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.
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| Stairs, stairs and more stairs... |
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| The view from the top |
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| Buddhist Temple Cave on the climb up to Ulsanbawi |
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...
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| Cable car ride for the less adventurous |
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| The final kilometer to the peak. Also, a shelter for those making it a two day trip |
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| Love this picture of Sarah :) |
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| Almost to the peak! |
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| We made it!! |
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| 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 |
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