10th April 2013 - I made it!! 잘 했어 ㄱㄱㄱ

I saw a few Koreans taking the Yeongsil trail after I visited the temple.
Ok, just go and turn back if the weather gets worse.

Easy hiking trail...
This was only the beginning...

10th April but it didn't feel like Spring has arrived.

George is taking the 성판악 Seongpanak trail today. I wonder how is he doing?? 

추위....추위....추위....

I realised I still have a long long way to go to reach the resting point, 윗세오름대피소 Witseoreum Shelter. The journey from Yeongsil Trail Entrance to Witseoreum Shelter is 3.7km and I have only completed 0.8km of it.  Not to mention the journey down 어리목 Eorimok Trail.  Hohohoooo  화이팅!!!

I was not scared being on my own but I appreciate the sight of human beings ㅎㅎㅎ

And I really appreciate the sun rays!!
The trail gets more challenging.

Blur when I saw this scene unfold before my eyes...
Was that snow???

Actually, I did come across a blogger who mentioned that he encountered snow when hiking Hallasan in early April. I was excited but worried at the same time when I saw his post. That is another reason why I decided to try Yeongsil Trail instead of 성판악 Seongpanak trail becos I don't want to leave Jeju island without hiking Hallasan!  

A close up

Still wondering what was that white colour stuff that covered the mountain tops. Was that snow or even snow flakes?  Pardon me for my ignorance. I have never seen snow except once in Hokkaido and that was only snow flakes. It was my first time to experience and see mountains covered with ermmm...snow?  I began to worry...Should I turn back now but the beautiful scenery urged me to proceed.  

너무 추워. It was cold and the wind was very strong. I was worried that I will be blown off the mountain ㅎㅎㅎ The trail gets steeper but manageable. You will be exposed to the magnificent view of the mountain ridges. I have never expected this hiking trail to be so "exposed" if you know what I meant. I seldom hike and I only hike when I come back to my second home.  My previous few hiking experiences were mostly "enclosed" by mountains and trees.  I know some of you will probably think I am exaggerating but for someone who fears height, this is a big challenge to me. OMG...what the heck am I doing up here??!! Although I have no idea what's lying ahead, I really did not want to give up just like this. 

A part of me was almost freak out by the height but another part of me did not want to miss the chance to take pictures of the beautiful scenery.  Most of the time, I did not stop long to focus on the objects but simply pressed the shutter and quickly move on. Hur Hur

Another close up.

The trail gets steeper and your breathing gets deeper.
A young Korean boy could not wait for his parents to catch up.
He went ahead on his own and he went up real fast!
Hiking is in the Korean culture since young huh?

Pictures which look almost similar ㅎㅎㅎ

I have to agreed that the view was simply awesome.
I tried to stand as far away as possible from the edges and my picture turned out to be like this ㅎㅎㅎ
But can you imagine the magnificant view??
I told 재 hiking is the only time I have to put my fear aside becos I enjoy hiking ㅎㅎㅎ
Ermm..I only enjoy hiking in cool weather, and not under the hot sun or during winter ㄱㄱㄱ

I turned and looked back...Omg...so so high....I have come so far..

I just keep on going.  It was like an endless trail to me.
I kept asking myself how far do I still need to go?
The answer is, "Very very far"

Melting snow!
Fortunately, the hiking trail was not covered with snow.
The melting snow was at the side of the trail.

More snow as I proceed higher.

Hmmm...it was hard for me to relate to this sentence ㅠㅠ
One who is fearful of height is unable to hike leisurely, especially at this segment of the trail.
Why do I say so?

I was like,"OMG!" when I saw this...
So near the edge ㅠㅠ ㅠㅠ ㅠㅠ
I was so worried that I will be blown over the edge by the strong wind.
*Touchwood

Looking back is more scary for me who fears height, but the Gemini part of me is always very contradicting. Yeah, the timid me still wanna capture this beautiful moment. Yes, the view was really spectacular. I snapped a picture of this and quickly move on!  

I have only travel about 2.1km....
1.6km more to go before I reach the resting point @_@
How far to go before I reach the Eorimok entrance??
Hohooo...I dare not think about it.. 

화이팅 !!

Snapped and go!

At last, its more "enclosed"...

This is a path which you have to get across.

"Exposed" once again but the trail is made up of these wooden platform. Sounds like an easy hiking trail for this segment, isn't it? Well, it was but the wind was so strong that I could barely open my eyes. I could feel my eyes tearing as well. No wonder so many Koreans covered themselves including their eyes. How did they do it? Besides hiking clothings, they wore gloves, cap, face or mouth mask and sunglasses. I think the sunglass helps to block away the wind. Okie!  I will be more prepared in future!

At certain point of times, I even run becos it was really cold. Seriously, I thought a thin layer of ice was beginning to form on my face Hahahaaa.

