Soraksan 2012

Of my many illustrious adventures during the month of November, none was as scenic as my weekend in Soraksan.

Soraksan is South Korea's largest national park. It occupies a considerable amount of space between the cities of Inje and Sokcho.  It is famous for Sorak Mountain, the highest peak in South Korea.  Soraksan is also riddled with monasteries, temples, and other historical sites.  Soraksan is an extremely popular vacation spot, particularly in the fall when the trees are changing color.  Because of this, trails can get bogged down with hikers, forcing one to literally wait in line to climb a mountain.  I experienced some of this, particularly at the higher points of the first climb where one can only climb via a narrow metal staircase, but more on that later.  What you need to know is that Soraksan is big, beautiful, and crowded in the fall.

I did not attempt this journey on the fly, but in fact arranged it through a travel group called Adventure Korea.  This is a company based out of Seoul that helps foreigners form groups to do various activities throughout Korea.  Adventure Korea handled booking the hotels, arranging for charter buses and even some of our meals.  For a weekend trip, it was nice to not have to do any of the planning.  In addition, it gathers together many foreigners living throughout Korea and (you guessed it) almost all of them are English teachers.  So, traveling with a tour group allowed me to meet a few new faces as well as tackle a few mountains.

I embarked on this adventure to the outdoors with fellow Hongcheonite Franke, who accompanied me to Inje where we met up with the bus from Seoul carrying the rest of the group.  At Inje, we hopped on Adventure Korea's charter bus and rode another hour or so into the park.

Our first day we were given two options: a hard hike or a really easy hike.  Given that we had come a considerable distance, Franke and I both jumped on the chance to do the difficult hike.  The hike we went on was to the peak of Ulsanbawi (or as we pronounced "Ulsan-Bowie").  It was a fairly difficult hike that took us up past several temples, a hermitage, and a giant-ass statue of Siddhartha Buddha.  Along the way we befriended a couple other teachers Alex, and Margaretha.  The former of which I am about to steal pictures from for this blog (as he is a considerably better photographer than I, kudos for being awesome man).  So without further ado, photos of Soraksan!

It's a BIG Buddha

Guess where we're headed?

This hermitage is carved into the mountainside

Hiking buddies (compliments to Alex) From left to right, me, Margaretha, Franke, and Alex

Oh, and did I mention it got a wee bit steep?  (photo by Alex)

Don't let the smile fool you, all I an think is: DO THESE STAIRS EVER END!?!?! (Photo by Alex)

Another fantastic photo by Alex

Photo by Alex

  

On top of the wooooooooooooooorld!

Oh, and you can see the sea from Ulsanbawi

  These were all photos form our first hike, on Saturday.  Needless to say, the next morning we were given two options on hiking.  A hard hike and an easy one, we took the easy one.  Hiking down from the peak of Ulsanbawi I recall pausing for a moment and feeling my legs quivering beneath me.  I have never been so literally knock-kneed in my entire life!

Though the second hike was easier, it was raining steadily the entire day.  So I decided to forgo taking any pictures.  My new friend Alex, however, was willing to risk his rather lovely camera for some exceptional shots of the scenery (i.e. more photo snatching to come). 
This second hike was a waterfall trek, though in the summer it is said to dry up.  I must admit it was rather a boon that we hiked this trail in the rain as the waters were high and the river flowed with at a vibrant pace.  Though this made an easy trail somewhat precarious, I thoroughly enjoyed hopping around on slippery rocks and trails to see the course of the ravine we were hiking.
Thanks again to Alex for the photos I am more or less stealing!

Only the most stylish dress for the rain

The waterfall... and a life preserver... God help whoever actually needs it

So there you have it!  A weekend in Soraksan, complete with photos, friends, a more than a few unforgettable moments!