After quite a few hikes with no Cheonanites, Louise finally broke the trend! With the weather getting nicer we decided that some camping was in order (well, Sam decided!), but it was a great idea as the camping ground near Deokjusa temple was lovely and free. The weather had been forecast earlier in the week as rainy and horrible, but it turned out to be sunny and warm. 

We met up at ChungJu bus terminal on Saturday afternoon, bought some provisions at Lotte Mart, and then headed for the local bus stop. Here we found out that we had already missed the last bus to Deokjusa. The taxi ride at 30,000 between 4 wasn't that bad, especially since we didn't have to pay for a yeogwan. 

We missed the sunset but still had enough light to put up our tents. Then, some enjoyed an aperitif before dinner, which was prepared by Sam. It was a wonderful meal of mixed rice and veggies, tuna, butter fried sweet potatoes, baby tomatoes, boiled eggs, and kim. Later, we found a minbak that had an outdoor patio, some very nice DongDongJu, and a large group of Koreans who seemed to be fascinated by us. After a 3 against 1 vote NOT to go and see the temple, we headed back to the tents to play cards by flashlight. 

In the morning, most of us were rudely awoken by a tall, crazy-haired, YongGukin. Some gave in and got up at the ridiculously early hour, while others were much harder to stir. In the end, we were all up, packed, and sitting at the breakfast table by 8 o'clock. Not bad for a Sunday morning. Breakfast was kimchi and dwoenjang jiggae. We left for the hike at 9 and missed a lot of the large crowds. 

The first part of the trek was lovely and flat with Buddhist lanterns all along the path. The sky was clear which allowed for some great views of Woraksan from the bottom. After a few pictures at Deokjusa temple we started the "up". And there was a lot of it... about 850m of up! Deokjusa stands at approximately 250m above sea level and the summit is 1097m. Still, we were up for the challenge. Well, some of us were more up for the challenge than others, but we all made it in the end! 

We made our way through Deokju valley, up to 960 peak. The views were spectacular, despite the Lonely Planet's description as "lacking the dramatic cliffs and spires". The rock surface was covered in forest which made everything look beautiful and green. Once we hit 960 peak, the track flattened out. This was a welcome change, however it didn't last long. We found ourselves heading towards the summit which is a giant rock with a vertical cliff on one side. We had to hike all the way around the rock and down quite a ways, before even starting on, what seemed to be, the millions of stairs to the summit. The views were worth it in the end. We were even entertained by a big black rat, I mean squirrel, that seemed to get a thrill by jumping from rock to rock on the edge of the cliff in extremely windy conditions! 

Finally, we started the long trek down the Songgye Valley. It seemed that the "up" had taken a toll on us as there were a lot of sore knees and shaky legs. After about 6 hours and 9.6km of hiking, we made it to Songgye-ri and then walked back along the road to the minbak which was holding some of our gear. We had some well deserved pajeon and beer before catching a bus back to ChungJu. From there we went our separate ways home. I believe a good time was had by all. 

See the full Woraksan photo album here.

Cheonan Station

Cheonan Craic

Tour 2 Korea

Korean Railways

Korea Weather

The Korea Herald

Korean National Parks

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