My Everest, called Bukhansan

Seoul is surrounded by mountains and tons of people go hiking on the weekends. Bukhansan is the "big mountain" which has many different trails that differ in difficulty. A few mondays ago, a couple of friends and I went to tackle this mountain.

I had been dying to get to some nature. Seoul is a great, metropolitan city that has a lot going for it, but I am, and will always be, girl that needs open spaces and nature . Since going to Busan, I hadn't really been around anything but this concrete jungle, and was nearly desperate for some clean air, some green spaces, a different skyline.

After like an hour bus ride, we arrived at the Bukhansan national park. After purchasing a map (not worth it) and asking the guard for the easiest trail, he recommended to us Baekundae Peak.

Baekundae, it turns out, is the tallest peak at Bukhansan. 836 meters! 2700+ feet!

Let me just say that if this trail is supposed to be one of the easiest in the park, I don't want to know what the others are like. For some reason I thought there would be a lot of switchbacks and a gradual incline. That was not what I got.

The first part of the trail is fine and really pretty. You walk the trail along a pretty ravive and there a few big rocks to climb around but other than that it's relatively easy. That is maybe, the first half hour of the estimated 2 hour trek to the peak of Baekundae.

From that point on, it's less hiking and more like rock climbing. The way you get up the mountain isnt on a ground trail, but basically a rock/stone path. all the way up, up, and UP. My calves were dying. On parts of the trail, you walk along sheer rock, where you pull yourself along using this cable that was put on the path.

It's only a 3.3 km hike, but the vertical climbing makes it seem a lot longer. Instead of taking 2 hours to reach the peak, it took us 2.5 hours because we stopped a lot along the way. I really liked that, thought, because while on the trail you really have to watch your footing to make sure you step correctly among all the rocks, and it's only during these rest stops can you see the park before you. As you get higher, the town below disasspears into the trees and all you can see are bits of sky and horizon inbetween the trees :)

And then, the final part to the top is a long set of steps. I'm not sure if this was better or not than the rock climbing. But then, once you get to the top of the steps you get a pretty awesome view of the park. It's here that you can stop, relax, eat some lunch...

Or, you can continue up! From here continue up towards the peak, which is essenctially an giant granite rock. The way you get around this peak is by pulling yourself up nooks and crannies using nothing but the pull wire. It's a bit dangerous, and I suppose if I were afraid of heights, then I couldn't do it. But be it as I neither care about heights, or apparently my safety as I wasn't wearing even proper hiking shoes, we headed to the top and took pictures with the ahjummas and ahjussi's who climb baekundae on the weekends as if they were just going for a casual morning stroll.

I had a lot of fun hikinhg Bukhansan, and would definitely like to go back, but next hiking trip I think I'll opt for another mountain, equally as beautiful, if not a bit less killer on my calves. I was wobbling around for 2 days after!