četrtek, 18. avgust 2011

Odaesan Hike, The Defeat

First the promised pictures from the last entry. This is the evening near Woljeong sa.

A morning walk here can really make your day!



But also some weird signs in the park. protected area, you know... No what???

Some konglish also. Here you are...


Now, about the defeat.
From Sangwon sa I reached Birobong to have an amazing view of... nothing. The top was in the clouds, it was raining and it was cold so I just gave up on following the Odaesan crest to reach it's highest peak, some 3 meters more than Birobong, and went back in the valley the way I came up. Since on the way to Birobong there are two more temples the path was pretty crowded even in a rainy day. My next destination was Dongdae san and that was a tough one. Had to do 1000 meters in altitude on a 2.7 km long way. Had to have three breaks, I'm getting too old for fun like that. Not for the mountains, it's just my philisophy "omnia mea mecum porto" and I end carrying a 20+ kg backpack with me. From the top of Dongdaesan I had the same pretty view as from Birobong, with the addition of a really hard rain. And then I was really soaked wet. Anyway I had to laugh when I finally recognized some Korean mushrooms. Now I know I can do mushroom picking also here!

Yes, it's definitelyy him - Boletus!

But I won't do it for economical purposes, in a country where fruits and vegetables are outrageously expensive, 1kg of dried boletus is about 5 euro!
I had no choice, I had to follow the sign showing me to the left - sort of "nothing there"?

I descended in the next valley, actually it's a pass, having in mind to find a place to sleep and continue in the valley of waterfalls. Descendig - the stairs!

According to the map on the Jingogae pass there is a rest area, the Park entrance and so on, so I was expecting it would be easy to find any kind of place for the night. But it was a real disappointment - a huge parking lot, a small restaurant and a closed ranger station. A roof so small that I barely managed to have a smoke without wetting the cigarette. And yes, a so stinky toilet that I opted for taking a crap under the rain. The nearest shelter is on the Noinbong peak, some 2 hours walk. I couldn't do it. It was getting dark, I was too tired and there was again a very good chance of the shelter being closed, abandoned or who knows what. No way, back to the valley. I gave up. I had only one barely dry shirt, no chance for making a fire for cooking and it was dark already. But I slept nice and dry and woke up at 9 AM, the clothes were almost dry, the river nearby was clear, so in the end it was a pleasant defeat.
Even more pleasant because after just a three hours walk I was knocking on the door of an apartement, shouting "It's uncle Dag!" and a shiny smile welcomed me.

If only all the defeats would be like this!

2 komentarja:

  1. They forgot to add to No kooking:No looking,No looping,No looming.That would make appear the rest of restrictions more obvious.Yet,a truely wonderfull place,gotta admit.Annd yes,what do you think is better,a mulattiera or a stairway in such environment?Buco

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