Seoraksan (Part II)

So, as you know from last year, hiking Seoraksan is one of the things to do in Korea, especially during hiking season. So, Katrina and I decided to do it this year, this being my second time. We boarded a bus in Seoul around midnight, traveled a few hours, and began our hike around 4 am. Yes, this is how obsessed people are with hiking in Korea. This didn't even put us at the peak for sunrise. Nevertheless, it was a great hike, a lot easier than I remember and a good time the next day, hanging at the beach. Here are the photos.

(So, this is the line of people at 4 am in the morning to hike. Literally, we would walk a few steps, stop, walk a few more stop. This continued for about the first two or three hours of the hike.)


(Hmm, more lines...)


(Surprise, even more lines... not the best way to start off a 12 hour hike or any hike for that matter...)


(Getting close to the peak - yes, that's Katrina in the foreground, making her way through the fog)


(Unfortunately, since it was so foggy, we didn't have a view from the peak but I did get this photo)


(That's Katrina down on the bridge. The hike was great because of the leaves and all the colors.)


(Katrina making her way down the mountain, stopping for a quick picture)


(Myself on a bridge. Once you get down, you find yourself in a valley and it's actually a very nice hike in the valley with all the rock formations.)


(Nice little waterfall. This is actually where we stopped to eat lunch. A nice lunch date on a Saturday.)


(Lots of giant boulders in the valley)


(Our epic journey, at least part of it)



(Katrina and more people - we were both pretty pooped by the end of the hike)


(The beautiful leaves and more people)


(This just gives you somewhat of an idea of how mountainous Korea is and can be in certain places)


(Very large Buddha statue at the end of the hike. If you look closely, you can see people standing next to the statue that look tiny.)


(Katrina, the dragon warrior)


(Want some good luck - put some money down the frog's throat)


(Another bridge leading to a different area of hiking trails and paths. There's also a cable car you can ride to the top in this area if you aren't into hiking.)


(The second day was a beach day and we ended up meeting Ellen's (Spenser's girlfriend) sister and her family for lunch. Which meant I got to see Honey! Here's Katrina at the beach.)


(Katrina and I hanging on the beach. Pants were rolled up because I had to go in the water...)


(Myself and Honey - makes me miss my nephew)


(Katrina and Honey)