Dark clouds started to cover the sky.
 I prayed hard that the weather will not get worse.

Whenever I see this scene online, I did not feel its on a mountain and never knew the amount of effort that is required in order to reach here.  Now I finally understand. It does not look anywhere on a mountain but I am really somewhere on a mountain top. Hallasan being the highest mountain in South Korea but only the Gwaneumsa and Seongpanak trails lead to the summit. I have any regrets choosing the Yeongsil trail but I wonder how it will be like on the highest mountain summit of South Korea.

Suddenly, I thought I could feel the rain drops!
It started to drizzle and I picked up my pace.

About 5-10mins later, I reached the resting point, 윗세오름대피소 Witseoreum Shelter. It was 1.35pm when I reached here.  I saw something interesting. The guy in this picture is wearing the rain coat on top of his normal clothing and he wore his windbreaker as the final outer layer. It was not only him but many Koreans did the same. They started to wear their disposable raincoats here. However, they did not wear it as the last layer of their clothings. They wore it as their second/third layer of clothing ie first is their normal clothing, followed by the raincoat and their windbreaker or jacket as the last layer. Raincoat was supposed to shelter from the rain but in this case, I think they use it to block away the wind. Please correct me if I am wrong. 

One can buy cup noodle, chocolate pie, coffee etc here but do not leave your rubbish behind.  You have to carry it with you till you saw the next rubbish bin which is probably at the Eorimok entrance or washroom.  I did not buy any food here becos I brought my own water and Dr You chocolate pie ^^   Guess what I bought here? 

Yeah...I bought my pair of precious gloves here and I still keep it as a precious souvenir. They cost only KRW1000. Of course, the material was not thick enough to keep me warm but they helped a lot to prevent my poor fingers from freezing. *I love them deep deep okiee...

Things you can buy at this shelter.

II continued with my journey down at 1.45pm. My plan was to take the 어리목 Eorimok Trail down but I am not sure whether I did! Hahahaaa..I just kept on walking. No more drizzling but cold as ever. Not long after I left the shelter, I reached this stream. Woww...this is my first time to see a frozen stream.  Is it possible to drink the water here?

It became warmer as I made my way down and most of the trail was "enclosed" by the trees.  I think Koreans who saw me in my rain coat finds it weird...Hahahaa I have no time to take it off. I have to watch my steps becos the trail down was much more challenging. Hmm...perhaps I did take the Eorimok trail afterall becos I know the Eorimok trail is not as easy as Yeongsil trail. In fact, I find it to be more challenging becos most of the trail was made up of rocks and the surface was uneven. I almost slipped a few times.  Hence, I did not take much photos on my way down. 

Strive on!!  I am almost there! 

The trail down was more challenging but much faster. I was so relieved when I caught the first sight of this carpark. It was 3.15pm when I reached here. It took me about 3hours 15 mins to complete the trail. This should be the Eorimok carpark. I was so happy to get here but I was happy too early. Anyway, I went to the washroom before checking out where is the bus stop. It never occur to me that the bus stop is not in this carpark!  

I approached the security guard at the carpark entrance. He was seated inside the little office where the entry barrier was(What we commonly know the Electronic Parking System in Singapore). He gave me this slip of paper which stated the bus time table for bus no.1100. Oh gosh!! The next bus will arrived at 3.35pm!! He told me it will take about 10mins walk to reach the bus stop.  When a Korean said its 10 mins, it means I will probably take 15-20mins!!  Ahhhhhh...I thanked him and quickly dashed off becos it was already 3.28pm!!

I walked out the carpark from the entry barrier and went straight all the way. I saw a Korean girl whom I met along the Eorimok trail.  I think she is also heading towards the bus stop. I wanted to tell her the bus is arriving soon but I did not, in case I made a mistake.  For once, I hoped the bus will arrive late!

Just walk along the straight road and you will see this bus stop on your left. It is very obvious and you will not miss it.  Guess what time I reached here? I reached here at 3.37pm, and I saw the bus drove off when I was a few meters away from the bus stop  ㅠㅠ 

The next bus will only arrive at 4.55pm. It was either I walked back to the Eorimok carpark to request some Koreans to call a taxi for me or wait for the next bus. While waiting at the bus stop, the Korean girl whom I saw just now came up to me. She said something to me in Korean. I have to apologise again. Fortunately, she can speak English.  Her name was Jihye. Jihye asked where I was staying. I told her I stayed in Jeju si, so she asked if I wanted to share a taxi with her to Jeju si. The taxi fare will be about KRW20000. That was not expensive to me becos I felt stranded here hahahaaa...

So she called for a taxi and the taxi appeared in 5 mins!  That was so fast. Where did he come from??   Jihye asked if I wanted to have dinner together with her.  She suggested 고기 국수.  Although I have tried 고기 국수 before but I don't mind to eat it again ^^  She asked the taxi uncle for good recommendation in Jeju si.