As our followers on Facebook already know, we just finished hiking the 735-km Baekdu-Daegan mountain ridge in South Korea.
We divided the 47-day hike up in 4 stages. Here’s an impression of stage 3: 17 days of hiking through the central area of South Korea
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Challenges
#1: How will the new tent deal with the bad weather?
We hiked stage 1 and 2 in July, during South Korea’s rainy season, and slept in a battered tent that was no longer waterproof. The weather gods took pity on us and kept the rains away. We stayed dry.
Before starting stage 3, we bought a new tent, and so the weather gods reasoned (we assume) it should be properly tested. So they showered the tent, and us, with a serious rain storm on night 1, which was followed by many more rainy nights. Fortunately, the tent proved a good buy in this respect.
We survived the first night and started the hike with confidence. True to Baedu-Daegan’s spirit, we set off with a big bunch of grapes given to us that morning by an artist who lives on Deoksan-jae (Deoksan pass). The grape harvest was in full swing and we got many bunches of grapes during this stage from different people – a variation to the cucumbers that were gift #1 during the previous, mid-summer stage.
#2: Can Karin-Marijke complete the Baekdu-daegan with her injuries?
My heel had started to hurt during stage 2 and had not properly healed during our time off. The injury now quickly grew worse: a case of Achilles tendonitis (or so the Internet told me) combined with a big, sore lump on the back the right heel, later followed by the same symptoms on the left foot. Overcompensation subsequently led to a strained knee ligament.
With two taped heels + a brace for my knee, how in the world was I going to hike another 500 kilometers?
The injuries slowed us down considerably and hiking in constant pain often took away the pleasure for me. But once the Baekdu-daegan has spelled its magic on you, it’s hard to let go and so I battled on.
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Hours of hiking through lush forest, spotting (and photographing) hundreds of delicate mushrooms and colorful flowers, the vast and mind-blowing views when the weather did clear, the quietude of being just us in the midst of nature’s majesty, the reward of reaching yet another bong (peak) – with or without ropes – amply compensated the challenges we were facing.
Meeting People on the Baekdu-daegan
In addition we met some fabulous people. Among them were Korean hikers and hiking groups such as a group from Andong that was hiking the Baekdu-daegan over a period of three years (one day a month).
We were once more guests of Mr. Baek and his wife Jun Young. They were a tremendous help, driving us to Gimcheon, the acupuncturist to treat my heel and E-mart to buy new shoes. At their place we befriended Imjae-ha and, later on, he would visit us on the trail a couple of evenings. He always came with a truckload of food which – unsurprisingly – is one of the ways to be very much welcomed by perpetually hungry hikers!
Thank you again Imjae-ha, Mr. Baek and Jun Young, for making the Baekdu-daegan so memorable for us!
During one of the first days on this stage we met Stefanie, from Germany. She was hiking the Baekdu-daegan by herself but had thus far stayed in minbaks (guesthouses) as she didn’t want to camp by herself. Happy to have found camping company, we increasingly spent more time together.
Read More: Accommodation & Camping in South Korea
Initially we went our own ways, meeting in the evenings as we tended to hike similar distances. As our contact grew and we shared some good laughs together, we ended up hiking together, sharing pain, fun, challenges, food, and on our last, freezing, night on top of a mountain, a good bottle of makgeolli and soju.
As we were going to take a multiple-day break (getting organized in other ways, such as finding a new parking place for the Land Cruiser) while she had a deadline to finish the Baekdu-daegan, our ways parted after a week or two.
Stefanie, thanks for sharing the trail with us, your patience and support, and great laughs. See you in Japan!
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Food on the Trail
As I mentioned before, during such a strenuous hike, food is important. Since weight is just as important, it is all about finding a balance between what you want to eat and what you can / want to carry. We carried oatmeal for breakfast and lentils and noodles (memil) for lunch and dinner.
That is as monotonous as a diet can get, I guess, so the days we passed restaurants we gorged ourselves on Korean food. We just absolutely love it. What’s so great about it? For us, vegetarians, it’s very easy to get meat-free yet still very nutritious and tasty meals. And for me, who has still not grown accustomed to spicy food, the Korean cuisine offers more than enough dishes/side dishes that are not mouth-numbing.
The Magic of the Baekdu-daegan
What to say about the landscape? More forest, more views, more chop chop sangrime, as the Koreans call the layers of mountain ridges that fade into the distance – a captivating sight that never tires. Like I said, we had very few major views these days due to clouds and fog, but when we did, they had us spellbound.
Apart from the wilds, we crossed highways, a town or farming country, which all added to the experience and gave us a feeling for a country we truly knew nothing about before we descended from that plane in Seoul some 6 months ago.
The trail is a walk of discovery into Korea’s history with remnants of fortresses and war memorials, its spiritual and religious world with Buddhist temples and sansin gaks – mountain shrines. Hiking this 700+ kilometers is a unique way of getting right into the heart of everything that is Korean, and that’s what makes this hike so special and attractive.
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A lot of the beauty is found in the small things on the trail: the flowers, the beautiful Korean pine trees, the mushrooms, insects such walking sticks, bigger animals like deer or boars, as well as – on the scary side – eye-catching but sometimes poisonous snakes.
Travel Guides for South Korea
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Hiking the Baekdu-daegan
Like the previous stages, it was at times tough-going, to put it mildly. For Coen as well, in good shape but who, due to my injuries, carried a far more than a fair share of the load (some 15 kilos), so I could struggle along with no more than 8 kilos.
But we got there, slowly but steadily, enjoying many inspiring and special moments along the way. After 17 days we finished this stage of the hike, returned to the Land Cruiser for a couple of days and prepared ourselves for the final stage: another 17 days and 300 kilometers of hiking. More about that in the next Where Are We update. Stay tuned!
Read More: Travel Information on South Korea
Information on Hiking the Baekdu-Daegan Mountain Ridge
- We recommend buying the guidebook Baekdu Daegan: Hiking Korea’s Mountain Spine by Roger Shepherd.
- The Baekdu-Daegan Facebook page is helpful to get up-to-date information.
- Do you plan to plan other parts of South Korea as well? Make sure to bring a copy of Insight Guides’ South Korea Travel Guide. Full of images it will take you the most beautiful places in the country.
Check it out: the Landcruising Adventure Cotton-Bag Collection
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“Thousands of tired, nerve-shaken, over-civilized people are beginning to find out that going to the mountains is going home; that wildness is a necessity”
― John Muir, Our National Parks
I think that is very true indeed. An increasing number of Koreans spend days / weekends in the mountains. Thanks for sharing that quote.
Great trip and photos…….enjoy Japan! Bill & Rose
Thanks. Good to hear from you! Where are you nowadays?
Beautiful stuff, and thanks for sharing!