Rise and Shine

We got up early, hailed a cab and took off for Seoraksan National Park. It’s about a 12,000 won cab ride out of town. There are a number of paths to choose from, but we decided first on the Ulsanbawi Rock hike, a scenic ~3.5 km hike with an amazing view that takes you through a temple craved into the mountain along the way.

Right as you start the hike, you walk past a massive Buddha and then over stone bridges over a dried river bed and through towering trees. It was certainly one of the most beautiful hikes I’ve ever had.

Getting into the forest, the hike starts off flat, and it seems like almost no time at all before you come up on a Buddhist temple. The temple it’s self is hidden away under a massive rock, making it almost like a cave. As you walk in, there’s a statue on the far side of the cavern with lit candles lining either wall.

At this point, the hike goes from moderate too straight up. Hiking up large rock stairs you get to the rock face where you do switch back after switch back of stairs taking you up. We actually found this pretty exhausting and took a few rests going up. But it’s definitely worth the trek.

After pushing through the last portion of the hike, the view of the mountains and the East Sea off in the distance really makes for a stellar view.

East Sea (Sea of Japan) off in the distance.

Coming down the mountain seems like a blur and before we knew it, the grade flattened out. We started making good time coming back down and started noticing piles of rock that people had put together in different shapes. I decided too leave a little Canadian flavour (with a ‘u’) with an Inuksuk.

Is a Cable Car Cheating?

After some quick BiBimBap we grabbed tickets for the cable car ride up the other peak, we’d had enough hiking for one day. If you decide too take the cable car, get tickets early. We had a 3 hour wait.

Getting too the top, there’s definitely a temperature drop, but it gives you an incredible view of the entire area, you can see all the way too Sokcho and the Sea. There’s a small cafe at the top as well you can fuel up for. Taking a path at the back of the cable car platform leads further into the mountain.

After maybe a 5 minute walk you clear out of the trees and come up on a small peak maybe 60 feet tall, but it’s a shear drop a couple 100 feet down on the sides and there’s zero fences or barricades or even rope stopping you from wandering off the edge. It gives a refreshing feeling in terms of seeing the outdoors, but don’t do this hike at night.

Too climb the peak, there’s a set of ropes anchored too the rock with cement foot holds, which you’d think would make it not too bad, but you’re walking it on the edge while people are coming down in the opposite direction forcing you to take your time. I’d done a lot of rock climbing early on and then after university and this felt like climbing at some points but with no harness. It definitely gets the blood pumping a little.

It’s worth the effort to the top though because it gives you a completely clear view of the entire area.

 

 

Heading Home

After wrestling back too Seoul through traffic, it was with a sprint through the terminal too make our last bus by 4 minutes that we ended the trip. Sokcho’s a beautiful part of the country, if not a little rough around the edges. The food is great, and the scenery is beyond anything I’ve seen in a long time. The mountains are unique and being so close to the sea gives it a real everything-for-one-low-price feeling. No matter where you are in Korea (or asia for that matter) this is one area that’s worth seeing.

As always, You can find the rest of the pictures over on Flickr.