,398ft)
     We did a lot of awesome things in Jeju before taking the trek up Hallasan.  Manjanggul Lava Tube, the Deep Diving Women, Seongsan Illchulbong (aka sunrise peak), Jeongbang Waterfall, Seogwipo Submarine tour, Jusangjeolli Cliffs, Olle Walking trails, Cheonjiyeon Falls and Love Land are some must sees on the island, but the main reason we headed south was to conquer Hallasan!

Without these, we wouldn't have
made it past the visitors center

     Like Jirisan, we woke up around 5am to catch a taxi to the Seongpanak Trail entrance which only took about 20-30 minutes from Jeju City Hall.  After an inexpensive taxi ride (only 12,000won), we made it to the visitors center where we made the best decision of the trip, buying some spikes for the climb up the mountain.  With our headlamps, spikes and layers of clothes ready to go, we started our trek up to Dongneung Peak (동능정상).
     I've grown to really enjoy hiking early in the morning and watching the sun come up.  It's peaceful, beautiful and just gives you so much appreciation for being outdoors.  Because it was the beginning of January, the trail was completely covered with snow.  Honestly, I think it made the hike easier because it was a gradual incline for the majority of the hike, instead of climbing hundreds of stairs.  Eventually we made it to SaraOreum.  Unfortunately, the lake was frozen over but it was kind of cool being able to walk across a lake on top of a volcano.

     After the short detour to see SaraOreum and the sunrise, it was only another 2 hours to make it to the peak.  A perk of climbing Hallasan in the winter was that we were the only ones on the trail.  Sure, we passed a person or two every now and again, but we pretty much had the trail to ourselves!  As expected, by the time we got to the top, it was frigid to say the least.  I've never seen trees covered with so much snow and ice before and Hallasan had enough of them for a lifetime's worth of memories.  Unlike Seoraksan and Jirisan, when we reached this peak, it was deserted.  Aside from two or three other hikers, Sarah and I were the only ones up there.  It was refreshing to say the least, but cold enough to keep our time at Dongneung Peak limited.  Another treat atop Hallasan is Baengnokdam Lake Summit (백록담), also known as crater lake.  Like SaraOreum, it was frozen over too, but was majestic to say the least.

 

      We decided to take a different trail down the mountain (Gwaneumsa) since this trail was rumored to have some of the best views of the mountain, but be a bit more difficult.  Both rumors proved to be true and we were grateful to have taken the Seongpanak trail up the mountain, not Gwaneumsa.  The entire trip was only about 9.6 and we finished the hike in about 8 hours round trip.  One little issue at the Gwaneumsa trail entrance, was that transportation back to Jeju City was limited to taxis.  They were all charging 15,000won but after waiting for about 15minutes, we talked a taxi down to 12,000won.

To give you an idea of the amount of snow,
here is the summit marker without snow... 

Snow covered fern trees

Views from the Gwaneumsa Trail

Helpful trail markers up and down the mountain

Like Seoraksan and Jirisan, Hallasan has these shelters on the mountain.  Some
sell food and others just provide a place to rest before continuing on your hike

In case you brought your sled along on the hike

Hiking Korea's Tallest Peaks: #2 - Jirisan

     Next up on our tour of Korea's tallest peaks is Jirisan.  Sarah and I left from the Suwon Bus Terminal on a rainy Saturday morning in early November, hoping to catch the last of Korea's famous fall foliage.  Our destination was Jinju, a small city in South Gyeongsang Province, and a popular entry point cities to hike Jirisan's peak.  After about a 4 hour bus ride, we made it to Jinju, however our journey had just begun.  We still needed to get to Jungsan-ni Village (about another hour away) and hopefully find availability at one of the minbaks (guest house) there.  We made our way to the other bus terminal in Jinju, forgot to transfer to a different bus so we spent some time with the driver until he started his route back the other way.  He was nice enough to share some of his rice cake snack before taking us back to the transfer point to catch the other bus to Jungsan-ni.

     Luckily enough for us, we were able to find a room at one of the minbaks in the village for only about 30,000won, or $30.  We had an early morning ahead of us so we cozied up on the floor (most of the minbaks I've stayed in don't have beds) for a good nights rest.

Jungsan-ni Village

Jirisan National Park (elevation 1,915m or 6,282ft)

     Jirisan was the first designated national park in Korea and is considered to be one of the most sacred mountains in the country.  The national park stretches across 3 provinces and has a lot of areas that are off limits to hikers for safety reasons.  

