Saturday, September 20, 2014

Baekdu Daegan // day 17 // Piatjae - Neuljae

Baekdudaegan day 17.
Distance: 16.3km (277.5km), time spent: 10:46 (140:26).
Altitude (start / end / highest): 625m / 450m / 1057m.
Weather: Wonderful.


It is quiet outside when I wake up in the morning, but during the night, it has been anything but quiet. Outside the tent, it has been a bustling nightlife, with a lot of sounds from animals passing by through the woods. It is Friday night, so it may not be so strange. It also probably means that I will meet many people today, since I am now moving into the very heart of Songnisan National Park. Ahead of me there is also an excitement of an altogether different nature, and which has occupied my mind over the last few days, after Munjangdae I will arrive at the first section of the trail that is closed.

View over Songnisan with its boulders and cliffs, seen from the summit of Cheonwangbong.

This day continues from where yesterday left, with a clear blue sky and a trail that continues its triumphant journey through a rolling landscape. And in the same way as yesterday, I am now also moving upwards, with cliffs and boulders that lets me clamber out upon them to bear witness to the reason of my toil. Above me yet another heavenly king peak is towering, Cheonwangbong, where I have to climb up to in order to start the real fun of Songnisan. The resemblance with Jirisan is striking, except for the height; the summit is only at 1057m.

The trail through the heart of Songnisan goes through boulders and cliffs, like here by a boulder that looks like a petrified Moomintroll.

A pirouette on the summit gives you a fantastic view to all sides; I can follow the spine of the national park across the horizon. It is a green spine, whereupon someone has planted several boulders, with the trail navigating itself right between them. At some point the boulders forms an avenue that you walk between, at another point a tunnel. The further into Songnisans domain I venture, the more boulders there are to play with, and the more people I meet. Going down from Cheonwangbong I met an older man that had a friend from a Norwegian city, Bergen.

By the small temple near Gyeongeopdae.

I am in the heart of Songnisan, and it beats strongly. After Sinseondae there is a steep path going down from the ridge, which in turn becomes a steep staircase. I throw away my backpack, despite all the people in the park, well knowing of the more than 2 million of won that I carry in it. The path leads down to the famous temple of Beopjusa, but I am not going so far down. There is another, and small, temple just below the ridge that is supposed to be well worth a visit. Hanging paper lanterns marks the way to the temple. To get there you have to go through a very small passageway between to enormous boulders, at the entrance there are signs engraved into the rocks. More lanterns accompanies you before you stand by the temple beneath the mighty boulders of Songnisan. It is a quiet place to be in, in opposite to the bustle at the top of the renouncing the world mountain.

Sinseondae Hyugeso. A popular rest area in the national park with somewhat more expensive prices than usual, but with some friendly hosts.

On the way down I met the first other foreigners on my walk since Jirisan for two weeks ago. Back up at the Baekdudaegan again, the first stop is the Sinseondae Hyugeso and I use the moment to indulge myself with food. I am ordering two gamjajeons (potato pancakes) and a lot of mineral water, those who I share the table with feels they have to fatten me up they as well. So grapes, soju and some food I do not know what are, is being sent in my direction, but it tasted good.

At Munjangdae, a boulder with a form like a gigantic golf ball, there is a teeming sea of people. At the top, gazing outwards, pulsating ridges and mountainsides, voices in the air, and a view to a forbidden trail. I meet again the man with a friend from Bergen. We stands enjoying the view, talks about Songnisan, he takes pictures of me, a lot, with my camera. We say goodbye, I stand left behind, and watching the ridge where the trail is continuing, sees the helipad where the path goes, sees the camera that surveillance the path, unsure of what to do.

Munjangdae, like a huge golf ball at the end of the trail.

From here, the trail is closed, the alternative is to walk down from the ridge and find some way to be transported to Neuljae, where the trail is open again. Something that I do not feel like, with the purist in me wakening. I had originally planned to follow the closed trail anyway, and see what happens. But now as I am standing here, am I unsure. There are a lot of people here, and a couple of park rangers nearby, I would be easily visible. And have you first become unsure, you soon start to doubt, and then it gets harder. After a while, I start walking crestfallen down from the ridge and the Baekdudaegan towards the park entrance at the Osong ticket booth. It was not how I had thought it would be.

At the top of Munjangdae. Behind me Gaegumeongbawi, where the closed trail is going through.

But on the way down, a determination grows in me, and at the first opportunity I leave the marked trail going down and makes my way up through the undergrowth until I find the trail again, with a ribbon blazing. So, lawless in Songnisan. From here, the trail goes through a tricky and treacherous terrain, which according to the guidebook provides the hiker with both physical and navigational obstacles. I feel my heart beating a little bit faster than usual now. The path treads through what is called Gaegumeongbawi, where the cliffs and boulders forms a maze of rocks. In between, it pulls me out into open sight from vigilant eyes from Munjangdae above. I sneak ahead, do not want to be seen, the penalty of being caught is high (500$).

View from the path through the sometimes tricky and treacherous Gaegumeongbawi. The path going down to the entrance to Songnisan at Osong is below.

It is said that challenges builds your character, so I build a lot of character on this day. There are a lot of small gaps between cliffs and rocks, going both up and down, that I cannot get through with the backpack on my back, so I have to drag it behind me or push it ahead of me at times. It is a demanding, but rewarding task. The backpack receives most of the punishment. Navigationally there is not so much trouble, I am apparently not alone in breaking the prohibition, there are enough ribbons fluttering around to get by. At Ipseokbawi, the demanding section is left behind me. But even though it was tough going through it, the walk was magnificent and a spectacular one. From here to Bamtijae the trail is returning back to its more normal self (still closed).

Through Gaegumeongbawi, the trail often went up and down small openings between the boulders and cliffs, with ropes for aid. Here I had to push my backpack up first.

From Bamtijae to Neuljae the walk is a not so exciting walk, but that conception is probably affected by the splendid section I have just walked. Which I can look back towards from a nameless peak on the way, with the rest of Songnisan as a background. I take a wrong turn just before I arrive at Neuljae and ends up walking between some farms instead, dogs barking, before I arrive at the road which I follows up to the pass. A car is parked there, I wonder for some time if it is some park rangers that are on the lookout for me. Who knows, but I doubt it. It has gone dark now, so I do not stay long at the pass, I take a quick look at the sanshingak and then continue walking further on the road to find the Cheonghwasan Hyugeso. My plan is to camp here, but I need food and provisions.

Here I look back at the route I have navigated through after Munjangdae, which you can see almost in the middle of the picture on the spine of Songnisan. The road that the trail crosses at Bamtijae is barely discernible.

I find the hyugeso, but there is only a restaurant here and not a store anymore. I decide to call for a taxi to take me down to Hwabukmyeon. This day has provided both physical and navigational challenges, now I meet the next challenge, communication. I get contact with Hwabukmyeon taxi, but now the people at the hyugeso has decided to help me. Without me understanding what they are saying, and they me. One of the people that runs the place eventually ends up driving me down to the village, somewhat reluctantly it appears, I manage without luck to make him understand that it is not necessary. I do not want to be of bother. But he is smiling when I am thanking him as good as I can when we are in Hwabukmyeon.

Neuljae. The stele at the pass.

In Hwabukmyeon they are arranging a place in a minbak for me, with a friendly host. Tired I am probing the place in search of a place to eat, but the serving seems to be closed on all the places, so I buy me some food (and provisions) in a store and prepares dinner at the minbak instead. What a day, hard, but fantastic. Lawless in Songnisan.

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