“Are we going hiking today??”

[youtube]http://youtu.be/5TiHVgiHuK4[/youtube]

 

Gajisan is one of the more famous mountains near Ulsan.  I believe I heard it was also one of the highest.  Only two days after Chris and Leide arrived, we attempted to tame this beast. Teaming together with Jenna, we all headed out at the crack of NOON to catch a bus to Seoknamsa (the name of the Buddhist temple at the bottom of the mountain).  In fact we got such a late start and took our sweet time getting ready, we wondered whether or not we were actually going to make it to the mountain at all.  The catch phrase of the day became, “Are we going hiking today??”

We stuffed our back-packs and bags with tons of gear, food, water, clothes, medicine, and every other thing we might need.  Jenna kept making fun of us, “It’s not like we’re hiking Everest!” “What are we gonna need a flashlight for??”

Oh, Jenna .. so much to learn .. 😛

The Stairs

The best way to start hiking a mountain is to climb some stairs… up the mountain.  Thankfully, Gajisan gave us this “wonderful” opportunity 🙂  Thus starts Stage 1: Happy Phase.

There were quite a lot of stairs that I didn’t take pictures of.  What you see is only a TINY portion of the stairs we had to climb at the very beginning.

Moving into Stage 2: Winded Phase.

The First Open Landing

This was by no means the first rest we took, but it was nice to see a bit of our progress.

Stage 3: The Giddy Phase.

The Buddhist Rock Mounds

I believe these little mounds are made as passers by say prayers while setting a rock down.  If I’m not mistaken, each rock represents a prayer..? Though, I’m not entirely sure. I’m also not entirely sure what Jenna and Leide are teaming up about.  Probably a sort of “Girl Power” something or other 😛

Stage 4: The Women vs Men Phase

 

The Second Open Landing

There’s a cliff you can walk out on and enjoy an awesome view of the mountains.  Also, there’s another part of the temple in the distance. I think that might be a tunnel or something..?

Stage 5: The Delirious Phase

The Third Landing

Getting closer to the first peak.  There was a peak in the distance that looked really far away.  We all joked about how it would take at least a day to get there, and we were thankful that we didn’t have to climb it …  we were wrong.

Stage 6: Confusion – a stage of mixed stages. Laughter, silence, fatigue, delirium ..

The Point of No Return

So, this was a little landing we came to with what looked to be a small restaurant.  It was closed, of course.  But if it had been open, we might’ve inquired about their mountain delicacies.

However, we did encounter some passers-by shortly after I took this picture who warned us of immanent danger that lie just up ahead! Well, not exactly.  They really just told us that the top of the mountain was too far from this spot, let alone making the whole loop down to the bottom.  They warned us that we should just turn back and go down the way we came.  Well, leave it to Jenna to do the exact opposite of anything anyone tells her to do.  Boy did that EVER put a fire in her step.  The words “the top is too far” (even though spoken in broken English) ignited something inside her that left the rest of us trailing far behind. NOTHING is too far for her .. when someone says it is, haha 😛

All joking aside, we decided not to heed the kind exhortation, and  continued forward and froward 😉  The sun was still high, and look! We again had the perfect jumpstart: STAIRS!

At this point, picture-taking dropped to an extreme low.

Stage 7: Silent. Frustrated. Exhausted. Determined.

The Fake Top

We finally made it!! … to the first peak.  Jenna: What?? This isn’t the top??  No, Jenna. Don’t get too comfortable yet 😛  Remember that first peak in the distance we saw earlier and thought it’d take a day to get there. This was it. And it hadn’t taken a day! Horay!

Although, this was a point where we were all pushed to our limits!  As I pointed to our destination, which was in the near distance, there were thoughts of quitting still. There’s no way in he** we’re going to make any more effort to keep going … or are we?

Mustering up every last ounce of energy we had left, we set out for the final stretch.  And it was a surprisingly short stretch.

(A quick note to all my UK friends out there – Relax! I’m not giving you the “eff off” sign here.  In the USA, it’s just a cool way of making the peace sign 😛 )

Stage 8:  Wits End

The Peak of Gajisan

We finally made it to the top!! What an extraordinary view! I tell you, the pictures don’t even do it justice. Just being up there looking out onto the mountain ranges and cities is an absolutely amazing experience. Not to mention very satisfying after all the work we put into getting up the mountain.

