Tuesday, November 21, 2017

South Korea: Seoul: Bukhansan


The weekday hike at Bukhansan was serene, quiet and still challenging.
Bukhansan Mountain was designated as a the 15th national park of Korea in 1983. With around five million visitors each year, it’s listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as the “Most Visited National Park per Unit Area”.  Bukhansan is a great place of learning in terms of ecology, culture, and history. [Reference]

I did not make it on top.  Most of the blogs suggests to take bus 704 from Gupabal Station. But if you want to take a seat, I opted to take it from Euljiro-1 (il) ga bus station.


Following the map above, I arrived at Bukhanseong Fortress Entrance, I started my journey at 9am.











Walked in between these rocks.




After 3 hours I was able to reach the Wall Fortress.  While hiking, there would be times that I don’t have anyone with me. There are strong cold winds and you’ll hear the loud dancing of the tree branches.  However, I have to decided to step back and not push for the top (Baegundae Peak) because it started to drizzle.


I spent another 2 hrs of walking taking the other route heading to Baekwoon Information Center.


By the time I reached back to Hongdae at 3pm, it was already raining heavily.  If I stayed at the mountains surely I was already wet and possibly got hypothermia.  I missed to bring hot packs with me while doing the hike at the range of 4-16 degrees Celsius.  On a weekday hike, make sure that you already have snacks and water with you, stores and restaurants on a weekday morning are mostly closed.

Given an opportunity to visit Korea during autumn season, I’d rather take the following path, this is not the best trail, but may be more possible to take you to the top:
  • Make your way to Ui-Sinseol Line, drop-off at Bukhansan-Ui Station. If you do not see these line/station from the cyber map|Seoul Metro , try to download the Subway Korea application in your phone. 
  • Take a cab heading to Baekwoon Information Center.  Prepare the hangul signage to show to the driver.
  • Continue with this path 1.8km to the Wall Fortress.  High rocks to conquer, long stairs to take and more rocky obstacles to overcome. (But this is definitely shorter that the 4km still rocky path of Bukhanseong Fortress Entrance)
  • Then walk 0.3km to Baeg-undae Peak.  
  • Take the same route going down back to the city.  Gladly, there was a taxi on Baekwoon Information Center, based on online comments it will be harder to get a cab during weekends.
Date Visited: 2017 November


How to go to Bukhansan

Check Bukhansan-Ui station from Seoul Metro.





What shoes to wear in Bukhansan?

Luckily, I was able to survive with Merrell.  The grip is good, I slipped once or twice but still good.  I did not wear heat packs, but better to use them during late autumn.

Just be careful when hiking during winter, you may want to look for those shoes that has better grip and will not get wet by snow.  Make sure to bring in balaclava or ski mask (cloth headgear that will expose only limited part of the face, specifically the eyes and lips), good gloves (required on handling the steel ropes), thermal socks, thermal base layer (warmers or heattech, breathable and will not make you cold), fleece light jacket, wind breaker.

Autumn Experience

Be careful on the temperature drop and rain showers.  I was able to make it on Nov 10, 2017.



To monitor the autumn photo of Bukhansan, click here.


Other Mountain Trips in South Korea

Summary: Autumn Itinerary for 5 days in Seoul, South Korea, 2017

Day
Places to see
Food and Restaurants
Where to Sleep
1
World Cup Park [Autumn/Bong Soo]
Seoul Forest Station [Autumn/K2]
Konkuk University [Autumn/Goblin]
Underground Market (Seoul Bus Terminal)

2
W Hand Steak [Battle Trip]
Cocoon Guest House
3
Digital Media [Best Punch]
Cocoon Guest House
4
Alver [Arirang Live]
Blute [Bok Joo]
Pork Soup Restaurant
Cocoon Guest House
5
Bupyeong Luggage Locker
Inha University [Autumn/Bok Joo]
Café Valor [Beauty Inside]
Paris Baguette
Cocoon Guest House