Jirisan National Park

Caitlin and I took a weekend trip to Jirisan National Park. The park is absolutely gorgeous, you could spend an entire week there trekking up mountain and through valleys. We did not have the leisure to do the longest walk in the park (65km from western to eastern end) but we did a fair amount of hiking. We covered about 8-9 hours of wilderness hiking in total by the end of the weekend.


We started at Hwaesom-sa temple, worked our way up to Nogodan Peak where we stayed for the night. The following day we took a valley trail down the mountain and ended our day in the little riverside village of Banseon.

Before embarking on the mountain, we were bombarded by a hordette of snacking Korean children at least 20 deep. They spotted us entering the park and were quick to try their "hellos" on us. As soon as one child discovered that we really did speak English and that we really were not form Korea, it wasn't long before we became the new attraction for the entire field trip.



It was their lunchtime so if you can imagine being surrounded by a group of kids all snacking on big, dirty bags of chips and bugles while sucking down pints of sugary red juices you can't help but feel like a sideshow to them. We fielded all types of questions from their little-kid, crumb-encrusted mouths. "Where are you from? Who is your favorite baseball player? Do you like Kimchi? Are you married? Do you like bananas? Is your hair real? " and others...

(there are oranges in my backpack)

Little Kid: "Do you like oranges?"
Me: "Are you going through my backpack?"
Little Kid: (motions away from backpack)

One little girl made Caitlin move her cell phone off of the bench to make room enough to sit next to her. We were being inspected, analyzed by their little Korean minds and their grubby little cheetoh fingers. They left us with the premonition, "you will see a bear today!"

...and up we went.


The mountain was foggy the entire weekend so we weren't fortunate enough to take in the full vistas of Jirisan but we were still gifted with beautiful virgin forests, peculiar natural oddities, and cascading rivers. The variety of trails and maturity of wilderness in this area has made it one of my favorite hiking spots in South Korea.



Upon arrival at Nogodan mountain hut after a somewhat empty hike up we were surprised to see that there were crowds of people at the top that had driven to the peak to spend the night with their families. A wonderful location indeed to do so, but we felt they had cheated the grueling demands of the mountain. Not only that, but we were late to claim a room for the night and didn't have a plan B.


On top of the mountain at 6pm with minimal food and no place to sleep: "So, Mr. Mountain Man Sir, what happens if no room opens up - where can we go?" He replies in broken Konglish, "You...uh...you, uh, must...go down." Ok? We ended up waiting for an hour and a half and a couple slots opened up for us to stay the night, thankfully.

The mountain hut is an interesting experience. There are basically two bunked up platforms, the lower one for men and the upper for women. Visitors sleep side by side beneath the number that you are designated. I was given number "73."


I slept next to an elderly Korean man whom I'd repeatedly wake up with his hand on my face. On the other side, a bulbous rolly-polly whom wreaked of Korean plum wine and couldn't keep his farts to himself. Not to add that you wake up delirious from the piping heat...a wonderful place to sleep. Seriously though, at W7,000 a night - you cannot find a cheaper sleep in Korea.


From Nogodan Peak hiking down the valley the next day was wonderful. The trail down Baemsagol Valley runs almost entirely alongside a cascading river. There are so many places to stop and eat lunch on the middle of a warm, flat rock surrounding yourself with gushing whitewater. This 5 hour hike allows plenty of time to make friends with the teams of Korean hikers. One group of fellow hikers shared with us their lunch of freshly-sliced squid, totori (acorn tofu), sticky bean rice, fish salad, and various types of Kimchi. We left them with a bag of trail mix as thanks.


"In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks." -John Muir


If you are planning a trip to Jirisan yourself from Gwangju the bus runs to Gurye about every 30-40 minutes from U-Station, costs about W7,000, and takes 1.5 hours. From Gurye we took a 20 minute shuttle to Hwaeom-sa temple for W1,000. We entered the park from the Southwestern corner of the park at Hwaeom-Sa Temple.

