After camping overnight at the Gosapo Beach, we ate a quick breakfast and packed up our tents. We were anxious to get going, after all there is much more to see of Byeonsanbando National Park than this beautiful beach.
We set out for the mountains a short fifteen minute drive away. Tom had searched on Naver maps (the Korean version of Google maps) for a route that would afford us the best views of the park. We estimated the trip to be a little over two hours, so we grabbed some snacks at the convenience store and were hitting the trails around eleven. We decided to do a semicircle across the ridges of the Sebong and Gwaneumbong mountains and end at the Naesosa temple at the base.
Ryan and I searched for place to fill our water bottles before starting, but with no luck. We concluded that more than likely there would be filling stations along the way, as is the norm on most of the mountains in Korea. We begrudgingly set out with only one water bottle three quarters full. As luck would have it, there were no filling stations to be found along our trek and our time estimate of two hours quickly turned into almost four.
Despite having no water and only a small amount of snacks to eat while hiking around lunchtime, the views were incredible throughout the entire hike. Since we were hiking along the ridge of the mountain range, we were able to see an amazing panorama of the park.
At last, we made it over the last peak and quickly descended down to the temple below. We were rushing at this point, because all of us were out of water and extremely thirsty. We practically sprinted inside the doors of the temple and to the water station! We drank until we felt like we were going to burst and then splashed ourselves with the cold water to cool down.
We are so excited to have met some pretty great people during our second year who enjoy hiking as much as we do! It reminds us of our friends back home who used to go out to the lakes with us and hike around out in the woods for hours on end. We’ve certainly missed those friendships over the past year. We love getting some fresh air and getting away from the city. Our happy place is getting lost in the great outdoors!
What is your happy place? Are you like us and crave being outside in the sunshine or do you prefer a more easy going way to spend the weekend?
Stephanie
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