Wolchulsan National Park

This past weekend we had our first experience in the Korean mountains. We went to Wolchulsan National Park which is just an hour or so south of Mokpo with our co-worker Cody. The weather wasn't the best but the park was beautiful non the less and the hike was great fun. It was cloudy and foggy all morning so there were no spectacular views to be seen and aww and ohhh at but it was a cool feeling to be surrounded by clouds. There were temples and an amazing bridge that links 2 ridges. With the fog it looked like the bridge went to nowhere. We thought we were taking the "easy" trail but discovered rather quickly that we had taken a wrong turn for the more difficult "dangerous district." Thankful we survived to summit the mountain just as it began to rain. We managed to have a bit of a snack and enjoy our accomplishment before descending to escape the rain. It stopped pretty soon and we enjoyed our hike back down. Occasionally stopping to give our shaking legs a break. As we got closer to the parking lot the sun began to shine more and more and it turned out to be quite a nice afternoon once we finally finished. We had a great day though! Plus we got to know Cody much better which was awesome and we got to teach him American sayings such as, "slow poke," "buns of steel," "we look like bums," and "I am fat and tired." After we had conquered the mountain and the elements we enjoyed our lunch amount the yellow and red foliage. As we finished the mountains emerged from the disipating clouds and we were treated to some beautiful views. We got the best treat as the sun past behind the summit of the mountain before we left. The bus ride home was a serious struggle to stay awake which we all failed at.

The Korean hiking experience is very different because there are so many people!! There were hundreds of people on that mountain and it wasn't even great whether. Cody said if it was nice there would maybe be double. Plus, all of the people are decked out in all of their outdoor gear. Everyone is wearing the nicest and newest gear in awesome colors. Koreans very much care about their appearance and it is no different in the woods.