Springtime for Hallasan (한나산)

Last week I felt a bit adventurous and thought that going for a rigorous hike would be a good option. The weather was perfect, and Matt was interested as well. What should be the rainy season has been very dry so far, hopefully we'll just skip the thing entirely, but I've been wrong before.

Woke up about 6:00 am and threw some onion bagels and chive cream cheese together for breakfast; Matt ate his immediately.

It was a very scenic, although slow at some times (my scooter doesn't agree with any kind of incline), ride up to Yeongshil trail. Matt spotted another Blue Rock Thrush as we started our ride; our spiritual guide and sign of good fortune.

The hardest part was the wind. Both Matt and I were regretting not bringing any gloves, but who ever heard of wearing gloves in June?!?

My hands were numb, but we arrived at the base of Yeongshil around 7:00 am, and immediately began our ascent. The clouds were sprinkled in every which pattern, but the sky was mostly clear.



The canopy of trees along the trail had grown in a lot more since I had been back. Everything looked a lot more livelier and vibrant.



Once you get that first glimpse of the South shore you're sold. This island can seem so big at some times, but the mountain just compresses that into one frame along the horizon.



The South coast never looked so good.



Although the waterfalls weren't flowing, you could still see that water had been there recently. The valley below is green, dotted with white flowers from trees in bloom.



I knew that Blue Rock Thrush was a good sign: Matt spots a rare deer sighting just off the path near one of the lookout stations. I would never have thought that they would be so close to the edge. It was just enjoying some of the fresh leaves as we tried to get its attention for a picture.



Looking west, you can see almost Jeju-si, the beginnings of Sin-Jeju and the airport are within sight; amazing.



The spring flowers, azaleas, are in full bloom. The climate takes so long to catch up to the seasons on top of the mountain. It's always colder, but that doesn't stop anyone from coming.



I think I spot a fox or something, turns out to be another deer. This one is even closer to plummeting several hundred metres to its death. They act like there is no danger at all, and are on almost a vertical plain to an edge with no safety.



This one takes notice of us quickly and returns to hiding in the brush.


Matt thinks he hears a cuckoo and grabs his binoculars in an attempt to catch a fleeting glimpse of it flying across our vision.

Once we emerge onto the plain that is at the top, we are greeted by fields of azaleas. The mountain is almost a shade of pink from them. Still, it seems so serene as it was before.



It's hard to ignore all the pretty pink flowers, it's a photographer's paradise.



We walk to the midway point station and stop to have a snack. No ramyeon this time, but some fresh fruit and a sip of hallasan water.

After looking around for several minutes, we come to the realization that you can't get to the summit from either Yeongshil or Eorimok trail.

We head back down the mountain, but the quiet serenity of the trail has vanished and is replaced by a log jam of high school boys.

Once we get to the bottom, we take a short stroll over to the nearby buddhist shrine. There are many wish piles out front of the buddhist temple, some maybe glued; how else can a rock stick to the underside of another rock?



Before we head back to Seogwipo we take a few minutes to rest, enjoying a can of demi-soda (half juice, half soda). The ride home is much quicker, and warmer.