Mr. Rocky Top: Painfully Hiking Up Bukhansan

A couple of weeks ago, I went hiking at Bukhansan National Park, which is a little north of Seoul. My sole motivation for doing this hike was to do something outside of town. Unfortunately, no one I knew was in proper condition to go hiking or was busy so I had to head up the mountain by myself or do nothing at all. Of course, the adventurous/independent side of me took over and sent me outside of town.

It took me a little under a hour and a half to get there, but it was rather strange getting there. I actually took the subway to the base of the mountain; there is a station basically at the start of the trail. Can you imagine riding the metro to the Smoky Mountains? I did have to get on a bus for a few minutes, but it wasn't hard figuring out which bus to get on considering I had to push myself on since it was literally packed with hikers. Once I got to the base, a friendly English-speaking Korean helped me out and sent me up the trail that I was looking for. I decided to head up to the highest peak in the park since I read that it offered an amazing 360 view.

I'm not sure if I can really call it hiking; it was more like climbing. After the initial general incline, it was basically straight up. I had to hoist myself up all the way. At certain points, there were cables cemented in the rock, and the only way up was to pull yourself up. It was a struggle, and I had to take many short breaks, but it was certainly worth it when I reached the top. It was such an amazing view! The peak was as small as my living room with hundreds of Korean trying to crowd on it; I was a little worried about being knocked off. It was also a little sad not being able to share a moment like that with someone, but it was still great. I was at the very top, and I could see for hundreds of miles all around me. I thought I even saw my home back in Tennessee. It was also incredibly windy up there; I wasn't wearing my jacket because of the hike up, but I promptly put that back on once I reached the top.

After spending some time at top, I finally headed down. It took me about 2 hours and 15 minutes to get up and right at an hour to go down if that tells you anything about the climb. The effects of the day lasted for a couple of days afterward. I could barely walk around from the excruciating pain in my calves. The pain eventually went away, though, after lots of Tylenol.

Luckily, trumpets are allowed while hiking: