Distance: 13.9km (261.2km), time spent: 8:28 (129:40).
Altitude (start / end / highest): 325m / 625m / 803m.
Weather: Sunny, radiant.
It is when the morning dawns, it is when the morning mist can be glimpsed beneath the peaks of Songnisan National Park, after days that has melded together, that Baekdudaegan is awakening to all its splendour again. The routine of hiding away in the forest shall be broken. It is a tension in my body today, a feeling of suspended expectation. The body knows that ahead of me there are days with its own sheen, but also that the same sheen will cost a lot of effort. There is a price of beauty.
The eastern peaks of Songnisan seen from the jeongja at Hwaryeongjae.
Neither is found at the start, walking alongside a road seldom yields much beauty. Cars and traffic is no substitute for the chirping of birds and the sounds from a running creek. Something there has not been much of on the journey, but when you first come across a creek next to the trail, it is with great joy. It means water, and life. You walk on the watershed, so you always have to go down to get to it. But now I am going up, up towards the light. And if there are water, it will run away from me.
Two violet coloured flowers on the trail.
The weather is radiant, which also means that it is quite hot when the path guides me steeply up in the direction of Bonghwasan. Beneath me lies Hwaseomyeon, I recognize the buildings in the town from up here. The trail is today carrying me to a human made tower, the reason it being here is obvious, the mountains here are as said covered by trees and even a small spark may have fatal consequences. But the fire-watchtower also has a great potential as a jungle gym to look out over the rugged landscape from. Now grey rocks are beginning to jut out from in between all the green.
View from a fire-watchtower, the town of Hwaseomyeon is visible beneath.
Bonghwasan (740m) itself is for the most part ducking down beneath the trees. One and a half hour later I am at Bijae, flying pass, and at a lower altitude than I was when I started walking in the morning. Here a newly built ecobridge is starting to take shape. I continue on, on a staircase consisting of rectangular wooden bricks. It goes upwards, steep, my backpack is a burden at the moment. But now there is an emerald world around me. And out of this world, cliffs in numerous shapes are jutting out. I balances out to the tip of one of these rocky promontories, to the visual sound of rolling valleys of green trees and mountain ridges. The backpack is forgotten, the path is forgotten, there is only the moment of sitting down and enjoying the view.
At the summit of Bonghwasan.
As said, there has not been a plethora of water sources on the trail, so it is a remarkable and odd feeling arriving at Motje. It is not an abundance of water here either, but this area contains a marsh and is the only one you will find on the Baekdudaegan. There is a vague beauty about the place, wrapped in between the trees. The calm atmosphere makes it a perfect place to eat lunch, with benches to aid weary walkers (marshspotting anyone).
Bijae, with bricks for stairs up the mountain ridge.
So far, the day has been fantastic, but the real peak of the day comes at the summit of Hyeongjebong (832m). I have now passed the borders of Songnisan National Park, and the trail here is supposedly just as demanding as the trail through Jirisan. The climb up to the summit may be a good indication of that, the trail itself skirts the summit, but in eager spirits, I chose to climb up at the first possibility available. Which led to some lively tightroping on the top of some giant rocks or cliffs.
Sitting on the tip of a cliff, enjoying the view. A green sea of forest waves below.
It was not the tightrope that made me stand and gape when I reached the stele at the top. The view takes the breath away. In the horizon, a torn sea of trees is stretching backwards, with green ridges and valleys that breaks about each other, epic. And a thoughtful indication of just how undulating the topography in this country are. To watch the sunset from here would be stunning, but climbing down in the dark does not appeal to me. Some way off in the distance a column of smoke is rising up from the trees, and is gradually growing in size. I do wonder what I should do if there had been a forest fire here now, with all the dry vegetation that surrounds me. The smoke eventually ebbs out.
Motje, the only marsh on the Baekdudaegan.
From Hyeongjebongs views towards the cliffs of Songnisan, the trail goes gradually down to a small, quiet, shaded and modest pass, next to a junction, Piatjae. There is just enough space at the pass to pitch my tent, though it is probably on the darkside of what is allowed since I am now in a national park. That said, it is not tempting to go the long walk down from the ridge, so I take my chance. I still have to go down the path that leads to the small village of Mansuri to find water. And far down as well, the head of the stream that was supposed to hold a trickle of water is dry; but in the end, after having walked a lot longer than the 500 metres I was envisaged, I find some water (good thing my backpack was left alone back at the pass).
View from the summit of Hyeongjebong, an indication of how undulating the topography of South-Korea are.
I still have to see the sunset, so after the tent is up and my body has got some rest, I walk for a while back in the direction of Hyeongjebong until I find a nice place to bear witness to the fall of the sun on the sky. The violet sky and the day is celebrated with some toasts from my small bottle of soju that I have brought with me. I head back down to the tent for dinner when the sun has hidden itself beyond the horizon. The dinner is eaten in the darkness next to the tent, consisting of noodles, rice and braised beef in soy sauce (new favourite on the walk).
My tent at Piatjae.
Relaxing inside the tent afterwards, I can hear the sounds of nuts falling to the ground. Another hiker is passing by in the dark, I can hear the sound of a camera shutter, with flashes lighting up the tent from outside. Quiet, quiet, and then a wonderful day on the Baekdudaegan is over.
Sunset from a cliff between Hyeongjebong and Piatjae.
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