From there, the hike to Nogodan Peak takes about 3.5 hours. If you are planning on staying in one of the Jirisan mountain huts be sure to have a reservation in advance, bring sleeping gear, and any food or cooking equipment you might want. Most information says they provide cooking equipment, but they don't. We had to ask the hut staff to boil us some water just so we could cook noodles. You can rent warm blankets for a chun each, which I recommend - they are very warm. The rooms are also pumped full of heat and the number of sleeping bodies crowded together can make for a sweaty night.

You can hike north through the park and come out the other side at Banseon, where you can catch a shuttle bus to Namwon (about an hour ride, W6,000). From there you can catch a bus back to U-Station. Here is a map of Jirisan:


Trail map of Jirisan National Park. Click on it for a larger view.

More Jirisan Pictures

Caitlin's Granola Bars

Here are some snaps of Caitlin's latest creation. These homemade granola bars are perfect for a grab out of the ol' pack on your way up the trail...

Wolchulsan II

Caitlin and I went back to Wolchulsan National Park over the weekend and decided to camp the night instead of heading back to Gwangju. Our original plan was to hike from Dogapsa Temple in the West to Cheonhwangsa in the East (8km, about 5-6 hours) with all of our gear. That plan was quickly fumbled as our jackass taxi driver sped off towards the wrong end of the park. He tried charging us 5,000 won for a 1 minute taxi drive that had us buckled up and hanging on for our lives...when we got out I flashed him the stink-eye and stiffed him with a measely 4,000 won. Prick.

It turns out that he got the best of us, as I later found out that the mouthpiece of my camelback had come loose in his trunk and we would be without a water carrier for the day. We hadn't planned to be on this side of the park and our water was gone so we decided to setup camp on the Cheonhwangsa side of the park, hike the peak, then return the way we came. It worked out much better this way because the course was much steeper than we expected and would have been an unwanted pain with our packs.

Hiking up to Cheonwangbong at 809m is not the highest of peaks but it is certainly one of the most beautiful in Korea. Wolchulsan has some of the craggiest landscape I've seen in any park here and a cool sky bridge to boot. Just before crossing this bridge, we were invited by a troupe of adjumas to share in their Korean feast. It would be rude not to indulge so Caitlin and I were glad to accept some of their mysterious Korean wraps. After being reassured there was no meat inside, Caitlin ate hers only to find that it was oddly crunchy and tasted like putrid fish. She was polite and swallowed even though the taste could have ensued vomit. Caitlin hurried away before losing it to the pavement and tried washing the taste out of her mouth with a granola bar and pumpkin bread snack. The strong taste, however, remained in her mouth for the rest of the day and made for some bouts of queasiness. Gross.




Reaching Cheonwangbong, we snapped some pictures of adjumas at the top then rested with the perky-eared squirrels to have some lunch. We had a pbj and a veggie sandwich, homemade granola bars and bread, and a couple handfuls of cherry tomatoes. From up here you could see Yeongam to the north (where we arrived by bus), spreads of rice fields, and the descending western trail to Dogapsa. After a brief lunch we gathered our things and headed down the valley path before Caitlin would lose full circulation in her fingers. The peaks and valleys here and very windy and can make your extremedies rather numb.




Tempted..hell, you couldn't stop me from calling it a "bread-shaped" rock.

During the descent we came across a disappointing, dried-up waterfall, a rock that looked like a "book," and caught a pack of climbers ascending the main ridge up from the valley floor. Upon returning to our campsite, I found that a family of Koreans had taken over my fire pit and were using all of the wood I had collected that day. Naturally unphased by the situation, I gathered more wood and had a blaze aset in our new pit within two shakes of a kitten's whiskers. We spent the night enjoying my favorite Korean beverage, Makgeolli, eating cream-filled cookies, and throwing wood on our amazing fire.


Koreans camp much different than we do. They do not have open-flame fires or pitch their tents right on the ground. Rather, the campsite was contained and manicured, allowing for tents only to be setup on designated platforms and lacked any fire pits. All of the other campers had with them portable stoves and cookware for making elaborate Korean feasts and early-morning noodle dishes. We even one spotted one group of campers had their kids glued to a television set inside of their family tent. Caitlin and I opted to setup camp away from the buzz, constructed amazingly complex bench structures, and enjoyed an unweilding American fire.


