Bukhansan National Park

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[youtube=qP6cTgvU_Zo][youtube=JC74KwOtu-A]

*Deep Breath* AAAAHHHHHH....I love the smell of fresh mountain air! It was a crisp day as we headed out to go hiking. The sun was warm and the air was cold. I wasn't sure where we were going but lea assured me her friends had everything under control. We went to Bukhansan National Park. I was a bit skeptical. After packing my bag the night before (pocket knife, granola bar, first aid kid, water, cameras(fully charged), sunglasses...) I half wondered if this was going to be a hike or a nice path up a big hill, where men in business suits and women in high heels would be passing by me. Our group was 7 people. The majority of which were canadians, which gave me the opportunity to listen to their proununciation of words. That way when im traveling somewhere that doesn't like Americans...let me rephrase that... that way when i'm traveling anywhere (haha) I can just say I'm Canadian and they won't hold anything against me :-D

My original worries that the hike wouldn't be challenging were proved wrong about 30 minutes into the hike, when my legs were aching, and my heart was pounding. I know im not completely out of shape (I run every day and lift..etc) but i was dying. By an hour in it was 50 degrees HOT and windy, i was in my t-shirt where the core of my body was cookin' and my hands were numb from the cold. But it felt so good! For those of you in Northeastern PA, you'll understand this...Climbing up that mountain was like walking across boulderfield on a 30% incline. It was just all rocks to climb up on, which was so cool, and so tiring. We stopped to take a break just before the top to have some drinks and snacks. Adam, one of the guys in the group said "I think it's safe to say that that last part was the hardest we'll see here today."

It was definitely tough. All of us (except lea because of he injured ankle) went the last little bit to the top of the mountain. It was so nice! Until we looked to the left of us...Jutting up hundreds of feet into the air was this big rock/mountain top. *sigh* we weren't at the top yet. The view from where we were was amazing and everyone was ready to head back down. But i'll be damned if i hiked alllll the way up that mountain to stop 95% of the way to the top to turn back around. I was going to the top, even if I had to go by myself! Luckily I didn't, Adam wanted to see the top as well. I started up avoiding the metal rope everyone was holding on so tightly to...it wasn't even that hard. We walked up a few stairs that were there and took some pictures. I put my sweatshirt back on because it was snow capped and the wind was really really cold now that we were in the open. We continued on our way up to the peak. Things started to get a little harder. There were no footholds in the rocks and they were...almost perpindicular to the ground. Those metal ropes to the right of us were the only thing keeping us to that mountain...its just to bad we couldn't connect outselves to those ropes! haha There are no pictures of our death-defying climb to the top, if i were to have let go of the rope...well...you can imagine where i'd be right now. haha It was one of thsoe deals where you held onto the robe..walked a few feet up..and then pulled yourself up with your hands again. Which was made even harder because of the snow on the rocks. (oh how I wish I would have had my hiking boots and not running sneakers) As we were dragging ourselves to the top adam yelled back to me "remember that thing i said about it being safe to say that that last part was going to be the hardest part of the hike....i lied!" haha He was So right.

The top of the peak was amazing. It was breath taking. And not just because the last part of the climb was so hard! you could see Seoul and all the surrouding moutains. We were higher up than Seoul tower. The safety regulations in Korea are nothing like those in the US. At the very top there was robe that went around the peak so you didn't just fall off...but that was it. Everything is 'at your own risk' Don't walk to close to the edge cause the 800M fall will probably kill you. It was so amazing to look DOWN on all the mountains around you, seeing a helicopter flying below. it was sunny and windy and perfect. It really cleans out the lungs and the soul! I'd do that every week if i could!

The way back down was just as difficult as going up, just more akward. There was a line to wait in to go down, so when you were hanging there holding on to the rope waiting for people to move along ahead of you, trying not to lose your grip and slip on ice...it was akward. Til we got back down and met up with our friends waiting for us, I couldn't lock my knees or my legs shook pretty violently haha I'm so glad I had been using the leg machine at the gym so much (and also the pushups) Without that extra muscle, that would have been probably undoable. We got back down the mountain in record timing. It's so much easier to go down than up. And we had some Korean BBQ for dinner (meat wrapped in lettuce leaves, rice, and spicy sauce) sooo good. I was lovin the protein! Yummm....

So there again was another adventure to write in my history book. You don't realize how much you miss outdoorsy things until you're in the city. I'd climb a mountain any day over going to a museum, or a night club. Now I'm off to sleep like the rock i climbed up today!

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