Most people probably do not think of Korea as being very mountainous, but in fact much of this penninsula is made up of mountian ranges and such. The area that we live in is surrounded by gorgeous mountains, they're no Rockies or Swiss Alps, but they are beautiful and do make me feel like I'm back at home in good ole' Boone, NC. There is a particular mountain park that is located just a few miles from our home, Soyosan Mountain, and that is where our hiking adventure took place.
I would consider myself to be a pretty decent hiker. I mean I did live in Boone for 4 years and I did have to hike up Carr Peak just to get Clayton to propose to me. Not only am I good at walking up mountains, I also enjoy it. It's relaxing and instills a sense of calmness within me. This particular hike up Soyosan was not relaxing nor was I calm...just ask Clayton. You see in America, trails are built to be safe...for the most part. For those of you who have done some hiking, you know that when going up a mountain, trails are usually built in a back and forth pattern...like a zig zag. Sure it's not the most efficient way to get up the mountain, but it's SAFE. The Korean trail builders here, are not concerned with safety...at all. Their trails are not really "built" per say. There is a rail or a rope and it literally goes straight up the mountain. Last time I checked, I'm pretty sure that kind of hiking is called ROCK CLIMBING. Well, all of this information I was not given prior to our lovely hike. My husband, whom I love, decided to with hold this information from me because he thought it would be funny to see my reaction. Needless to say, I reacted how he expected and he had a very enjoyable experience.
We approach the dirt and graval and all looks well so far. I notice that there are no trails, but there are creeks or just a creek that flows down the mountain. I also notice that Koreans are laying everywhere alongside the creek...later I came to realize that that is what Clayton and I should have done. I asked Clayton which way to go, he replies "Straight up." I look up and ask "how do you know that, there's no trail?" To which he replies, "sure there is...you see that rail, that tells you which way to go...and that's up." Below is a picture of this rail and what I relied on the ENTIRE HIKE!
As you can see, there is no trail, only boulders. Not to mention, this rail was so much taller than I was! I could barely reach it at points throughout the hike. I kept referring to the hike as "Super Dangerous," which made Clayton laugh...but it was! I was baffled by the number of old people...like 60+ years old....who were out climbing these rocks with all their hiking gear and big sticks. It was embarrassing that they could manuever through these boulders faster and more efficient than I could. We made it to the first summit after about 45 minutes (Clayton made it up with a friend earlier in the week in 23minutes). Yes, the view was amazing and gorgeous, which was good because I was NOT going to be happy if I had risked my life for a horribe view. We continue to climb the boulders up to the next summit. Again, equally as beautiful and from this particular summit we could see our apartment complex.
While at summit number 2, Clayton asks "Hey since we're up here, you wanna pop on over to the next peak, it's only .5 mile." I asked how we would get over there, to which he replied "oh we'll just walk down hill some and then back up hill, it's not bad." I'm not sure why, but I agreed to "pop over to the next peak." While walking over, I immediately regretted my decision. In order to get down to the next summit you did have to walk back down the mountain some. However, the mountain was not set up for us to walk down. We had to use a rope to get down.
Ok, now you know a trail is dangerous when you have to use a ROPE to get down the mountain. Again, Clayton thought it was very humerous, I however did not. This was NOT my definition of "popping over to the next peak." My life was in danger! I was worried that Buttons may become mother-less and end up in an orphanage. We finally made it to the last summit and the view was amazing. We could look out and see North Korea on one side and then look in the opposite direction and see South Korea. It was gorgeous.
Coming back down the mountain was not so great. The other problem with hiking internationally, is that the signs are not in English. We couldn't read which way was out and which way was to continue on to another trail. We eventually decided that we should go with the sign that points down seeing as going down would eventually get us off the mountain. This was another decision that I immediately regretted. The hike back down was so steep and there was no trail. We ended up following the creek back down which again was not a good decision because all the rocks were slippery. As clumsy as I am, I did not fall once. Now I did slip and slide about every 2 steps but I did NOT fall. Clayton on the other hand, did fall. He decided to take a potty break and then slipped on the rock he "used as a target" and fell pretty hard. I feel like this is karma coming back to get him for laughing and making fun of me. The picture below is not of me slipping or falling like it may look. You literally had to squat that low in order to get down the mountain because it was so steep and slippery. Clayton wanted to document this of course and that's why he slipped and fell on the rock he peed on.
We finally made it back down the mountain, about 3.5 hours later. The hike should have only taken about an hour and a half, according to Clayton. I find that hard to believe because of how dangerous it was! We both left with minor injuries, Clayton had a bruised tailbone, I had some fluid build up in my knee and a bruised rib, but all in all we made it out alive...barely. We will not be going on this hike anytime in the near future...and for those of you planning to visit, do not worry because we will not take you out and put your lives in danger like Clayton did to me.
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