Seoul Living: Hiking Dobongsan

Ain't no mountain high enough.

A few weeks ago, just as I was beginning to feel Seoul's big-city (i.e., polluted, but not-as-bad-as-Chinese-cities') air in my lungs, I decided to head a bit out of the city for some fresh air and a hike. My destination was Bukhansan National Park, which is just a bit outside Seoul and really easily accessible by subway. My hiking destination would be Dobongsan, one of the spiffy peaks in the park.

The hiking hordes descend from Dobongsan subway station.

The first thing one should know about hiking in Korea is that Koreans really love it. The Korean Peninsula (or is it just South Korea...?) is very mountainous - I've heard about 70%(?). Just as in Switzerland, I suppose this breeds a certain type of citizenry - the hardy type that likes to trample up steep slopes and high mountains. A quick Google search for "korea, alpinist" will reveal this to be so. Beyond Taekwondo, I think hiking and mountaineering should be registered as the national sport (I realized this as middle-aged and elderly ajummas and ajoshis were zipping past me up the mountain).

Sure thing, the day I was was there, Dobongsan was absolutely swamped with weekend mountaineers and hikers! It was amazing! Well, the good thing for me was that I just had to follow the big crowd to find the beginning of the trail. :)


Needless to say, the North Face makes a killing here. But Korean brands seem pretty quality, too. Still, I suspect that Asian ingenuity may still be heavily, er, inspired by bigger brand names...?

Hmm, I hope this is inspired by a wind- or sunburnt "red face" instead of Asian's supposed intolerance for alcohol... :\

That said, Koreans have got to be the world's best prepared and best dressed hikers. "Nattily dressed", writes Lonely Planet. Word! Sturdy day-pack/hiking backpack? Check. Protective windbreaker and performance hiking pants? Check. Hiking boots with thick hiking socks? Check. Trekking poles? Check. Foldable styro-foam padded seat cushion so that you can sit down along the trail without getting your butt dirty? Check. All this for just a day hike! I was very impressed - and feeling a bit unfashionable wearing simply jeans and just carrying my backpack (at least the backpack and my hiking boots were North Face...?).

Before you even hit the trail, you can pick up any manner of hiking equipment you need in the dozens of small stalls that line the streets leading up to the park entrance. Pink and red hiking boots seem to be the styles of choice of the stylish Korean lady hikers...

Kimchi=energy.

The Dobongsan hike is about 5 hours round-trip, so most hikers brought or bought a picnic lunch and snacks along the way. Of course, no Korean meal would be complete without the kimchi.


As for an energy snack along the way, dried squid and octopus seemed to be a popular alternative to Power Bars!


The hike started out easily enough, but eventually progressed into this:

About 4 of the 5 hours of the hike consisted of climbing up or down 45-plus degree angles of granite. Although the pain has since faded, my knees and hands still hurt thinking about this. It was actually quite fun (in a sadistic sort of way), but a tad difficult for a fatty like me. But the views along the way were really worth it!

A few Buddhist temples....


...the fall colors just beginning to creep into the scenery...


...and some fantastic views of Seoul from atop the mountain.





After the long day of knee-battering, most hikers tuck in for a post-hike meal. Most folks seemed to prefer the grilled fish.


Flying solo and not really knowing what to get, I settled for some more economical fare that would both fill my belly and replenish some lost electrolytes!

This is a Korean corn dog of sorts - a hot dog surrounded by odeng, which is processed fish paste. Tastes better than it sounds...honest! :)


And Pocari Sweat! Yeah, sounds gross, but it's simply the Japanese (and popular in Korea) equivalent of Gatorade, without the artificial (and often improbable) fruity flavor.

It was a great day and an excellent hike. I wish we had more easily-accessible hiking like this in big U.S. cities. But maybe we simply need more people to be interested in hiking for that type of thing? Maybe a good start would be working on cute mascots. Seriously! Smokey is awesome, but he ain't got nothing on these adorable forest critters...