Taming Koreas Highest Mountain Part II

Alright, so there we were on the top of this crazy mountain with no one who speaks English to help us make a choice. So, at 4pm, with two hours of light left, we decided to make for Sokcho, the city on the other side of the park - a seven hour hike. Thankfully we all had headlamps to help us down

At this point I couldn't stand the thought of being within 1.5km of the peak and not making it up, so I made a lightspeed break for the peak and Kyle and Amy began the descent.

It was a very steep 1.5km but I made great time zooming past hordes of hikers (snort! a white guy! and he's not even using hiking poles!). I snapped a few pictures at the (overcrowded) summit, and drank some water, and then began the more arduous task of making up the 3 or so kilometres between me and Kyle and Amy.

The pounding of rocks against knees was starting to get very bothersome after 8 hours of hiking. But the worst was yet to come.

After eventually squirming loose from the Korean man who was trying to hold my hand for like ten minutes straight (while we were hiking), and singing me every English song he knew (including "Rocky Mountain High" after he found out where I was from) I raced through beautiful valleys, streams, waterfalls and mountain views without really a chance to look. After two hours of pursuit without a break, I made myself stop briefly and tried to get the shaking legs under control. Shortly thereafter, I caught up with Kyle and Amy just as it was starting to get dark, and we joined the many hikers who were on their way out of the park (we weren't the only ones caught off guard by the crowds apparently). We staggered out of the park after a very steep 13 hour, 25-30km hike and retreated to the "comfort" of a nearby sleaze motel for the night.

To be continued.......I have to go to work.... :(