The Stewarts went on a less strenuous hike than Logan and I, so we met up with them later that night. Logan and I hiked what I'm guessing was the steepest part of the entire mountain. I'm used to Colorado and LA hiking, so I was expecting steep hills, dirt paths, and some rock formations that had been made into stairs. I was definitely not expecting what has been termed "Korean hiking." Yes, there were many rocks and boulders and steep hills. What I was not expecting were the God-awful amount of metal stairs that were made in order for us to hike up to the top of the mountain. This hike was like climbing the stairmaster for over an hour. However, the spacing between each step was extremely awkward. I'm not sure if it's because Korean are shorter than Americans or what, but some of the steps were literally three inches apart from each other. It was like they were attempting to accommodate toddlers hiking up the mountain, which is totally impossible I might add. Then, there were other steps with spacing so strange that I was trying to figure out is climbing two at a time was better. Let's just say I tried out both styles multiple times throughout the trip. The picture below is just one of the sets of stairs we had to climb.
Also making this hike difficult was the amount of people there. Our timing wasn't exactly pristine and the age range of hikers was all over the map. There were kids and grandparents who I thought could have had a heart attack at any moment. Climbing up the steep steps was where I encountered most of the "Draggers" - the men dragging their wives/girlfriends up the stairs and steep rocks, trying to keep them moving. Logan and I were cruising up but constantly got stuck behind the elderly who were huffing and puffing along. I'm not trying to brag, we were definitely tired and a little break now and then was much needed, but seriously these people really needed to get out of our way. We were on a mission and had no time for slow-pokes. We would try to get around them, but it proved quite challenging. It seemed like no matter which side we moved to, they moved right along with us. It was like they were purposefully blocking our path. And, when they did realize we were trying to pass, they didn't move over in the slightest! They just kept trucking along in their own merry way. I really think Koreans have absolutely no clue about what's going on around them. I guess I should have guessed by their driving, but I thought if maybe you encountered them in person they would be a little more sensible. I guessed wrong. We managed to survive the stairs, the people, the narrow passages, and the "one-way-climbing lanes" (places where it was so narrow you could only let one direction of traffic flow at a time). We made it to the top and it was totally worth it. The views were great and the fall colors only got better the higher you got!
By the time we got back from this hike, it was 6:30 p.m., pitch black, and we were all tired. We grabbed some food and headed back to our hotel. Beds are new to Korean culture and the traditional form of sleeping is on a yoe. Sleeping on one of these is like sleeping on two sleeping bags piled on top of each other. It's not exactly the most comfortable way to spend the night after a day of hiking, but it was cheap so we sucked it up and did it. Little did I know that sleeping on the yoe would be the least of my problems. First of all, our room had no air conditioning and felt like it was 100 degrees. We tried to solve this problem by opening up our door. However, we looked right into the street, and on a Saturday night, well you can guess what it sounded like outside. Also, our deck light refused to turn off, so we were faced with a dilemma. Should we keep the doors open and close the curtains, blocking out the light and praying that cold air would get through? Should we close the doors and the curtains and suffer in the sauna that was our room? Or should we crack the door, close the blinds most of the way, and hope to fall asleep? We opted for the last one, which was not very successful. Leah was the only one who seemed to get a good night's sleep. Kim and I were up most of the night closing and opening the doors, closing and opening the curtains, and tossing and turning under and on top of our sheets trying to cool off (and find some comfortable position on the wood floors).
When the alarm sounded at 5:45 a.m., it was almost a relief that we were able to escape our uncomfortable room. We headed down to the beach, about 4 blocks from our hotel, to watch the sunrise. This was a huge disappointment due to all the haze that encompassed the entirety of the horizon. Logan and I headed out at 7 a.m. to fit in one last hike before the bus left to go back to Yatap at 1:30 and the Stewarts packed up and headed home on the 9:30 a.m. bus. The hike we did today was by far my favorite. It was challenging like our first hike but didn't have the artificial stairs and we got the beauty of hiking by the rivers, similar to our second hike. Since we started early, we missed most of the crowds and were able to get around the people we did encounter with much more ease than the first day. The colors on this hike were absolutely stunning. Once again, the pictures don't do it justice, but hopefully you'll get to see a little of what it looked like. The green leaves were so bright, the yellow leaves looked like gold, the orange leaves were the color of pumpkin-colored crayon, and the reds were the most brilliant fire-engine red I've ever seen. It looked like God had taken a paintbrush and created this beautiful picture that we were lucky enough to climb into for a few hours. The scenery looked like something straight out of a Thomas Kinkade picture. It was totally unreal. I don't think I can ever go back to Seoraksan during any other season because this was utter perfection. These are my 3 favorites!
After we finished this hike, we took a cable car up to the top of the mountain and climbed (and I mean on our hands and feet kind of climbing) up to this tall peak that overlooked the entire city. It was so cool! They had a couple South Korea flags flying at the top, and once again, the views and colors were out of this world. The rocks looked fake. Everything had the most brilliant colors and shapes. I just can't believe that a place like this exists on earth.
I never wanted to leave. I wish fall could stay like this forever because it was the most gorgeous, peaceful place I've ever been. It definitely makes you realize how small we are and how great God is. There are so many wonderful things to see, we just need to take the time to do it. I was thinking about all my friends and family this weekend, wishing you could all have been there with me! xoxo
Very nice beautiful photos, Haley... Congratulation !! Feel like going there already.
ReplyDeleteHave a nice day..