     Unlike Seoraksan, you don't have to hike a through valleys and riverbeds before starting your accent to the top.  The quickest and easiest route up to Cheonwangbong peak (천왕봉) starts from Jungsan-ni which is at the base of the peak.  We woke up around 5:000am Sunday morning so that we were sure to finish our hike with enough time to catch our bus back to Seoul later that afternoon.   It's about a 1.5km walk up a winding road from the village to the trail entrance.  Luckily for us, a bus full of hikers was about to start their hike too and offered to give us a ride to the trail entrance, saving us about a 30minute walk.

    

          This particular hiking trail is 12.4km round trip and takes about 9 hours to complete.  It was still pretty dark when we started on the path and the sun finally woke up around 7am giving us the opportunity to enjoy all of the beautiful colors.  We made really good time up the mountain and reached the peak by about 9am.  We had more time to enjoy the foliage on the hike down the mountain and the trail was surprisingly less crowded than we were expecting.  Jirisan is a beautiful mountain but we would've needed a few more weeks to have enjoyed everything it has to offer.  Stay tuned for the last and tallest mountain to complete our tour of Korea's tallest peaks!

Hiking Korea's Tallest Peaks: #1 - Seoraksan

    If Virginia is for Lovers, South Korea is definitely for hikers.  Being in a country that is about 70% mountain, it's to be expected that hiking would be a popular hobby for it's residents of all ages.   

     "San" is Hangul for mountain and you'll see those three letters tagged to many directional signs throughout the country.  Every day of the week, at all hours of the day, you'll see Koreans decked out in their gaudy hiking gear, excessively full backpacks and hiking poles ready for a day outdoors.  Our first "real" hiking adventure was at Seoraksan National Park, and after visiting, Sarah and I decided we wanted to try and conquer Korea's three tallest peaks.   
     Luckily, we were able to reach the third and highest 봉 last weekend so I wanted to share our experience, hiking Korea's three tallest peaks: Seoraksan, Jirisan and Hallasan.  Albeit strenuous and time consuming, all three were accessible in a day's hike, with no overnight camping required.  First up...Seoraksan!

Seoraksan National Park (elevation 1,708m or 5,603ft)
     Seoraksan is the highest mountain in the Taebaek mountain range located in the northeastern part of the country with Daechongbong Peak (대청봉) as it's highest peak.  It's probably the most popular of the three, even though it's the smallest.  Seoraksan is about a 3-4 hours from Seoul by bus and tends to be a little crowded, given it's location.  There are trails for every skill level but if hiking is not your thing, you can visit a Buddhist temple, see a couple of waterfalls or ride a cable car that'll take you to the top of a smaller peaks to enjoy the views without breaking a sweat.  Sarah and I visited the park twice and opted to traverse two of the more difficult but rewarding trails. 

     On the first day, we decided to climb up one of the most popular rock faces in all of Korea - Ulsanbawi.  We had to climb over 800 steps to make it to the top but had the chance to see a Buddhist Temple in a cave on the side of the mountain and burn a day's worth of calories.   We walked around the park a little longer afterwards but didn't do much more so that we could conserve our energy for day two. 

Stairs, stairs and more stairs...

The view from the top

Buddhist Temple Cave on the climb up to Ulsanbawi

     Day two was an early one to make sure we had enough time to make it to the peak and back before the sun set.  Since we were up so early, we caught the sunrise before making it to the park around 7:30am to start our 12hour round trip hike to Daechongbong Peak.  The course we took was a recommended 2 day course (16km round trip) but with the early start, we were sure to finish in one day.  
     Of the three tallest in South Korea, I thought Daechongbong was the most difficult to reach, mainly because we had to hike at least 3 hours before we started the intense climb up to the peak.  Hiking 800+ steps the day before probably factors in a bit too.  Either way, hiking through the valleys made me feel like Frodo from Lord of the Ring.  It was absolutely breathtaking and was a surreal experience.  We pushed ourselves a bit and made it to the peak and back in about 10 hours.  It was mid-September so we still had some daylight but another two hours and we would've been hiking the last leg in the dark.  
     All in all, Seoraksan was an amazing experience and a must visit for anyone spending an extended amount of time in Korea.  We easily could've spent another day hiking around to the different waterfalls and other trails, but the two days of hiking took it out of us.  Next time I'm in Korea, I'll definitely try to go in October to really experience Seoraksan and all of the fall foliage she has to offer.  

     Stay tuned for Jirisan and Hallasan in the coming weeks...

Cable car ride for the less adventurous

The final kilometer to the peak.  Also, a
shelter for those making it a two day trip

Love this picture of Sarah :)

Almost to the peak!

We made it!!

The beauty of Seoraksan is that the closest town to stay and play in is Sokcho.
It's on the east coast so you can enjoy the beautiful blue waters of the East Sea.
After all of the hiking we did, I definitely think we deserved a beer on the beach