After sleeping in until 10:30 and suspending the trip an hour or so I met up with Natalie, we bought some food and went down to the subway. Four transfers and over an hour spent languishing on the subway we arrived at Dobongsan station at the foot foot of the mountain. We had seen just about all of the eastern side of the city and were now farther than we'd ever been from home near the end of the far reaching line 1, the purple line. When we stepped off of the train we could see the mountain we'd be climbing despite the cloud of smog that hovers over the city, and though not gigantic it was impressive, I was pretty excited. We were about to climb Dobongsan. San means mountain in Korean and they just attach it to the end of the name so if we were to translate this, we were headed up to Dobong mountain.
While we were walking up the road I couldn't help but think that it didn't look that high and was excited to go up, conquer the mountain, come down having proved myself a badass in less than 3 hours all without breaking a sweat. Ha. On our way up we passed a lot of older Koreans all decked out in climbing gear; poles, hiking shoes, mountain climbing backpacks and under armor-esque clothing all of which was long sleeve. We had a laugh at that because as much as these people looked the part, we did not. We were both wearing shorts, a t-shirt and running shoes and I probably wouldn't have looked much different had we been going to the bars. As funny as we thought these avid climbers were they actually helped us out when we got off the subway. We had no idea how to get to the mountain, we could see it but that was it, we were still in the city, so we decided to just follow the currents of obvious mountain climbers flocking to the beginning of the trail. We were right to do so as the hikers led us right up to where we would be starting our hike.
On the way up to the mountain we got a chance to see where all of these hikers did their shopping. The road was lined with hiking shops big and small. All of them had barrels full of hiking poles, shelves full of hiking shoes and racks from which hung the ridiculous clothing our fellow hikers were wearing. There were also special hats, handkerchiefs and sunglasses in a variety of colors. Ponchos, mess kits and tents also sat in the display cases, you know just in case you had forgotten yours at home. The size of this hiking market was ridiculous, these stores had everything and I think we passed about 45 different places. All of the big brands like North face were represented and the funny thing was that the knockoff brands of the bigger ones had stores right next to whomever they were trying to emulate. The one that stuck in my mind was a North face store right next to a Red face store, but there were many more besides that. We also passed a lot of food stands that sold anything you could want. We had bought some snacks before hand so we didn't stop at these places, but I at least was amused by the fact that these shops on top of selling traditional Korean food, which isn't very nutritious as it is, carried soju and other liquor, what great companions for a grueling hike, liquor and junkfood.
At the trailhead we stopped into the park rangers office and picked ourselves up a handy dandy map on which the ranger was nice enough to highlight the route we'd be taking to the top. The map showed all the peaks as well as points of interest along the trails, we'd be taking the orange trail to Juanbong, the top of the mountain and I was happy to see that along the way we'd be passing a few temples and hermitages that had been there for quite some time. I'd be getting a little history and sightseeing in with my hike, killing two birds with one stone, alright! We got started right away . . . on a paved road which cars were driving down. Great, is this going to be hiking in Korea? Paved roads lined with food vendors? Natalie and I remarked to each other that this had better get a little more challenging or we'd just taken an hour and a half subway ride for nothing. We kept on going though and encountered our first temple, luckily I had brought my camera so I was able to snap off a few shots of the temple buildings, an impressive statue of the Buddha and the guardian demons painted on the doors. Not too long after we came across an old school which I also took a picture of. Both the temple and school were the first real examples I'd seen of traditional Korean Architecture and though they were small it was pretty cool to see. I particularly enjoy the roofs and gates, the tiles that compose the roof and the lines of the houses and gates are quite cool in my opinion.
We continued up the paved road and were happy to see that it turn quickly to old laid stone which quickly changed to jagged stone steps as we made our way farther up the trail. Directly next to the trail was a stream strewn with boulders where Korean hikers were picnicking and washing their feet. The trail itself was littered with large rocks and grew progressively steeper as we went up. It was all steps at this point that seemed to have been hewn out of the rock of the mountain itself. The steps were old and rough, some were small, others large but all were unique, it was interesting to see and different from any hike I'd been on in the states. I imagined that these had been laid by either the monks or hermits of one of the monasteries we were approaching some centuries before and that thought steeled my resolve to beat this mountain.
