Hiking Seoraksan… immeasurable beauty.
25 Nov
How shall I describe watching the sun set and rise atop the highest peak of continental South Korea? It’s silly to try, but I will.
The hike was about 15k to 5,603 feet. It took Amy and I a dedicated 10 hours to get there. The autumn colors were glimmering gold, ruby, and orange at the bottom. As we got higher it was much colder. Crunching on the fallen leaves, we carefully made it up without any injuries.
We randomly joind up with Art and Caitlin, who thought they could make it up and down in one day (not possible!) We were chasing daylight in our last few hours, hoping to get to the peak in time for sundown. Magically, we arrived at a clearing just a few km short… in time to see this:
Once the sun set it got really cold. We bundled, and reached the shelter in no time. The Seoraksan website said they were booked for beds for the night, but we figured being silly foreigners they would still take us in. (They did.) The shelter was a heated three-story structure of wooden bunks. Surprisingly, the 180 spaces for hikers was almost full, the place smelled of sweaty dirt mixed with overwhelming peppermint. I was so disappointed, I had bought a sleeping bag for the journey which was totally useless in the 80 degree room. AND 80 DEGREES WAS HOT. Sleep came quickly and easily, we eagerly awaited the 5 am sunrise.
The final trudge up .7km was awesome. I could see 360 degrees around me. To my right was total black sky and stars, to my left the sea was brimming with orangy red. The moon was still glowing, stars alight. My breath was foggy and hot in the cold morning air. The top was magnificent. We found a nice rock to plop on, snuggle in, and wait.. wait.. wait… where is the sun? Isn’t it up yet? The sky turned light without anyone realizing it, the horizon changed, magenta clouds and silhouettes of boats appeared. The piercing sun emerged. ‘Here comes the sun’ chorused. We, along with a few hundred of our closest Korean friends, clapped, yelled, screamed, cheered.
After a few pictures we were on our way down. Could you imagine that 10 hours up was a mere 3 down? We took a more direct route, descended back into the ozlike colors. Sigh.
MRumianowski
another chapter in your awesome adventure. i really dig the 2nd picture – i wanna cannonball into that pool even if its too cold.
THose pictures had me in awe from my computer desk in lousy south jersey. I can’t imagine what it was like to experience it.
The first picture stole my heart. The sun shining on my beautiful girl. I miss you sweetie. Keep exploring and adventuring while you can. We’ll see you soon.