Bukhan Mountain

Words can’t start to describe the feat I accomplished yesterday. My dear friend from back home who is also here, Renee, suggested that we go on a hike. I was all for it, but little did we know what we were getting into. We should have been suspicious when we got off of the train and headed to wait for a bus which would take us to the National Park. Everyone was decked out in hiking gear, from boots, to hiking gloves, to northface backpacks, to fancy walking sticks, to the latest fashions in hiking apparel…they looked serious. Renee and I just laughed it off thinking ALL the Koreans were just taking it a little too seriously. As I waited for the bus in my old tennies, stretch pants and tee shirt, I had no idea that I was about to endure the single most difficult thing that I have ever physically done in my life.

We started off on the hike, slow and steady. As the trail got steeper and my legs turned to spaghetti I thought for sure I would never make it to the top, let alone back down. Little did I know that it was still 2 hours straight up to the peak of mount Bukhansan. You see, there was no walking around the mountain on a sweet little paved path, with stairs and rails. No. It was straight up the freakin mountain with nothing to hold on to but the rocks we were climbing. When we got near the very top there was a cable that we had to hold on to and hoist ourselves straight on up the mt. Everyone kept pointing at my shoes and saying ‘very dangerous’. They were right. I was for sure not prepared and thought that I was going to slip and go rolling down to my demise.

I am still surprised that I made it to the summit. I couldn’t have done it if there weren’t a large amount of other people doing it too. I kept saying to Renee ‘these people are all crazy.’ I just couldn’t believe how many people there were climbing the mountain. Even though they were all decked out in their hiking gear and extremely physically fit looking, I still kept thinking to myself- if they can do it you can too! It was nice in the sense that it was a group effort. Many people said hello as they passed slow me huffing along, and when we stopped to take breaks people sometimes offered us food, or were eager to hear where we were from and why we were in Korea.

They way down was just as hard in many ways. I was even more nervous about slipping, and the sun was starting to set so we were racing against time. Not to mentions I thought that my legs were going to give each step I took. It was intense. But we made it. Barely. The view from the top was worth it. With all the aches and pains I am experiencing today, it was still worth it. Here are some photos, even though they barely capture the experience.

Do you see all the little people way down there? That was probably 4/5ths up the mountain.

Ah, Victory!