We always find new hobbies, and we even actively seek them out when things are starting to become “meh~”. But hiking, going out in the great outdoors, and travelling is sure to be a hobby that I will have for a very long time to come. I always stop and savor that feeling of gratefulness for the opportunities that I get to see as much as I can (or as much as my resources would let me). When we reached the peak of Mt. Bukhansan was definitely one of the moments when I felt that gratefulness wash over me. In great waves.
Picking up from where I left off when we started our day hike to Mt. Bukhansan (check out the previous post), let me try to finish my account of that experience in this post. And if this has a lot more pictures than usual, I apologize. Or not.
Let me start with a bit of a trivia. Annually, the Mt. Bukhansan park averages 5 million visitors. It also holds a Guiness World Record for being the national park with the most number of visitors per square foot. In short, this is the most visited national park or peak so far.
12:06pm. We caught sight of Baegundae Peak, and even from this distance, we can see tiny colorful dots moving up. Zooming in the camera lens revealed them to be hikers who already arrived at the Peak.
Even from this distance, we can also make out the flag of South Korea proudly waving atop the Peak.
I was asked once before why I prefer hiking to running or jogging. Well, because hiking allows me to stop and take my time, while enjoying the view. Like these, for example.
The trail has also become a bit crowded, with “counter-flow”. I am referring to hikers who are now on their way down and chose this route for their descent from the mountain.
12:24pm. The craggy, rocky trail on the side of the mountain ended and made way for a flight of fairly wide wooden steps built into the mountainside. The angle was quite steep, so getting winded was a given. 🙂 The ones who were coming down were also being extra careful, because one wrong step and they’d do one spectacular stumble and roll downwards.
By the way, hiking is not the only way to get up to the Peak. The more adventurous ones, you know, the ones with daredevil streaks, can do hardcore mountain-climbing. Like these ones we spotted and tried zooming in on with the camera.
12:33pm. The wooden stairs ended, to make way for….
….rocky inclines. 🙂
Human traffic is now in earnest. Since the path is narrow, some had to wait until a group went up, or down, before they took their turn. Stop for too long, and you will end up holding the line. I appreciated how no one was giving anyone attitude, though. No one was rushing, and if they had to overtake, it was done so politely.
At some point, as we neared the Peak, the path became more challenging. Steeper, and with precarious foothold. The rock surface was not slippery, but it was quite steep, and the only support was a steel rope/cable that we have to hold on to… and cling on to, more like. I understood at that point why other hikers were wearing gloves. Several times the palms of my hand experienced some abrasion when holding on to the cable.
Just to give you an idea of how steep it was…
12:48pm. We finally arrived at the Peak, and the view that welcomed us… Whoa. What a spread before us.
The area at the Peak was wide enough for many of the hikers to just spread out and catch their breath. Some even took spots in other rocky ledges nearby.
Look down one side, and we spotted hikers climbing, having taken another route up to the Peak. This looked decidedly more challenging.
And, of course, the hardcore climbers are still at it. I wonder if I’ll ever get to do something like this in the future. Or I may be too old by then.
So let us talk a bit about Baegundae Peak, shall we?
Baegundae Peak is one of the four major peaks of Mt. Bukhansan. It is also the highest, with an altitude of 836.5 meters. It is the highest of the three high peaks of Mt. Bukhansan – Baegundae Peak, Insu Peak, and Mangyeongdae Peak. Altogether, these three peaks resemble horns that are soaring up to the sky. That is why the three peaks are called Samgaksan, or the “three-horned mountain”.
And yes, these are granite peaks. Which my friend and I discovered and realized to be our favorite type of surface to climb. 🙂 “Look, ma, no slipping~!!!”
At the very top of the Peak is a slab of stone where the flag of South Korea stands on and waves from. This stone slab, also known as a cultural relic or amgakmun, is wide enough to stand on, and commemorates “The March 1st Movement”.
Briefly, the “March 1st Movement” is otherwise known as the “Samil Independence Movement”, a series of demonstrations by Koreans for independence from Japan. The movement began in Seoul in March 1, 1919, then spread throughout the other parts of the country. The protest rallies that ensued were the largest protest rallies against foreign domination in Korean history.
Ultimately, the March 1 movement failed to achieve its objective, but it did spur the feeling of unity among the Koreans. In fact, it is said to have been greatly influential in the rise of communism in the country. March 1 has been declared a national holiday.
We took our turn to walk around the amgakmun, and it was difficult, since there were also other waiting for their turn to go around it. But Lorei and I even stepped up on the rock to have our photo taken, and I was expecting others to rebuke us because I think we took too long. But, no, an ahjussi even volunteered to take a photo of us, if I remember correctly.
Or wait, maybe that was his way of hurrying us along….?
1:06pm. We decided to go down on one of the ledges below for some rest. It was so comfy to just stretch out on the warm rock, let our feet dangle a bit.
Even as we made our way back down, it was fun taking a look at the granite rocks and imagining them taking on various shapes.
And here’s Lorei doing some tree-climbing action.
I am in awe of the hiking gear of the locals that we hiked alongside with. They looked soooo cool. Very colorful, yes, but they pulled it off without looking like clowns. And even the older hikers had rad hiking clothes and shoes! I was especially drawn to many Blak Yak hiking kicks. *le sigh*
1:43pm. As much as it pained us to say goodbye, we had to start our descent from the mountain. We took another route going down, and I was already dreading the continuous downward hike.
1:53pm. We arrived at a rest stop of sorts. It had a store and a restroom and a wide yard where hikers can sit down and stretch their legs out. We took this chance to buy some refreshments (sikhye, anyone?). Then we pushed forward again.
This lady ahead of me caught my eye. Especially because it turned out she looked old enough to be a grandma. Sir Steve estimated her to be in her 60s, pushing her 70s.
And she was still hiking. And strongly at that. WHOA.
The downward hike was now at a fast clip, because the others ahead of us and behind us are all walking real fast. I decided to stop taking photos in case I hold up the others. (And I might stumble. And ruin my camera. Priorities, you know.)
2:40pm. We finally arrived at the end of the trail!
We vacuumed dust off our clothes and footwears, gathered our bearings a bit, and made that not-really-short walk down the road back to the Bukhansan Tourist Center, where we caught the bus back to the City.
It was already 3:30pm when we arrived at the bus stop, and took that 40-minute bus ride. Needless to say, that was when our exhaustion crept in, and we dozed off on the bus. 🙂
This was one of the beauties that saw us off as we went to the bus stop. A dog in one of the hiking/camping gear shops.
When I go back to South Korea (and trust me, I will. I will make a point of it.) I want to do something like this again. Maybe a different mountain this time. Just by watching 1 Night, 2 Days, I can see there are a lot of great places to see just outside of Seoul. I hope this happens soon~ *crosses fingers*
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