T-T-T-Turn and face the strange Ch-ch-changes! Hiking Seoraksan for the 3rd time

Three seasons on Seorak down...one to go!

This hike through Seorak Mountain was the most epic so far.

We began our drive down at midnight from Seoul, arriving in the parking lot below Bekdamsa temple around 330AM. after a most dissatisfying nap in the bus, we de-boarded, made breakfast and lunch fixins forthe next two days, and started walking up the road toward the temple. after 7kms hiking up a winding road we arrived at a temple where we enjoyed aa warm cup of traditional Korean tea and culture. After this, we would begin our hike through the backside of Seorak Mountain's River Valley, and Up Up Up to the shelter, where we would spend the evening trying to get some snoozes. The them of this trip Was too hot..too cold. I wore so many layers and believe me, I wore them all. The hike is INTENSE. and I sweated a lot, so when we would take a break, the cool Autumn air would chill me within minutes.

I like it when the leaves turn red.

I like it when the leaves are the color of my head.

I like it when the leaves turn brown.

I like it when the leaves fall down, down down.

Oooh the colors oof the fall! Ooooh the colors of us all!

We can name them alllll....

We can name them alllll....

Yo! Britches! look at the leaves!

See how gently they're fallin' from the trees!

Yes I see colors, I see them all around.

I see red, orange, yellow...and a slight touch of burgundy.

The group we traveled with was large--the 20 or so folks who stayed on the mountain seemed to split into two groups, and stayed that way. First, there were the hardcore, "I'm gonna sleep out in a tent in freezing conditions and theres no time to rest--gotta power through it" team. I called them the Tiger's Head. Large head, large mouth. always up in front.

I was in the tiger's tail team. Since it was my third hike, I feel I've powered up this mountain in the past, and since the scenery in the fall is so incredible. We took a great deal of time out to sit by waterfalls, take pictures, and enjoy each others' company. we played rock, scissors paper; Cari and I made up a song about the leaves. It started out as a way to annoy Mark, who said his wife would have chatted about the leaves had she come on the trip. and then it took off and it was just a way to keep breathing as the Mountain incline got more steep and we thought We'd drop if we had to see even one more staircase.

As we were nearing the shelter location, we took a break at the top of a particularly hairy incline. As Cari came over the bend, she stops with a huge grin on her face and tells us, "best story ever: William (our fearless leader) sits down, pulls out a cheeseburger." We all burst out laughing. It's 3pm and We have been hiking for about 8 hours. We are all dying for a warm meal, and William has a CHEESEBURGER? This would later incite a new song to be written over ramen noodles and soju at the shelter that evening.

The hike was wonderful. cold, tiring. We were all so tired, that between the hours of 6 and 7pm, we all fell asleep, 18 people crammed elbow-to-elbow into two tiny rooms. There were 3 snorers, noisy neighbors, and very verrry hot, but we were so exhausted that it didn't seem to matter. Until my Ipod ran out of batteried and William's Chainsaw snoring had me done and fed up with the sleeping arrangements. Ifound myself out in the hallway at 3am with my headlamp and sudoku, nestled between everyone's shoes. A few minutes after I got comfortable in my new chilly locale, Cari tromps up the stairs with her sleeping bag in hand. Her nose is bright red.

Apparently she had also gotten annoyed with the snoring and went outside to sleep on the bench in front f the shelter. We sat up and chatted, sang some tunes, and did sudoku in the chilly hallway. By 430, our whole group was up and dressed. We wanted to reach the Peak by sunrise. We were hiking in groggy silence guided only by the light of our headlamps. after an hour or so we reached the peak and watched as the dark mist turned gray, then got lighter and lighter...until, lo and behold. it was a dense bright gray fog. Wow. how magical. hmmm... still, totally worth it. We hiked then all day to arrive at the park entrance and meet our friends the day hikers by 4pm. A dinner of bee-bim-bap, a quick trip to the hot springs, and we were on our way home. Seoraksan....once more!

Victory! beautiful! I love hiking! Doing this mountain makes me feel I can do anything.