Sarok San(san=mountain)....what a trip. Sarok San is actually above the 38th parallel, which divides North and South Korea. But this is on the east coast so the DMZ is actually still a couple hundred miles north. Lets just say most beaches have fences on them to avoid N. Koreans swimming to the South so pretty close. To feel you in, it was Chusoek this week which amounts to Thanksgiving in the US. Chusoek to westerners here in Korea means long holiday and travelling. I decided to save cash and kick it in Korea. So a couple of buddies and I decide to climb a mountain. I didn't do any of the planning so I didn't know what to expect but Rich, who had been once before, made it sound like a not to difficult hike. He explained we would hike up the first day, maybe do some swimming and eat lunch on the way, and reach the summit where we would have dinner.
We had to leave at midnight the morning of the hike to travel by bus to Sokcho(small town that is near Yangyang. Sleeping on a bus in Korea is nearly impossible due to the windy roads so i was only able to sleep a couple of hours. We arrived in Sokcho around 7 in the morning and made it to the base of the park around 8. We decide to eat breakfast but since nothing sounded halfway eatable, I settled for a bowl of rice. I also threw down an Oreo or two out of my pack to make it a well rounded breakfast. Since it decided to start raining we made sure our rain covers on our packs were on tight and headed out.
The hike up began with series of long steel staircases winding alond the side of cliffs and across small streams. Every now and then there would be signs warning of faling rocks and the collapsed bridge we passed that looked like it had been folded in half made us realize we may want to look up once in awhile. Along these staircases there were dents and one section was held together by rope because a tree decided to join the rocks falling down the mountain. After a good 4 hours of hiking we stopped for lunch at a rest stop. I cooked up some spicy noodles and threw in some tuna for good measure. After filling our water bottles in the stream, we started the steepest section of the hike. There were still sections of stairs but most of the climb was up mud and rocky trail aided in parts by a rope. Our hope of a good view also became dashed as we began to enter the clouds that had been so kind to rain on us all day. We knew we had to be up high but looking around all you could see was white, kinda like the dense fogs in the mornings back home during this time of year. Well after Hiking from 8:30-6:30 we reached the lodge. Not the lodge we had reserved because they bumped us off the list, but the unreserved shelter which we found out was full. This is where I must point out that I was wearing a breathable rain jacket, shorts and a t-shirt. Due to the direction of the wind and the altitude it was a bit chilly to say the least. The four of us decided to split up into twos. Rich and his girlfriend were going to hike 45 minutes down the hill to a hemitage to see if the monks would let us stay there. Me and Steven stayed at the shelter. I had been experiencing numbness in my feet which soon spread to my hands so I informed the koreans I need to get inside out of the cold. After feeling like I was about to die, they let us stay there for the night charging us 10$ instead of the normal 5$. I think my little episode was probably caused by not eating enough and not getting enough rest. But the rest of the hike up the next morning and the hike down I felt fine, except my calfs felt like they had been shortened while I slept.
Overall the hike was fun and on the way down the weather was kind enough to stop raining and let us see the view which was worth it. I posted a couple of pics and after I get done cleaning up the rest on photoshop, I'll post them too. Its been two days since I got back and my calfs still ache. I was going to go to Apsan today but I think I will wait a bit before climbing another mountain.
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