The one advantage to having my internal clock still be set a few hours early is that waking up to hike at 6:30 a.m. is not a problem. By eight Claude and I had already gone a few kilometers and were well on our way to the first big rock of what would be a long day of hiking. We hiked 4.4km up to a giant rock face, with an elevation change of 873m. Most of this was in the last kilometer. (You have to hate that I just switched to metric, but it is what is used everywhere else, so why fight a better system?) At the top a Korean offered me a piece of candy, and I thanked him in Korean, which made his day. He then offered me some hot tea that he was drinking with his family, I declined, again in Korean, and he was ecstatic. I saw him again on the hike down, and he bought me some peanut and rice candy that you see in my hand. A poor man’s PowerBar.
After the first climb, we got tickets to the cable car, which had been closed in the early morning due to high winds. (They almost knocked me off a cliff, they were incredible.) We then hiked a few more kilometers to a waterfall and back before heading up the cable car to the most amazing view I have ever seen in my life to date. Click on image to see the panorama in a larger scale. It is breathtaking.
Seoraksan National Park Range
Wow, so there is not internet access in the mountains other than when the
landlady sneaks you onto her computer when her husband is not looking. It
turns out that that is what the youth hostel lady did when she let me on
the first time because her husband would have none of it.
Don’t worry mom and dad, I’m still alive. I have about 150 more pictures to upload when I get some time online.
