Mudeungsan National Park


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Asia » South Korea » Gwangju
October 12th 2014
Published: November 5th 2014
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Korea's newest national park, Mudeungsan National Park! It became the twenty-first national park of Korea in 2012, and is still so new it doesn't even feature on the National Park website. Before becoming a national park, it was a provincial park. I came to Gwangju a few months ago, but didn't see much of the city, so I vowed to return. This time, I still didn't really see anything of the city, but the real purpose of my visit was to Mudeungsan for a nice autumn hike.

I was up at the crack of dawn, after very little sleep, it's been a long time since I slept in a dorm. I took the subway to the Culture Complex station, and took exit three. I found the bus stop with a bit of difficulty, I was on the wrong side of the road, so had to cross to find the right stop. I didn't have to wait to long, only ten to fifteen minutes, for the bus to come. The bus is no. 1187, which is the height of the mountain. There were quite a few hikers already on the bus, but luckily there were still seats available, so I didn't have to stand as the bus wound its way up the mountain. I think the journey took abut forty minutes, maybe a bit less, as the roads were quiet. There are several buses, that go to different parts of the national park, and I chose this bus as it goes to a main hiking area, away from the places people just go have an easier stroll around.

I got off the bus at the last stop, Wonhyosa. The route I wanted to take seemed to be circular, and I had decided to anti-clockwise, starting at the temple. I'm so glad I chose that way, as everyone else that got off the bus, and the coaches that had deposited other hikers there, all went off in the opposite direction. On reflection, the way they all went seems to be the way that you are meant to start as it passes the national park office. However, I was happy to trade that for a longer, more gradual trail, with barely any people. I wandered under a gate (the gate for the temple?), past a house. I walked for a couple of minutes, and found some steps that lead up to the temple.

Wonhyosa is located in Wonhyo valley, at the northern edge of Mudeungsan. It was built by Wonhyo, a Buddhist priest during the Silla dynasty. The temple was a small hermitage when it was first built and during the Goryeo dynasty, it was converted into the style of temple it is now, during the reign of King Chungsuk. The temple has been remodelled several times, and during the Korean war it was burned to the ground during the Korean War. I spent a little while wandering around the temple. The complex wasn't very big, so it didn't take too long. There was an old lady sitting, on the steps by the entrance. I wandered around photographing the temple. I returned to where I had started and the old lady, she was like my guardian angel, pointed me off to the side. I saw the temple's bell and some statues hiding behind one of the buildings.

I kept walking and came a cross a gate, I wasn't sure if this was the right way to go, as I wasn't sure if the gate was open, but the lady had pointed me in this direction, and I saw some hikers go past. I headed out the gate, and was surprised as there was a paved road. I wandered up the road for about ten minutes, there were a few other hikers about, but not many, perfect! I came across a signpost, a map with all the mountain trails on it, and a gradient chart. There were lots of different options, and I decided to head to the peak, Jungbong, and then see from there where I would go next.

The trail was weird, in the fact that it wasn't like a real trail. It was more like a gravel road, and this was reinforced, by a couple of trucks that passed me. It was only one or two, so it wasn't too bad. I walked for a while, the trail uphill was gradual, so was easy to walk. I stopped after about half an hour, forty minutes, as their was a viewpoint. I spent a while there, talking a load of photos of Gwangju sprawling below. I hadn't realised that Gwangju was so big. The urban development was nestled in between all the mountains. It's a shame, that it was so smoggy, I hadn't expected there to be some much pollution down here. I was expecting to have clear skies, but apparently they don't happen too often down here. It was cloudy and windy too. I kept walking uphill. The autumn colours were out.

I made it to the first peak, Jungbong in about an hour and a half. I left the road trail and headed off, up some steps to reach the peak. The path up was gradual too. The peak is only 900 metres,so not too high. The land around the peak has Christmas trees growing on it. The peak was pretty windy, and there wasn't really anywhere to sit, so I only had a quick rest, scoffed my kimbap triangle, and headed back to the road. It was a lot busier here, as this is where the trail meets. I decided to head up to Seoseokdae. That was only about 800 metres to a kilometre, but it was really steep, and took me forever. It was busy too, so I kept pausing to let people past. I hate having someone hiking up my bum. I reached a viewing platform, where I could look up and see Seoseokdae. Seoseokdae are columnar joints, which are a part of Jusangjeolli cliffs. They run in a line from east to west for 50 metres. They were caused by the rapid cooling of hot lava.

From there I continued to the top. The actual peak, Bukbong, is out of bounds, as there is a military facility on it. I hiked up to 1,100 metres. I took some pictures of the peak marker and there is a viewpoint, where you can see the three peaks, complete with military installation. I could also see Seoseokdae, a little. It was really windy at the top, it felt like winter, not autumn. I could have continued along to Ipseokdae, another set of columnar joints, but it was too windy and foggy, so I decided to head back down. I came to the road, and I headed the way, all the other people had been coming up. They must have thought I was mad, as I was totally going against the tide.

The hike down took about an hour and a half to two hours. The trail was really pretty, as the autumn leaves were coming out. This way was all through the woods, and it was pretty, but I preferred the path up, as I really liked the views looking down over Gwangju and all the other mountains in the distance. There were loads of people along the trail, who had stopped to have a picnic, one lady called me over and came me some food and drink. She gave me makgeolli (milky rice wine) and some haemul pajeon (seafood pancake), both were delicious. I came to the bottom of the trail, there were lots of restaurants there, and a national park office. On my way to the bus stop there was a rubbish dump, this is such a good idea. There were all the separate sections for people to dump there recyclables into. It was so noisy as I headed back to the bus. In front of the store next to the bus stop, a stage had been set up and there was a singer on it. The music was far too loud, and was giving me a huge headache. Why can't people just enjoy the peace and tranquility of the national park. Luckily, I only had to wait about ten minutes for the bus.


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