Length: 26.9km (676.8km), time spent: 11:38 (332:39).
Altitude (start / end / highest): 1338m / 1031m / 1421m.
Weather: Nice, some clouds.
Just to spell it out at once, what a hard day this became, but in return the reward stood in style. The wee hours in the mornings are painful, almost evil, I am now sincerely looking forward to the day I can really get a proper sleep in the morning, but rise and shine early is nothing short of mandatory for the moment. Fortunately, I am in some shelter for the cold in the morning, I can light up my stove inside, and prepare and eat breakfast at my leisure. The worn cabin still bring back memories from the stays at Aula and Tagnarede on the GR10.
Early morning at the summit of Noinbong.
It is dark outside when I leave Cabane de Noinbong, but there is a red glowing line at the bottom of the sky when I climb up to the summit of Noinbong again. At the summit, it is a clear view, some wind and sour, but what a truly magnificent start of the day it is. Views in almost all directions, and from the East Sea I can see the lights from the squid boats. In the west, the valley below lies covered by clouds, I have a little premonition that it will rise and cover up the landscape. The two other hikers are also coming up to the summit and then we are three standing and enjoying a really great sunrise. An ecstatic morning, despite the early rise.
Sunrise from Noinbong.
The first load of group hikers arrives just before I start walking on today's stage, then it is teeming of people at the summit. It strikes me that they must have started early from Jingogae, which I now setting course down for. It is Sunday today, so the Koreans are making their way up into the mountains, I pass several groups on the path down, to the tones of good light. I am relatively early down at Jingogae; luckily, the hyugeso here is open. Time passes by there, while I am gorging without equal. Soda, ice, Korean hot dog (deep fried sausage on a stick) and coffee goes down in quick successions.
Jingogae. Several hikers are preparing for a hike next to the hyugeso at the pass. In the background, Noinbong.
A large group of hikers are standing and stretching out, before they are preparing for their hike, when I finally embarks on the first brutal climb of the day. An eternal long uphill to the summit of Dongdaesan (1433m). I really begin to feel the impact of the fall here, not just in the colours, but also that it is thinning out in the foliage. The leaves takes up less space now, the vegetation is opening up. It is definitely a change of character on the trail since the earlier days.
Captivated by an autumnal tree.
A new fence meets me at Durobong (1421m), after a nice ridgewalk in yellow, orange and green colours past white granite blocks and views over to Noinbong and Hwangbyeongsan. The path down from the summit is steep and a little bit hurting, and at times a temporary setback to the overgrown paths from before, but hemmed in between the trees you still do get to rest your eyes on the horizon. Far back, I can see Daecheongbong in Seoraksan National Park, as well as the ridge the trail is passing over. As soon as you come down from Durobong, the path becomes good to walk on again and easy to follow despite significantly less ribbons. The ridge is distinct and easily visible in the nice weather; even so, the ridges are melding into each other's and makes it hard to know the exact location of your whereabouts. Ironically, it is the 'Closed section'-signs that are providing the best indications of where you are, since they contains maps where your location are clearly marked.
View towards Eungboksan from below Durobong, in the background you can see Daecheongbong in Seoraksan National Park.
The boundaries of Odaesan National Park ends just next to Sukeonbong at 1210m. Fittingly enough, I eat my lunch there; yesterday I ate lunch at the spot where I walked into the national park (Maebong). It is a signpost there, where one of the 'arms' of the signs lies casually a little beyond the path, I attaches it back onto the sign again. Perhaps it was meant not to be on the signpost, since it is in a closed section.
During my journey, I have come up with the following definition of mountain hiking in Korea: every ascent consists of several descents and every descent consists of several ascents. When I leave Odaesan behind me, that definition comes to into its own, now I start on the really corrugating part of today's walk. Over Manwolbong (1280m), Eungboksan (1359m), Maneulbong (Garlic Peak, 1126m) and Yaksusan (1306m) it goes, up and down all the time.
More open vegetation now, from a pleasant walk on the ridge after the descent from Durobong.
At Manwolbong, I meet someone out harvesting mushrooms, and there are voices from all sides. The heavy climbs saps me of water, and so I tries to find water from the sources marked on the map, but usually I do not find the sources and when I do find them, they are almost dried out. At least you are compensated for all the toil by the fact that it is undeniable a great walk with a lot of views.
I climb tired up towards Yaksusan in sheer defiance. Just before the actual summit there is a dramatic view, the sun is setting and it is quite the number of clouds drifting across the sky. Far below, I can see the road that winds its way up the mountainsides to Guryongryeong. To the North in the horizon, I should see the peaks of Geumgangsan, which lies in North-Korea. It is quite strange to see in the direction of that country. An unequivocally sign that I am beginning to getting closer to the end of my journey.
View back from below the summit of Eungboksan.
The descent from Yaksusan is steep and hurting, with several of the painful speed bumps they like so much here. From the pass below, there are a lot of sounds; I start to wonder if the hyugeso there is open anyway. After several painful steps, I can in the end emerge tired out next to the much closed hyugeso here, with one of the toughest stages on the walk behind me. My legs are complaining a great deal of the treatment they have had to endure today.
Dramatic view from Yaksusan, the road that winds its way up towards Guryongryeong can be seen below.
The sounds I heard from here, turns out to come from a small marked outside the closed rest area, of all things. The marked consists of a three small tables where food and drinks are being sold, around some of the tables next to them again guests are sitting eating and drinking. I ask if they have some water that I can get, and receives a two-litre bottle tossed smilingly into my arms. Help arrives from the most unexpected moments, now I do not need to hassle getting down somewhere. I then makes myself a customer of the market and buys some food and drink, two sticks with fried meat of some kind, a somewhat sweet and very hard cake with peanuts, soda and a bottle of soju. Fantastic.
One of the sellers at the small market at Guryongryeong, who hospitable gave me some water and food.
When a man from Korea Forest Service appears and wants some word with me, I start to feel a little bit nervous, given that I have just come down from a closed section (the trail is closed between Durobong and Guryongryeong). It turns out that I have no reason to be nervous; Mr. Sang-Su Nam is a very nice man, who works as a guide here. He is only asking me to write my name in a journal, as at Ssarijae, for my own security. He then show me a place where I may pitch my tent. Since history has a tendency of repeating itself, there are some people asking him out about me. So, I am obliged to stand as a model right next to the enormous stele at the pass.
The sky is coloured purple over the giant stele at Guryongryeong.
The sky is almost coloured purple when the sun announces that it is satisfied with the day. Mr. Sang-Su Nam gives me some delicious rice cakes after I have pitched my tent, before he drives home for the night. It is now empty at the pass, the people at the market has packed together and left. I eat dinner at the stairs of the hyugeso in the dark. Then I withdraw into the tent, where I let my legs really get some rest. Both the sleeping bag and some sips of soju warms the body. My mother calls from home, I can tell about very nice, but hard day.
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