The problem however with that was that this was getting hard. It hadn't been an hour before I was soaked to the bone. I had packed my bag full of food and 4 liters of water and gatorade adn it was weighing on me pretty heavily, my calves were burning along with my hamstrings while sweat poured out of my my brow and dripped all over the ground, my camera, my shoes. I'm sure you could have followed me had it been less hot, there would have been a small salty stream coursing down the mountain in my wake, disgusting I know but it was a hot day and the hike was becoming more and more strenuous as we got further up the mountain. I started giving myself breaks by taking pictures of the scenery. While this may not have been necessary it was worth it and I got some cool shots of the mountain as we climbed. It wasn't very different from mountains I've hiked in the appalachians. The plant life was comparable, a lot of conifers, some oaks, the only glaring difference was the amount of stones, the combination of these things made for some pretty cool pictures and I took advantage of that.
We both tired out pretty quick, the hike was quite a workout and we were laughing at ourselves for our earlier confidence, which turned out to be pretty ridiculous. It was a jolt back to reality, I had imagined myself to be in pretty good shape, but the mountain proved me wrong. I might still be in decent shape but I am certainly not where I want to be just yet. I remember being a kid and going four hours up old rag without any significant break. Maybe these trails were steeper but I still felt like a wimp as we sat down for our lunch of bagels and apples. The Koreans were laughing at us as well, which normally would make things worse for me, but Natalie and I both laughed it off, we kind of deserved it, and besides we thought it was pretty fun too. We sat for a little and then continued upward, continually laughing at our now exposed frailty, the trail was at such a steep incline at some points that you had to use a rope to pull yourselves up, at other points railings were set up to hold on to where the rock was to smooth to climb, all of these seemed insurmountable barriers by the time we were about an hour from the summit, and our resolve was at an all time low when we stopped for a break near the top.
We were in the middle of talking to each other about how ridiculous we must look, how funny it was that the Koreans were all laughing at us, and how both of us had almost fallen within the last ten minutes when we met with our new companion. Torbin was a German biologist who traveled all over the world with his parents and was admittedly pretty strange. Natalie saw him climbing up when we were resting and asked him if we was going to make it. I think she may have regretted calling out to him later but he came over and started talking to us. He is a beetle expert who had just come to Korea the same as us. Well he had been here before but had only recently returned. He sat with us as we rested and then continued on with us as we resumed our hike.
He spoke to us the whole time through such a thick German accent that I thought his name was Tobin for almost the entire day. He punctuated almost every sentence with abrupt laughter, but was so good natured it was hard not to like him. While he was a little weird he was a very nice guy and he provided us with the drive to reach the top that we had lost in our last break. It was only about 15 minutes to the top from where we had stopped and it went a lot quicker than the last hour had. We talked with Torbin about different things, Korea, Germany, hiking, how we all needed to get back in shape while climbing nearly 70 percent inclines of solid rock that were pretty challenging but quite beautiful. Before we knew it we had reached the top.
The scenery was spectacular. The peak we had climbed was the highest peak you could reach on a ridge line dotted with six or seven other mountains that you could see. All of the peaks were topped with massive boulders jutting out of the surrounding forests. Our peak was the same except that we were at the top of the giant stone looking out over the other ones. All the effort had been worth it the view was just amazing. Alone with the other mountains you could see the city, still shrouded in the smog that makes it nearly impossible to see the stars at night. Despite the smog it was still breathtaking. The best part I think had to be the air. As we had climbed I had noticed the air becoming cleaner and cleaner, it tasted so delicious, especially at the tope of the mountain coupled with the landscape below us, it tasted like accomplishment.
We took some pictures of ourselves, included Torbin and some of our fellow mountain climbers and continued on. Natalie had planned on going down but we continued along the ridge of the mountain with Torbin to the next peak. This part of the trip was much easier as we were walking either downhill or on mostly level ground and we now had a burning sense of victory to fuel our extended hike. It was a nice walk Torbin proved that he prefered to talk then be quite and I was happy to humor him. He told us he was 32 and traveled a lot with his parents. He worked out of his home studying beetles and would stop every once in a while to examine the flora and fauna.