If you are coming from Gwangju, you can catch a direct bus from U-Terminal to Yeongam for 6,000 won that takes about an hour. From Yeongam, you can ride a shuttle or a taxi to either end of the park. There are many labeled trails to the peak from either side, tea fields, temples..there is also a hot spring just north of the city and a rock climbing gym in the area.

Here is a park map for those of you planning to go hiking here.

More pictures from our weekend in Wolchulsan are here.

A Painted Landscape

This weekend we hopped a 6:35 a.m. bus out of Gwangju and headed north for an hour to Naejangsan National Park. (For those of you planning a trip to the park from Gwangju, the bus runs from 6:35 a.m. to 7:50 p.m. and 13 times in between - the schedule can be found here). This park is located in the Jeollabuk Province (one of eight provinces in South Korea) and is one of Korea's twenty national parks (an English guide to the Korea National Park Service can be found here). Entrance to the park is 2,500 Won and lodging/ camping is available. However, I recommend that you plan this in advance if you are going to visit during a holiday or crowded autumn weekend.

Naejangsan is internationally know for having one of the most stunning array of autumn colors. With over 30 species of trees, photographers travel here from high, low, and medium for the chance to capture a rare palette of bold, natural beauty. The landscape looks almost as if an artist had masterfully dotted the mountainsides with their most vibrant colors: deep crimson, yellow ochre, hunter greens, olive green, burnt sienna, lemon and lime, pumpkin, and cadmium dark (no water).

Our direct destination was Baekyangsa, located in the southernmost entrance of the park. From there, we planned a 10 km hike from Baekyangsa Temple to Naejangsan in the northeast entrance of the park. This route takes you through 4 temples (Baekyangsa, Yaksaam, Guamsa, Naejangsa), up and down 3 mountain peaks (Baekhakbong, Sinseonbong 763m, Yeonjabong 675m), around Daegaje Reservoir, and gives you the option to explore multiple waterfalls and cable-car expeditions.


Although these peaks are not as high as those we can explore in the west, each area of the mountain range is unique from the other. Some are rocky and require a mindful ascent, others offer a more enjoyable winding ridge trail that is flanked on either side by low-lying bamboo growth. This park offers anything from a grueling trek to a pleasant day hike through shady groves, your call.

[Baekyangsa Temple, from above]

If you take your time exploring the temples, occassionally stopping to accept gifts of wine and tangerines from friendly Koreans, and break for scenic and nutritional intake - this hike can fill up an enjoyable 7 hours of your day.

Luckily, we got an early start before the gaggles of chattering Korean hikers had the chance to completely take over the park. After gearing up and stocking our water supply, we hit up Baekyangsa Temple before heading into the mountains. This temple was neatly spread between an idyllic autumn pond and the southern base of the park's mountain chain. We spent about an hour soaking in the natural beauty of the hundred year-old japanese maples before getting our tread on.

The rest of the day we spent hiking up and down a few of the park's more notable peaks. We were continuously surrounded by vibrant colors and there was always a chance to catch a stunning vista.

"It is like giving your eyes a drink."

At one point, we were even able to see Meudung Mountain off in the distance (this mountain is just outside of Gwangju) even though it was an hour's distance away.

[Meudung Mountain, in the distance]

I have to say that Koreans are the most giving of people. Caitlin and I must have left our hike with more food than we came with. It is not surprising to be handed off one or two tangerines from passing Koreans. They enjoy giving foreigners gifts for some chance of interaction, to practice their english, or just in the spirit of good will.

At one point in the hike, a Korean man was nice enough to share a couple swigs of his Makgulee [막걸리] wine with us. This is a traditional Korean wine that you will find common on most mountains and the reason why a 66 year-old Korean man had enough gusto to pass me on the ascent without shedding a glance. Either that or I just have yet to become a man?

[66!]

Anyway, here are some pictures from the weekend in Naejangsan National Park. If you are privy to long hikes through vivid autumn mountainscapes and eating trail mix, then this is your spot. If not, then you can go hang out with this guy.

[what hanging out with a vegetarian will do to your diet]

Mudeung

Pictures from the trek up Mudeung Mountain can be seen here!

A Bonsai demo by Walter Pall can be seen here!