Climb every mountain...

Yeah! This was the theme of our hike which got outlined by the song from the classic "Sound of Music" while driving back.

I thought we had done enough after Seoraksan's adventurous and rigorous hike. But Dave came and we ended up planning another one. It was a really beautiful day with clear skies and wonderful temperatures. Autumn colors were beautiful though we were a little late perhaps as we realized when we went higher.


We did the climb really fast. It was a 7km hike and definitely not easy towards the end but it was the effect of last hike that kept us going.

The Peak

The peak was beautiful. It is always good to see the starting point from peak.



Coming back, we took alternate route. It reminded us of the adventure a couple of weeks back, but this time it was well planned. And we climbed down really fast. Here are some pics on the way back:



Finally we decided to have dinner at the base with Dong-dongJu and Kochu-jan. It was a nice end to a wonderful day.

Korea: I am impressed...

This is a place holder for all good things which I want to write about Korea. I don't think many people know about this wonderful asian country which is slowly becoming a major economic hub in the world.

Hope to find time to start filling. Till then wait... :)

Testing the limits...

1st October, 2005

A beautiful start

When we started this trip we did not know what is in store for us. We had planned Seoraksan trip for seeing the beautiful fall colors in the mountains. It turned out to be a pretty rainy day to start and we decided to turn towards Odaesan National Park. There was no scope for hiking, so kept on driving through the beautiful weather and great turns on the road. Nobody seemed to enjoy the drive other than me when I was behind the wheel. Finally I had to give up driving and hand it over to Nagaraj for his share of fun on the wheel. Went around till late evening. And we dropped anchors at Naksan Beach after driving almost 500kms. Then started the search for something "non-moving" to eat. It was a great relief to find Pizza Hut in Sokcho. We ate like there is no tomorrow and after some shopping from E-mart headed for beach.

Wonderful pics on the way:
(click to see enlarged view)

Taj Mahal at the beach:
In memory of Nagaraj's beloved's (he did not remember the count). Note the Great Wall of China protecting the Taj mahal from Sea waves.


2nd October, 2005

The Hike
Sunday was a very nice day. A little less overcast and looked like clearing up slowly. We had a nice leisurely breakfast and started from Motel around 10am. Picked up the hiking map and started the hike.

I laughed at the time shown as 2hrs for each 2.5km hike and when we started I realized why it was so. It was one of the steepest climb I had ever done. We were totally exhausted at the first rest area itself even though we had rested 10 times before that rest area. We finished the 2hr climb in almost 3hrs. There we met Michael and Terry. And they came along with us. Interestingly they were also planning to do the same round-trip trail and we realized that it is going to get late if we do not hurry up. It was getting more and more difficult. The autumn colors were showing up as we climbed up. But the legs were giving up. It was getting colder and I had already started getting cramps. At one moment we could see our starting point and it was really impressive to see how much we had climbed. But we had to keep going. It was still not close.

Beautiful Peak

We somehow managed to reach the top after a lot of struggle. It was beautiful. It made us forget all the pain and we started our photo session. It was so windy at the top that it was very difficult to stand. We studied the map and hoped that the way back might be easier if we go the planned way. Even though that was supposed to be a little longer. But we were too scared of going back the way we came. It was surely going to get dark mid-way and we did not have a torch or warm clothings with us. So we hurriedly packed up some chocos and cookies at rest area on the way and started in hope of easier way back. It was looking promising to start with. We had only 2 hours of sunlight left and at least 5 hours of way back.

We were supposed to be going in a new direction and map showed us that we will meet a forked road (road is a misnomer here) which will take us back to complete the round trip. We were exhausted but had to hurry as light was fading very fast. It was getting colder and I had started getting some cramps in the leg. Strangely, Nagaraj and Naveen were fighting over carrying the back-pack. I never offered help as I was in no position to carry it. I finally picked up the big water bottle for sometime and realized that I will not live long if I carry this longer. But I could see the inspiration walking in front of me. We met some koreans coming other way and nobody agreed with the map and they told us that we have to go back the way we came if we want to reach back. Or go on for another 4 hours hike for reaching anther starting point. Map was accurate in minutest detail till now and we did not want to go back as that was definitely impossible to do now as we know how difficult it was. We carried on in the hope of finding the forked path.

Fall colors at the peak
(this pic is while going back)

The rocks started getting bigger and bigger as the night fell around. We got another Korean party who could talk in English and they also suggested us to go with them back up unless we want to appear in the newspaper next day. But we finally met a guy who gave one of his torches and told us that if we have a torch, we can make it. It gave us a lot of hope though we knew that there is not going to be a forked path anywhere and we are in for a long night. I finally gave up the water bottle as it was not helping with the balance while jumping and climbing big rocks with wet surfaces. We finished most of the water and pushed the bottle in back-pack. The slopes were getting steeper and steeper. We did not have much hope with the small torch with us as we were 5 people and terrain was getting very dangerous. We met another big group on the way and they gave us the picture of what lied ahead of us. We were seriously thinking of spending the night somewhere there as skies looked clear and stars were visible. The temperature was dropping very fast though.

Then came our savior. We met one Korean hiker and a kid going in our direction with a torch and the hiker seemed trained and very comfortable with the terrain. Somone from the big group requested him to take us with him. And then began the fun. We could now see the path and we had to carry on and on because if we do not go with him, we had no hope. Interestingly we were clmibing another mountain instead of climbing down. But by now we knew that we are going to some new destination and not the place we started with. Map was indeed wrong. We had forgotten the pain now as we had got used to it. Legs had stopped complaining as there was no other way. It is amazing how human mind can change the physical boundaries of human body. We finally started the climbing down after the 2nd forked path on the map (first was never there). It got more and more muddy and rocks got bigger and flatter. There were ropes But we were feeling much better as we were climing down. And we had re-filled our stomachs with chocolates and cookies we were carrying at the forked path.

We refilled the water at one of streams on the way. When we had started from the peak, this track was shown as 8.3 kms but now we could only guess how much we have crossed and how much is still left. And we could not be doing at more than 1km an hour given the difficulty level. And when we saw the road below us, it was such a great feeling. By this time, we were dying to see flat land.

We got down with legs hardly moving and we entered the rest room for the hot water wash. Warm water felt so good. It looked something strange. Maybe it is a village. Things are different here. Oops. We were in the "women" rest room.

The best part of reaching down was that we found a mobile van serving gheraan toast (bread-ommelette). Had it with a coffee. It felt so good. We thanked the Korean who came at correct time to save us from cold otherwise we had no option but to spend night on the hill with less than 10 degree celcius temperature and no more than t-shirts. Finally said goodbye to Michael and Terry. Driving back was fun with hot air blowing through the feet. Covered 350kms on expressway in 3.5hrs. And while driving back, we got a lot of rain justifying the decision of not staying up on the hill.

This was one of the best hikes I ever did. Looking back, it feels so good that we did it. It is so funny that out of more than 13kms of hike, I was feeling worst after first 4km. And it is really amazing how much we managed to do.


Other things which I missed and would like to mention:

1. The average age of Koreans doing this trek was definitely more than 50. At least, it appeared so.
2. We met a Korean girl (around 8yrs old) being dragged by her father for this hike. Amazing.
3. This was very difficult hike and still the most crowded one.