Distance: 14.0km (391.8km), time spent: 9:19 (205:46).
Altitude (start / end / highest): 614m / 800moh / 1077m.
Weather: Sunny, but with a thin haze on the sky.
When on long walks, usually something instigates a change of plans underway, both small and big. The typhoon a couple of days ago made a little mess of my original thoughts, so after having cleaned up the mess, I ended up with a slightly different plan. It is too short a walk to Beoljae (7km), so I set course for Jeosuryeong. I reap the harvest of that decision, when I have to pay a stiff price for water.
Breakfast in Hwangjangsan Minbak with Jae-young Lee (to the left) and two other hikers.
To walk in the dark here is something I have decided to avoid, mainly because I want to see what the landscape here has to offer. Hence, early mornings, to get going at the moment it has become light, has become a routine. Therefore, I do not mind when the owner of the minbak wakes me at 5 o'clock in the morning, telling me that breakfast is ready. It is eaten together with Jae-young Lee and the two other hikers from yesterday, who afterwards gets on going towards Beoljae. Jae-young is being driven by the owner of the minbak to Jeosuryeong, while I make use of my legs to go there. The people at the minbak here has been most hospitable, so a big praise to them.
The small temple in Ansaengdal.
I do not depart at once, yesterday I discovered there is a small temple here that I have to go down and look at. Now, I have never been particular religious of me, but beautiful buildings however does the religions know how to make. If I am being spiritually carried away after the visit to the temple I do not know, but it is fortunately going a lot faster up and back to Chagatjae than first presumed. I reach the pass at the same time as low clouds are drifting through the tall grass; Woraksan is a little bit more evasive to get a look at than the previous national parks I have been going through.
A funky ridge between Chagatjae and Beoljae. You can see one of the ropes you have to use along the ridge being stretched around a huge boulder.
Between Beoljae and Chagatjae, after a nice walk in the woods from the mysterious jangseung-poles at Jageun Chagatjae, a thin and funky ridge is rising up as a natural obstacle on the way. From far below on the way up, I can see a rope stretch itself around a huge boulder on the exposed ridge the trail is passing over, I know what is coming. In the usual way, ropes are in place on the most exposed places. The previous funky ridge was struck by bad weather; this is traversed in significantly better weather. Even though there is a somewhat hazed veil on the sky, which prevents the horizons to meet my view. Cheering voices can be heard from the thin ridge further away, I wonder if it is the other two hikers from Hwangjangsan Minbak, which however has taken its name from the highest peak you pass over on the way to Beoljae, Hwangjangsan (1077m).
On the way over the exposed ridge before Hwangjangsan.
Excited about this part of the trail, I let my feet dangle outside the edge of a helipad I arrives at after Hwangjangsan that is naturally cut out of the mountain. The contours of the mountains on the other side of the valley can be glimpsed through the veil. Before Pyebaegijae, I make a wrong turn, with the reward adding some additional height meters to my tally before I am back on track. Which leads to a meeting with three other hikers. A somewhat halting conversation follows before I lightly smudged with grape juice in my beard continues down to Beoljae.
View from and pause at a helipad after Hwangjangsan.
There I step out of the lawless group to a quiet pass. Water is located a small walk on the road down from the pass. The jeongja here is housing some giant wasps, so lunch is prepared and eaten and the benches below instead.
Beoljae.
From Beoljae to Jeosuryeong there is a less exciting walk, which mainly is consisting of a tiresome ascent up to a nameless peak and a just as strenuous ascent up towards Munbokdae (1077m). More amusing is it that I meet one of the retired policemen from Mungyeong Saejae again. A small herd of wild boars are rummaging and snorting below the path on the way up to Munbokdae. Jeosuryeong can be seen through the trees a long time before I get to the pass.
From Beoljae the trail started by going through this tunnel of vegetation.
So, it is here at Jeosuryeong that I have chosen to the spend the night. It is a nice enough jeongja here, some nice benches and enough space to pitch my tent. Just nearby is a closed hyugeso, which has definitely seen its better days. Otherwise, there is nothing here, and least of all, water. I got the number for a taxi here from Jae-young, so I call it to arrange transport to the important liquid element.
View from the trail between Beoljae and Jeosuryeong.
It takes a long time before the taxi arrives, in the meantime I just relax at the place, but I wonder for some time if I have made myself understood. Eventually it shows up, it turns out that it is the same taxi driver that I drove with yesterday. So the long waiting time is understandable. It will cost me 90 000won for the taxi drive, in other words I will pay an expensive price for the water. The ride goes to the same shop as yesterday as well. I passed Beoljae on the way, so I could just have stopped there and filled up with water. But, it is actually a nice drive. And for the first time, I get the feeling of being out on some wild plains here in Korea. I drive through a mysterious landscape, on a desolate stretch of road with trees alongside it like an avenue.
Jeosuryeong. I pitched my tent on the grass behind the monument to the left.
Back at Jeosuryeong, I binge out on a double dose of ramyon noodles, rice, braised beef in soya sauce and two buns for dinner. Few, if any, cars drives past the pass in the evening. Quietly I sit in the dark and relaxes after the day. I receive a call from home; it is nice to hear how they fare back home.
In a little village to buy water (and some more food, while I am at it), an expensive drive.
<- AnsaengdalJukryeong ->
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