Daemosan

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I took the subway to Suseo station and came out of exit 6. The start of the trail is a one minute walk away. I spent sometime, looking at the trail map. There was the trail map for the mountain also for the Seoul Trail, which is spread over more than 100 kilometres, over the city, and seems to mainly be on the flat land around the base of the mountains. It looks like the Seoul Trail could be nice. I hope I have time to do a section or two of it. I started up the steps, which marked the start of the trail. the steps weren't too bad and didn't last too long, before giving way to a gentle forest trail. There were a few benches not long after the steps and some friends were having sushi picnic there, what a great idea!

You could definitely tell you were still in the city as the roar of traffic and construction was still pretty fierce, the trees didn't really block it out. I was thinking that it would be more like Cheonggyesan, which is on the edge of the city, but is quiet. Maybe, it is because this mountain is pretty small, the peak scrapes in at under 300 metres, 293 metres I think. I came across a small field filled with Azaleas, they were gorgeous, and there were some other pretty flowers near them, that a nice gentleman informed me weren't Azaleas, but I didn't get their name. The hike was really quiet and I liked that a lot. There were other people on the trail, but there were stretches, especially at the end, where I was on my lonesome, perfect!

It took me an hour, maybe an hour and a half to reach the peak of Daemosan, the trail was pretty steady and not too difficult. I saw some cool roots of trees, where the soil had eroded leaving them exposed. I also passed a mysterious pile of rocks. I wonder how they got there and why they were placed in that spot. The peak marker was pretty small, and because some bloke was walking on it, I almost missed it. I then took in the view, the sky was pretty clear, and I could see out over southern Seoul. There were lots of tall buildings, but they are eclipsed by the Lotte World Tower, it is a beast and still not finished. I would love to go to the top, when it is finished, if it is open to the public. I took a bit of a rest at the peak, there are a few benches and since it wasn't busy, they weren't full. I munched the kimbap, that I had brought as a snack.

From Daemosan it is less than two kilometre to the next peak, Guryeongsan, so I decided to keep going. Lots of sections of the forest were cordoned off with fences. I think it is to prevent forest fires, it is a good idea, but it feels a bit strange to be wandering along the edge of a fence. I also passed a bunker, that had been dug into the ground, I presume it was left over from the war, but it still could be used today. There were more great views of southern Seoul, as I reached Guryongsan, the second peak. I love looking out over the city, even though this mountain isn't very high, it gives you some great views. Just after the peak, there was an old guard box, and some kind of metal tower structure, there was an old man using the tower to do chin-ups. What a good idea! Anything can be used to make a home gym.

I headed on a bit further and found a path, that lead down to the main road. At first, the trail was well trampled and it even had stairs in places to make it easier. However I feel like I took a wrong turn at some point, as I never saw anyone else after a while. The route was also really rocky and covered in leaves, so it was a bit difficult to navigate. I was glad when I made it to the bottom. There is some kind of temple at the bottom, and the trail came out at the back of it. I think it was fenced off, so you would have to go around the front and enter that way. I could see a big Buddha under construction, it was interesting to see, as it is not a common sight. At the bottom of the trail, there is a bus stop and I hopped on a bus, that was heading towards a subway station. I got off a few stops earlier, as I spotted an earlier subway station, that wasn't mentioned on the route.

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Photos

Pretty Flowers
I was told these aren't Azaleas.

A Fence in the Forest
I think it is something to do with fire prevention