Climbing Another Mountain

Leading up to last weekend was probably the most scared I’d ever been in Korea. I was terrified. One of the teachers at my school invited me to see Seoraksan, one of the most famous mountains in Korea. He invited me when it was somewhat warm, so of course I agreed. Then, leading up to the weekend, the weather got increasingly colder. I was scared! Then, someone mentioned it would be about -30c. That’s when I started becoming terrified! Eventually, after much worrying and preparing, the weekend finally arrived.

Luckily for me, I have a really good friend who was able to loan me absolutely everything I needed to survive on a mountain in the winter. From shoe spikes, to pants, to backpacks, to jackets – EVERYTHING!  I think without him, I would have frozen to death for sure!

Our PC Room - Star Wars

Somehow I had convinced my friend Marty that it was a good idea to go on this trip, so Friday night, Marty, my teacher, and I met at the bus terminal. We left at 12:00am and rode that bus till 4:00am. Unfortunately, we were supposed to ride till 6:00am, but the bus was super fast. We sat outside in the cold, looking around, wondering where to go, but then a PC room came into view. We hid out there, me sleeping on the desk, everyone else playing internet games,  until the 6am bus was there to take us to our next destination – THE MOUNTAIN!

The trip was actually pretty nice! I had brought way to many clothes to keep myself warm. The first day was pretty tough, walking uphill the whole time. Marty’s pace was running, so I was trying to keep up as well as I could. After about 9 hours on the trail, we arrived at the Temple to sleep. We were all exhausted! And of course, me being the “Girl” again, was sent to the “Girl” sleeping room. It wasn’t so bad – there were a few other women in there as well, but they didn’t speak English. I ate my dinner and everyone crashed about 7:00pm.

 

It was THAT cold!

At one point in the night, about 3:00am, I woke to a room flooded with lights. For some reason, the lights were all on and most of the women were gone! I don’t know what would make them leave the room in the middle of the night when it was THAT cold outside, but it was strange.

Marty in front of the Temple

The next morning, we started about 7am – before the sunrise. This, I think, was the most difficult part of all! The trail was straight up, we were all groggy from just waking up, it was freezing, and there was snow all over the mountain! That was the moment I decided I would never get on a mountain again.

Hallway in the temple stay area

The woman's sleeping room

The window to the kitchen - and the hot water on the table

Outside the temple

  

Top of the Mountain!

Finally we got to the top top top of the mountain - the highest point in Seoraksan. It was the coldest I had been on the trip – my hands were freezing! I couldn’t even take pictures because I thought my fingers would fall off for sure. Sorry about that. You can just look at pictures of us with the Signpost at the top.

The walk the rest of the day was super nice! It was all downhill, was all really warm, and that’s when I decided that I was too harsh earlier that morning – hiking mountains is fun!

When we got down, we headed back to town, where there was the beach! It was so weird thinking that after climbing all over those mountains, I would be at a beach that evening! We had dinner at a restaurant close by the bus station, and then headed back to Pohang on the next available bus.

 

 

 

All in all, the trip was really great. Though I was cold, and my legs are still sore, I am really happy I was able to do it! And I’m REALLY happy I still have all my fingers and toes!