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Published: September 24th 2016
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I took the subway to Yangju Station on line one. It is really far north, about an hour from Seoul Station. We went left and then turned left somewhere along the road. There was a map near the station. I think our trail started from near Yangju City Hall. It was about 11 am and already it was a scorcher, someone said that it was going to be over 30 degrees Celsius. We hiked up for about an hour to reach the first peak. It was tough going in the heat and we took a few breaks to drink water, I had definitely lost a lot through sweating. This mountain isn't very tall and the first peak, Sangbong, is 470.7 metres above sea level. The first part of the trail was shaded by trees, but soon we were out in the sun.
I ended up with a bit of a headache as the sun was zapping all my energy. The third peak looked miles away and a lot taller, I really didn't think I would make it that far. Luckily, the second peak was really close to the first one. Also now we were above the tree line, the view
was much better. There were a few rocky outcrops and I could just make out the city of Yangju below in the haze. The second peak Sangtubong was only about ten metres higher than the first. Then it was on to the final peak. This part of the trail was tougher than what we had previously encountered. There was a lot more scrambling over rocks.
The good thing was, after one particularly tough section, there was an old man selling ice creams. I was happy to buy one off him. It was so nice to sit in the shade and cool off. I find summer hiking so tough, give me a nice sunrise hike over a one in the heat of the day. Luckily, the last peak wasn't too far away. The third peak was the smallest of all three. Imggeokjeongbong is 449.5 metres above sea level. There were some nice views from here, too. I could see a reservoir in the distance.
The hike down from the third peak didn't take too long. I didn't time it but it definitely was less than an hour. It was over so quick, I felt it might have been only
30 minutes. The trail was nice and shaded, which made a nice change from the intense heat we had under while climbing to the peak. We even met the ice cream seller from earlier at the bottom. He was super quick getting down the mountain. He must have hiked it a million times. We came out on to the main road and I was so happy to see a convenience store opposite. I was so thirsty, I couldn't wait to buy a big bottle of icy cool water. It took forever for the lights to change. I ran into the shop, bought a bottle of water, and chugged a load of it down. We headed to a restaurant that was a couple of minutes further down the road. I got Chogye Guksu, which is cold noodles in an icy broth topped with shredded chicken, cucumber and radish. The dish was good and very refreshing after the hot and sweaty hike.
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