Mudeungsan!

     One beautiful weekend in late October, three foreign dudes decided to hike up a mountain near Gwangju, South Korea.  This is their story.

But seriously, I was blown away that our boy Aaron had never actually been hiking before--not really out in the woods, or in a big national park, much less a mountain halfway across the world.  We got an early start to our Sunday, and hopped a taxi all the way to the base of Mudeungsan Mountain.  Which I should probably tell you a bit about.

     Nestled into an extremely mountainous area just about 5-10 miles southeast of Gwangju (toward Suncheon, Jinju, and the coast) is Mudeung Mountain, referred to by locals as Mudeungsan (pronounced MOO-DUNG-SAHN).  It is a relative beast of a mountain, especially considering the urban landscape from which it rises in the distance.  Standing at 1,187 meters (or 3,894 feet) it towers over much of the surrounding areas--and though this doesn't sound particularly huge, it does tend to look and feel really cool because most of that 1,187 or 3,894 is gained during the hike--in other words, it makes for an impressive vertical hike.  And a great place to kick off Aaron's obsession with hiking.

Here he stands, swagged out and ready to hike.

Even if you're one hell of an athlete, it's impossible to walk up Mudeung and not stop occasionally because one is simply blown away at the sights.  It's as simple as some mossy rocks with the sun hitting them perfectly.  

Had to snap a pic with this beautiful scene behind me.  It's pretty great to be a 10-minute taxi ride out of the city and doing things like this.  That's really the story of the South Korean outdoors so far--from urban jungle to out in the sticks...as fast as you'd like.

I decided, for the purpose of this post and of further posts, that these pictures at just gonna be huge. Especially for a post like this, it just makes sense--blow it up as much as possible.

Seeing for miles.

So on Mudeung, there are plenty of places to stop and take a rest, but there are none in an open place like this. You sort of dodge who you can, and the trail is a pretty constant flow of people--being a warm Sunday, the crowds came out. This picture, with Erik being the only visible waygook, is also solid testimony to the fact that Koreans love to get absolutely swagged out when hiking--matching jackets, backpacks, poles, boots, hats, you name it--look no further than the woman in the bottom left. Now she, my friends, is ready to hike.

I was happy enough to get this high up, considering how out of shape I was. Great to get a morning workout in, and take in the views that we did.

Bros.

One really cool thing about any effort you make to hike a mountain in Korea is that Koreans themselves get to see that you're committed to doing something of which they are very proud. To see foreigners hiking the mountains they believe to be so important, whether for traditional, recreational, or spiritual reasons, tends to put a smile on their faces more often than not. A few ex-Samsung workers from Daegu (a large city about a 2-3 hour bus ride northwest of Gwangju) stopped us to practice some English, ask where we were from, if we liked Korea so far, and if we'd enjoy a bit of food they had to offer. Koreans love to bring food and drink and picnic at the summit!

And here's the view from Gwangju near the top. Are you kidding me? South Korea feels, at times, so small and yet so big, and this is just testimony in favor of the "big." This city holds roughly 1.5 million people, Seoul holds just over 12 million, and all of Hampyeong COUNTY carries 41,000. Just a constant back and forth with this small world, big world thing.

Loved looking at this picture again and thinking it really looks as though we're walking off the side of a  mountain, about to fall to our death in the hills surrounding Gwangju. There was some hiking in this exposed field for a while (in which the fall colors were still around, and really striking), but then it was back to a tree-filled mountainside of steep paths.

The descent.

Here's another cool photo that gives some steep perspective--the idea that, if one rock slips, or your foot finds an odd place, you will literally fall OFF the mountain.

And with that, the boys have conquered Mudeung. Had a Korean snap a picture of our sweaty mugs before we jumped on the bus back to Aaron's apartment.

     The Mudeung round trip was about 5 hours, and I'd say we absolutely flew up and down the mountain. I don't know how we didn't get lost--there are countless ways to get up Mudeung, depending on one's preferred difficulty. Likewise, there are plenty of ways to get down--some lead to places further out in the sticks, some lead to temples, some lead to towns, and one leads back to the buses and taxis and food. We were lucky enough to have chosen the right path. Great for a first big hike in Korea as the weather was still nice out and the colors were changing.

     Anyway, there's a post for you to chew on. I'll be back with another, and I believe it will be about our big Halloween festivities in Mokpo and beyond. November was great, December has been nice, and life is flying by here in Hampyeong. I have the day off from school, so maybe I'll just go ahead and start that next blog post ASAP.  Thanks for reading! All the best, and love to all,

Sam Teacher