Mine was spent climbing this mountain!
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| Seoraksan, taken from Google |
Just picture that with a lot more snow and ice...and wind. Then, picture me on top of it!
A couple of weeks ago, a friend and I were discussing New Year's Eve and decided that we wanted to do something different than the typical drunken debauchery that everyone seems to indulge in for the holiday. It's Korean tradition to watch the first sunrise of 2013 and many Koreans choose to do so from the peak of a mountain. We though it sounded like a great idea. We're only here for one New Year's (most likely), why not?
A group of 6 of us ended up going. The bus left at midnight, so the turning of the New Year was pretty anti-climatic. Around 4:00am we arrived at Seoraksan National Park to being our hike. Sunrise was at 7:45(ish) so we had just under 4 hours to reach the summit. It was about 10 degrees Fahrenheit at the bottom of the mountain, only to get colder and windier as we ascended. The hike proved to be much more difficult than anticipated. Very steep, very icy, and very difficult to control one's body temperature and avoid sweating (and subsequently freezing once it got colder towards the top). The group separated for the most part, but I was able to stick with at least one person for most of the way. It was too cold to stop for long periods of time so I wasn't able to rest/snack/hydrate as much as I would've wanted, but I certainly didn't want to be on that mountain any longer than I had to. After a long, exhausting several hours, I finally reached the top with two of the guys I was with. We took our hands out of our gloves long enough to take a few pictures each (and to feel the stinging pain of frost bite setting in). Oh, remember how I said it was tradition to watch the first sunrise from the peak of the mountain? Welp, we hiked in a snow storm. A very cloudy, white snow storm. No sunrise :( I was definitely disappointed, but it was so cold that I don't know if I would have stayed at the summit long enough to watch it anyway! It was -18 degrees up there. Never in my life have I experienced such temperatures!
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| Jordan and I |
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| There is nothing real about those smiles. SO. COLD |
Finally, we started the trek down the mountain. I knew it would be difficult because it was steep on the way up, but it had been dark so I didn't realize just how steep it was. My fingers were burning from the cold, my legs and especially my knees were already exhausted from the ascent, and my spirits were pretty low thinking about the 2-3 hours we had left on the mountain. I needed some cheering up. Luckily, I was behind two special guys who just could not manage to stay on their feet. Minutes into the descent, both of them were sliding and rolling down the mountain like tumbleweeds. I did fall once or twice, mostly because I was laughing so hard. It was exactly what I needed to keep me going. We also had the pleasure of meeting some very kind Koreans on the way down. I think most of them felt bad for us as we probably looked like fools slipping and sliding our way down. Two men called us over and offered us hot (HOT!!!) coffee and some chocolate. They also offered some strange booze, which I did not try once I saw Jordan's reaction. A while later, the nicest man in the world may or may not have saved our lives. Cameron's crampons (the spikes you put on your shoes to hike in the snow/ice) were malfunctioning and this man took the chains off of his own shoes and put them on Cameron's. He also gave each of us one of his walking poles. He continued down the mountain, but didn't get too far ahead of us so he could keep an eye on us the whole time. When he stopped for a break, he gave us chocolate and oranges and whiskey, which we gladly accepted. It was truly a selfless, random act of kindness and I wished I had something more to offer him than a hug at the bottom of the mountain. That man has some seriously good karma coming his way! We finally made it down the mountain, but I spent the better part of the last hour cursing, moaning and groaning as my knee and ankle were in bad shape. I had been knocked over twice by eager hikers, landing on my right knee both times. I also rolled my ankle at one point. It wasn't pretty, but I made it! I had a few low points during the day, but overall I got to start 2013 with a sense of accomplishment and some new friends. Oh, the sun DID come out eventually and it was beautiful :)
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| Halfway down the mountain, first glimpse of sun! |
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| Compliments of Jenny's camera. I stayed on the bus at this stop. |
The trip home got delayed due to snow and a few stops. This made for some rather grumpy people (I was definitely one of them...shocker!), but we made it home eventually. One of the stops was in Sokcho, a town that lies north of the 38th parallel, aka is basically on the DMZ. It used to belong to North Korea, so many of the locals have relatives who still live there. It was a small town, not too impressive. But, I did get to see the ocean and it smelled of salt water which reminded me of home!
Overall, it was a great experience. I teach English abroad so that I can see the world and try new things. I'm glad I chose this instead of celebrating NYE the same way I would have in the states. That being said, I miss everyone tons and definitely thought about you all boozing the night away in a WARM bar while I was nursing my wounds at the bottom of the mountain :)
Much love & luck for 2013!
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