1 April 2024
River view take 2
Yebongsan and Ungilsan from Paldang Station
I did this hike previously, on 7 November 2022. At the time I declared it a top 5 hike of all time. That was during Autumn, when the leaves were colourful and the sun was lower in the sky. Today I did it again in Spring. When everything was dead and brown and the sun was much higher over head (which means the light for photos was not as good). Upon inspection of my last visit which you can find on this very website, I have determined that today I wore the same pants as last time, without even trying.
My previous visit here also has the rather expensive memory of being the first time I noticed huge dust spots on my camera sensor. Which after getting considerably worse resulted in repair attempts that eventually destroyed my camera. I have since re purchased the same model, so today I am looking at the photos in some detail for dust spots. If they are there this time, it is still under warranty and I will attempt no such repair myself!
OK, enough reminiscing good and bad, it is time to look at the not quite as good as last time photos from today's still excellent hike.
Today I had a different starting point compared to last time. I decided to approach the mountain from south of the river, from Hanam station, the last station on the purple line.
Starting from Hanam station added about 50 minutes walking to the start of the hike, and meant I had to walk over a bridge across the river. Finding a way up onto the bridge required negotiating a construction site.
Crossing the bridge provided a great view. I cannot tell if they are building or dismantling that bridge.
Before too long I was at the familiar start point of the rocky trail. Time to start my watch. Today's hike was not overly long, about 12km, 5 hours, 29,000 steps. I seem to have exited it at a different point compared to last time.
I have climbed that mountain across the river on a previous trip.
There is the bridge I walked over.
First main view point. I took the same photo last time.
There is a mini train to the top, but it is not for the public.
Instead it is for scientists going to the observatory. I presume they mainly go there at night.
Everything looks quite dead still.
At the main summit are the usual ribbons, and I think in peak times someone would sit in that tent selling drinks and ice creams. Maybe they do a deal with the observatory to bring them up on the train thing.
View from the top towards Seoul.
Here I am! Those are my aforementioned pants. No camera sensor dust spots (yet!).
Last time I took a wrong turn at the observatory which then required me to double back to my desired trail. No such issue today. I would follow the path around all those ridges coming from the middle left of this photo.
After the observatory there were only 2 or 3 other people for the next 3 hours. The path was still good for most of the journey. I will rant about the tricky path down at the end.
Here is the hang gliding launch point. There is a private dirt road not on the map that comes up a valley to here.
No hang gliders today.
The next peak has no view. Nice photo though.
This style of sign is very useful. If you come to a fork in the trail you probably need to check your map, unless it is explained like this. Obviously I took the red option.
A nice rocky bit.
More rocks.
In the centre of the screen here is the observatory from earlier. Very far away.
Final peak for the day. Not very high. Observatory can still be seen if you squint!
Here I am. This selfie is not as good as the one from yesterday.
This particular photo on my last visit was very good. Not so good today.
In better light with less haze this would also be a really good photo.
The path down that I chose was poorly marked, a real choose your own adventure backed up by the occasional ribbons in trees. There are multiple ways down, I chose the wrong way.
It also required crossing a small stream numerous times. I am very cautious with streams and possibly mossy slippery rocks.
And then I came off the trail about here. A few hundred metres from where the map suggested I should come out. This makes me think I lost the trail down at some point.
Final pic of the day, Ungilsan station. The train came within 5 minutes of me getting to the platform.
Still a great hike today, just not as picturesque as last time.
Tonight's journey to find dinner will be short and local!