Hiking in Seoraksan

Last weekend I went on a Seoul Hiking Group trip to Seoraksan National Park.  The group is the same one that I took the trip to Jeju with, and I’ve also done some shorter day trips with them around Seoul.  Seoraksan is in the northeast, about a three hour drive from Seoul.  Our plan was to go by bus to the park on Friday night and start hiking in the wee hours of the morning on Saturday.

Seoraksan is in the northeast corner of South Korea,
not far from the Pyeongchang ski resort

Matt, one of my co-teachers, also went along.  We were picked up by the bus near midnight in central Seoul.  I tried without much success to get a bit of shut eye on the bus.  Not long after my short nap started we arrived at the park.  There were two long hikes – one that Warren (the group leader) estimated would take 15 hours, the other at 11 hours.  The paths didn’t split until partway into the hike, so the group started out together.  We left the bus not much later than 3 am, so it was still pitch dark during the first stretch.

It also happened that the first few hours were nearly all on an uphill, rocky terrain.  Matt and I, the geniuses that we are, didn’t think to bring a light.  We stayed with another group that had a light for awhile.  Our pace was a bit quicker, so eventually we separated.  There were other hikers on the path who had lights, but when Matt and I were by ourselves we had to use our cell phones to guide us.  Needless to say it was a big relief when dawn came.

By the time we reached the peak of Seoraksan the sun was rising, which made for brilliant scenery.  From the top we could also see the ocean in the distance.  Not long after we started to descend we reached a rest shelter, where we took a much needed break and I got a hearty meal of dried ramen.  There was another shelter within an hour or two of the first one as well.  After the second shelter, however, there wouldn’t be any more during the rest of the hike.  On our way to the second one we chatted with an older Korean hiker who was traveling with a few buddies.  When we reached the shelter he offered us Makkoli (rice wine).  I think it must have been either old or homemade stuff, because it wasn’t very palatable!

a look back at the summit (the second hill)

When Koreans hike they certainly suit up.

Before setting off from the shelter two more hikers from our group arrived.  They were the first people we had seen from Seoul Hiking Group since we split with our initial group.  After chatting with them for a few minutes Matt and I headed out to tackle what we expected would be the real challenge: dinosaur ridge.  It was at this point where the path split, and one had to decide to take either the 11 or 15 hour hike.

The longer path followed a series of ridges that when seen from a distance resembled a spiky spine, hence the name dinosaur.  Warren had warned the group that dinosaur ridge would be very difficult.  Matt and I were both on the fence a bit about trying it, but since we were making very good time decided to give it a go.  Warren had said that if we arrived at the second shelter after 9:30 it would be too late to try dinosaur ridge.  Considering we made it their before 7:30, Matt and I figured we had plenty of time.

Part of Dinosaur Ridge - so named because it  
resembles the spiked back of a Stegosaurus

And plenty of time we had!  Dinosaur ridge wasn’t easy, but it turned out to be less strenuous than the first uphill bit back in the darkness.  It was tiring going up and down repeatedly over the ridges, but most of the time I felt comfortable with the path.  The hardest part was actually the last few hours when we were constantly walking downhill on rocks.  It was hard on my knees and tiring trying to focus constantly on which rock to step on next.  It certainly didn’t help that I was hiking after only an hour or two of very light sleep on the bus.

Matt and I were again making good time.  We took occasional breaks, but never for much longer than 5 minutes.  Luckily the path wasn’t too crowded, but it was fun to chat with some of the other hikers we encountered along the way.  The views from the ridge were also gorgeous.  In retrospect we could have taken longer to enjoy them.  Even though we slowed considerably during the last downhill section, we still managed to finish the hike in less than 11 hours.  When Warren estimated the time he must have assumed a slower walking speed and stopping for several long breaks along the way.  Both Matt and I thought our pace wasn’t very fast, but we made great time!

At the end of the hike we met an older Korean hiker that was quite talkative.  He was going faster than us at that point, so keeping up with him helped us finish the last stretch.  He suggested we stop for lunch, so we ate a light meal and had more makkoli.  The park entrance was crowded – with lots of people who came to check out the scenery but skip the long hike.  Matt and I tried to figure out the groups’ meeting point, but there was nobody there yet.  We looked for the bus, hoping we could take a nap there.  After a failed search we just lied down on the grass instead.

The old hikers are a lot faster than they look!

It wasn’t until around 5 that others started to show up from the hike (we had finished lunch before 2).  I thought that Warren would have caught up to us during the hike, but he stayed with the slower group to help them out.  The group of two that we ran into at the shelter also finished late because one of them had injured his knee on dinosaur ridge.  Luckily it didn’t turn out to be serious (judging from how he felt the following day).  It still sounded extremely painful walking slowly down the rocky path on a bummed knee.

That evening our group went for an all you can eat Korean barbecue dinner, then rode the bus to a pension on the beach.  We had the option of staying inside at the pension or setting up tents and sleeping on the beach.  Matt and I both took the latter option.  That night the campers made a bon fire and relaxed with drinks.  The following morning we had free time at the beach, and the weather turned out to be near perfect – mid 70s, little humidity, and clear sunny skies.  I took some needed relaxation and laid out in the sun before it was time to pack up and head to the bus.  We arrived in Seoul by 7:30 on Sunday night, enough time to recoup and get ready for the work week.