You can tell Chris is happy. Just look at that face of accomplishment! 😀

And what better way is there to celebrate than sitting at the top of Gajisan, looking out upon the world, eating tuna sandwiches? Tuna sandwiches for all!

Jenna: I am so sorry I made fun of you for the way you packed. I am completely unworthy of your superior intellect and planning.

Haha, I don’t think she said it quite like that, but there was an apology of sorts.

Stage 9: Finally!

The Way Down

Picture-taking pretty much stopped at this point. The sun started to set and I forgot my camera has a flash I could’ve used. Although, I was pretty tired and couldn’t be bothered. I did get a couple shots in at a landing. Not very good, but enough for documentation.

However, let me tell you a bit about our trip on the way down:

The White Dog

This was an interesting part for a couple reasons.  First, this was the part where the group I was with last time (2 years ago) took a “short cut” down the mountain.  And by short cut I mean 4 hours of jumping from rock to rock down a non-existent path trying to make our own path by following tiny little cloth markers on trees.  Ah, fond memories.

Second, there was a random white dog on the landing.  Granted, it was outside of a little shed or shop or something.  But it wasn’t on a leash and there were no people around to claim it.  It barked at us for a while, blocking the path we needed to be on.  It was a little scary at first. Luckily it got bored quickly and walked away, letting us venture on ahead.

The Wide Road

This was a dirt and gravel road that led up to the previously mentioned shop. It was obviously well traveled by vehicles, so it was a breeze to walk down. After the hike up, it was definitely a nice change of pace. It lasted quite a while and we were thinking that it would be nice to walk down the entire way like this.  Chris and I got some good guy conversation time in while Leide and Jenna did the same in the girly sense 🙂

The Highway

So, we missed a turn somewhere. The gravel road, which had turned to pavement- dirt- pavement- and back to gravel again ended at a closed gate. Beyond the gate was an actual highway.  There was a map at the gate showing us our mistake, but it was too late.  Just up the road to the left was a restaurant that looked as if the owner was closing up shop.  To the right, the highway winded down the mountain.  If you ask the owner of the restaurant to call a taxi, turn to page 29. If you walk down the side of the highway with no sidewalks in the dark while speeding cars are driving to and fro, turn to page 103.

Page 103 here we come! Thanks, Jenna.

The Valley of the Dogs

This was by far Jenna’s favorite part of the hike. She just loves cuddly, mean, barking dogs that howl at us in the night.

Okay, so walking down the highway wasn’t as easy as it sounds. It’s pretty steep so there’s a lot of leg muscles needed to keep yourself from tumbling all the way down. My knees were killing me!

But once it finally leveled off, there was a long stretch of highway that passed several establishments holding quite a few very loudly barking dogs.  The first one we came to was really eerie because it was very dark along the highway.  The sun had gone down completely, and there was only a small yellow light at the end of the road lighting up a dirt path that lead up to a couple of shacks guarded by a huge fence.  Once the dogs heard (or smelled) us coming, all at once they barked and howled like crazy.

It was a little scary at first, to be honest.  Just imagining those dogs somehow getting free and jumping the fence. We could’ve been their supper.

After the first establishment, we walked past a second, then a third.  There had to be at least five or six we passed. We had a hunch that these might be the dog-breeding establishments where they butcher dogs for soup.  Yes, dog soup is fairly common in Korea. And yes, I have eaten it.

Anyway, this was the low point for Jenna. I guess the thought of being mauled alive by a pack of dogs wasn’t very appealing to her 😉

Oh well, we made it through just fine .. and reached the bottom.

Stage 10: Ex-flippin-huasted!

The Bus Stop

We made it!! Exhausted. Ready to go home. Waiting for the bus. Chris had recorded our progress on his phone with GPS tracking. It said we hiked 9.4 miles total! And THAT up a mountain! Wow.

Jenna: Justin, I will never make fun of you for anything again… well, that’s not true ..

Hahahaha .. yes, I know .. but thanks for the acknowledgment that we did actually need the flashlight 😀

THE END