Falling More in Love

Today, I went on my first hike in Korea, and I fell a little more in love with Korea and her people.  About 5 subway stops away from our apartment is an area called Dobongsan.  Every time we take the subway to church, we have to stop at the Dobongsan station and transfer to another subway line.  Every time, I look at the mountain and say, "Someday, I'm going to hike to the top."  Well, today was the day.

View from the subway platform

Once Abigail left for school, I caught the subway and started my adventure.   One thing I love about Koreans is the fact that most of them seem to have an outfit for everything.  Hiking is no exception. Almost every Korean I encountered was completely outfitted in brightly colored outdoor gear looking like he or she just stepped out of a catalog.  Gore-tex pants, long sleeve polypropylene shirts,  topped with colorful North Face shirts, vests, or rain jackets.  Most outfits also included a hat or visor and a pair of gloves.  Most feet were clad with name brand hiking boots, and the hikers carried day packs and hiking poles.  I am pretty sure I even saw a guy carrying an ice axe, which seemed highly out of place on a 75 degree spring day probably at least 500 miles away from the nearest ice and snow.  Even better, many couples wore matching outfits.  I hate taking pictures of random strangers and posting them, but I just couldn't keep myself from snapping a quick pic to illustrate the amazing hiking outfits.

If for some reason a hiker is not thoroughly equipped with name brand gear, a plethora, and I mean plethora, of shops line the streets from the subway to the park entrance about a 1/3 of a mile away allowing hikers to pick up gear to ensure they meet the fashion standard.

If an unfortunate hiker does not have the money for real name brand gear like The North Face, they can always pick up gear at The Red Face or The Normal Face shops along the way.

Throughout the hike, I internally giggled at the amazing Korean hiking outfits.  However, I am sure that the Koreans were also internally giggling at the out of place, fat, foreign lady, huffing and puffing her way up the mountain clad in five year old falling apart tennis shoes, a ratty t-shirt, and capri length sweatpants straight from Wal-mart.  Oh, cultural differences...

Anyway, after an incredibly helpful park ranger armed me with a map and described the best route to get to the top of one of the peaks, I set off on my little hike.

The beginning of my hike meandered past beautiful streams and small waterfalls and made me feel as if I was taking walk in the Cumberland Mountains of Tennessee.

However, the four Buddhist temples and the random lanterns I encountered along the way definitely made me realize that I was not in Tennessee anymore.

Not too far into my hike, I decided that perhaps the Korean hiking outfits were a bit more practical than they originally appeared. 

After spending the final 1.5km of the hike climbing stairs, scrambling up piles of rocks, and clinging to cables and railings to pull myself up granite rock surfaces to reach the summit, I was willing to admit that I was envious of the spry 65+ year old adjumas (old ladies) and adoshis (older men) passing me like I was standing standing still and their hiking poles. However, the view from the top was worth every step. 

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All in all, the day reminded me that...

• I am in love with Korea and the kind and helpful Korean people. I will miss this place.
• I love to hike, and I need to try to make more time to do the things I love
• Culture and traditions are not always right or wrong, they are often just different
• I am no longer the 21 year girl who is used to hiking 10 miles a day. I am now an out of shape 33 year old momma who is going to be sore tomorrow
• Psalms 19:1 "The heavens declare the glory of God, the skies proclaim the work of his hands."
• Romans 1:20 "For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse."