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Published: March 27th 2006
Well my second major hiking trip here in Korea and I have noticed a few things; 1) the lack of a younger generation of hikers, the group I go with is almost 100 people and the youngest person I’ve seen maybe in their late 30’s early 40’s with the majority of the age group in the 40-50 age bracket, the oldest I’ve seen looks to be in his late 60’s. 2) Koreans are speed hikers, I don’t think they are there for the scenery just how quickly they can get from point A to point B, and they are quick. 3) The total lack of wildlife, except for what few birds I heard, no signs of squirrel cuttings from pinecones, no tracks, nothing. Which made me wonder if any of the people I was hiking with have actually seen any type of wild animal while hiking?
In my first writing on this hiking adventure I got on my soap box about the lack of switch backs in the Korean trail system, I posed that question to a friend of mine and she told me that the Korean’s believe that if there are switch backs on the trail than it is
not really exercise.
Ok to the hike, we started right were I was the last to arrive last time….lol. The weather was much nicer than the last hike. Starting temperature was in the upper 30’s to low 40’s and mid day temperature around upper 50’s there was some wind and a little yellow dust (from China) in the air, after lunch I un-zipped my legs and was in my shorts, I got quite the looks, I don’t think many people here hike in shorts. Looking at the trail map/topo of the days hike on the bus ride, it did not look like that difficult of a hike 14 kilometers long (8.7 miles) with the starting point at approximately 800 meters (2624 feet) and the highest climb would be 1170 meters (3838 feet), but maps (especially Korean) can be deceiving, this was another hard hike, all I’ll say is see part 1 on switch backs.
Overall the trail was much nicer than the last hike, there was very little ice, and what ice there was it was conveniently hidden under dead leaves and pine needles. The trail was not as exposed as the last one, this trail had a
Lunch time
Notice the mound of dirt to the left, this is a grave. The head stone is just to the right, with a coat on it.lot of trees, small trees, like scrub oak, nice height if you’re a Korean but not if you are over 6’, I must have knocked my hat of half-a-dozen times. Once after I picked my hat of the ground and put it back on and took two steps and wham! As I was picking up my hat again I heard the guy behind me laugh.
At one point this group of 4 hikers came up behind me talking very loud and the lead guy had is MP3 player playing music loud, after I had enough of the loudness I stepped to the side and let them pass, after they were gone and I was in silence again I began thinking, maybe this is why they don’t see any wildlife.
The finish of the hike was 4 kilometers down the mountain with the first 2 kilometers being 1-2’ boulder steps, than just rocks, than finished on an asphalt road.
I did make it to the finish with the rest of the group and got to partake in the traditional party after the hike, which consisted of drinking warm beer and SoJu, (for those of you who have tasted
After Lunch
Going up the next "Hill" it you know what a treat that is) and hot soup. I will give it up to the Koreans they do know how to have fun.
On the 3 hour bus ride back to Kunsan, my friend told me that the next hike we have to leave Kunsan at 9pm Saturday night so we can start our hike at 3am Sunday morning. We will start were we finished today, which made me remember those big boulder steps, I just sighed and took a nap.
Till next time
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Dottie or MOM
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You're Brave
You are getting better at this. Enjoyed this adventure today. Can't wait until the finish. The scenery along the way is educational. What an experience for you. You look great with your new face cover. The entire hike must be very difficult for you. Were you sore this time??? Waiting for the next chapter. Love Ya!!!