We stopped at 4 other peaks each slightly different than the one before. From the first, Jubong, we were able to see the northern side of the mountain, a sea of trees stretching as far as one could rolling like waves over the mountains in the distance. At the second one we encountered some picnickers who were happy to share their bounty with us. One of the men handed Torbin a milky liquid in a cup which turned out to be some sort of liquor. We passed it around and it was delicious, I had scoffed at this at the bottom of the mountain but at the top it was really refreshing. I think it also gave me a little more energy. At the third which was Podae Peak I think, Torbin and I scrambled over the boulders on the top with Natalie worrying out loud behind us, we then convinced her to scramble up with us and the suburbs surrounding the Purple line we had rode up on sprawled before us. We took some pictures and were about to leave when a helicopter came roaring over our heads. We had passed a helipad earlier and the pilot landed the chopper there behind the second peak we had stopped at, presumably to rescue some poor sap who had twisted an ankle. We moved on, having watched the helicopter land and depart to the fifth peak we would see that day, the fourth since the original and the last we would see that day. The way there became a little less concrete. Gravel and loose dirt were most of what we walked on on our way and Torbin had quite a fall. He tumbled down end over end and cut himself up on his hands, legs and forehead. He was a little shaken but besides the cuts none the worse for wear. We made it to the last peak not to long after that. From there you could see an ancient Monastery that we left for after taking in our last view of the mountain top.
The three of us started down the mountain around 430. Actually it was three mountains over from the one we had climbed earlier and the way down was pretty easy. "It's all stairs" Torbin told us as we went down and so it was, wooden stairs set very close together, I had to walk sideways down them because my feet when facing forward hung over the edges of the steps to much. Despite the short, steep steps we made it down to the monastery though Torbin kept on jokingly telling me I was going to fall next. The monastery was beautiful, well it was a Temple actually, the Mongwolsa Temple to be precise. I took pictures of the Temple itself which was really something. The building itself was really ornate and intricately built, with reliefs on the outside walls and impressively detailed painted wood carvings framing the roof. The inside was amazing too. Awe inspiring Golden Buddha statues and golden wall hangings, the name of which I can't think of right now, stared out at me from behind the simple altar. I snapped a few pictures after asking permission from one of the monks and then we walked down a stairway into the courtyard of the Temple. There was a spring were weary hikers were resting and having a drink. We waited unsure what we were allowed to do, while Torbin cleaned his cuts at the sink in the kitchen. He called out to us that dinner was free here and we were more than welcome to it and several of the kitchen ladies beckoned us to come in and sit down, we happily obliged.
The meal was pretty good. It was all vegetables for the most part with rice, soup and walnuts, but I was pleasantly surprised. We had the pleasure of english speaking company at dinner to, a lady named Diane who was staying at the temple for the weekend talked to us a little bit about Buddhism and the temple's history. Diane and her friends told us about the time they'd spent in America, one had been to Baltimore and stayed in Hunt Valley. Unfortunately we couldn't stay to long to talk though. It was getting late and we were tired so we washed our dishes, thanked everyone for their company and food, walked outside to fill our water bottles up at the spring and walked down the rest of the way. We encountered another spring on the way down which we crossed over a few times. I took pictures of the source and later the stream that it became. It was a nice little stream because the water just cascaded down the rocks so there were several small waterfalls along the way and a natural water slide that several guys were playing on. It reminded me of Sedona though it was small in comparison and I think that I'd like to go back there just to try it out, it looked like a lot of fun.
We made it down finally and walked to the metro exhausted. We stopped on the way to get ice cream, a desert that seemed fit for a king at that point. We gobbled it down then left on the subway. We said goodbye to Torbin halfway through our ride, and laughed a little bit when he left, he had been a strange man but a good hiking companion and I'm glad we ran into him. An hour later we got back to Hanti and went almost immediately to bed, tired and sore, but, in my case anyway completely satisfied with the day
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