Sinbulsan - 2015
Since last year I tried to climb this mountain, but wasn't able to finish it before dark, I decided to give it another try this year and start much earlier in the morning!
Sinbulsan is not the tallest mountain in Ulsan, but it is one of the toughest mountains to climb in because it is so steep. The Korean word for hiking, "등산" (deung-san), literally means "mountain climbing" and this is one hike for which that meaning is as literal as can be.
I mapped out our trail afterwards using Google Earth so you can see it in the image above. We started to the left and went around clockwise. Our base starting point was at an elevation of 70 meters (230 feet). The peak is 1,159 meters (3,802 feet). We hiked for 6.5 hours (4 hours to the top, and 2.5 hours back down), and only covered a distance of about 5.4 miles (8.7 km).
The hike started of slowly and steadily, with a stream and a nice waterfall called 홍류 폭포 (Hong-ryu Waterfall). Shortly after leaving the scenery of the falls, however, the trail became incredibly steep and we really started going UP.
The higher we got on the mountain, the barer the trees were, and this made for better views of the surrounding area.
Once you pass about the halfway point on the mountain, things start to get REALLY steep and rocky, and the real climbing begins. The have ropes like the one in the picture below installed all over the trails to help you climp up the bare rock faces. You have to hold on and pull yourself while you walk up the rock - trying not to be distracted by the beautiful view behind you.
When we finally made it completely out of the trees and to the rocky-ridge top, the view was breathtaking. But we heard from some other hikers that 2 women had lost their footing and fallen a little ways ahead of us on the trail, and they had gotten seriously injured. (According to the man we spoke to they would have died, but had luckily gotten caught in a tree.)
We got to watch the 2 rescue helicopters come, pick up the 2 women and fly away. The first one was still a bit far from us, but by the time the second one came, we were almost directly underneath the pick up zone.
After picking up the woman, the 2nd helicopter stayed and hovered here for about 5 minutes. All the other hikers on the trail just kept moving and walking underneath it, so we followed suit. The wind was incredibly strong and was whipping up all the dead leaves from the ground. As we walked beneath it, we had to struggle to stay on our feet and keep out head down to keep the debris from flying in out faces.
Out in the open air after the path through the trees is my favorite part. The last stretch of trail to Sinbulsan's peak is just a rocky ridge, on which you have to just walk along the top and be extremely careful not to fall to either side.
The height, the danger, the view.... all add up to an invigorating feeling of adrenaline and excitement. I love it! It feels like you're balancing on top of the world! Or walking among the clouds!
The view at the end of our trail was as rewarding as can be, with the beautiful sunlight cascading down onto the mountains on the opposite side that we had climbed.
As typical of all mountain climbs, I got a picture with the marker: proving I stood at the absolute highest point on the mountain I had conquered.
Our descent began gradual, among the beautiful, golden grass fields for which we had just missed the peak in color. Then the view below was the last we got before we began our journey back down into the trees, to that little white-dot of a parking lot far, far below.
Sinbulsan is not the tallest mountain in Ulsan, but it is one of the toughest mountains to climb in because it is so steep. The Korean word for hiking, "등산" (deung-san), literally means "mountain climbing" and this is one hike for which that meaning is as literal as can be.
I mapped out our trail afterwards using Google Earth so you can see it in the image above. We started to the left and went around clockwise. Our base starting point was at an elevation of 70 meters (230 feet). The peak is 1,159 meters (3,802 feet). We hiked for 6.5 hours (4 hours to the top, and 2.5 hours back down), and only covered a distance of about 5.4 miles (8.7 km).
The hike started of slowly and steadily, with a stream and a nice waterfall called 홍류 폭포 (Hong-ryu Waterfall). Shortly after leaving the scenery of the falls, however, the trail became incredibly steep and we really started going UP.
The higher we got on the mountain, the barer the trees were, and this made for better views of the surrounding area.
Once you pass about the halfway point on the mountain, things start to get REALLY steep and rocky, and the real climbing begins. The have ropes like the one in the picture below installed all over the trails to help you climp up the bare rock faces. You have to hold on and pull yourself while you walk up the rock - trying not to be distracted by the beautiful view behind you.
When we finally made it completely out of the trees and to the rocky-ridge top, the view was breathtaking. But we heard from some other hikers that 2 women had lost their footing and fallen a little ways ahead of us on the trail, and they had gotten seriously injured. (According to the man we spoke to they would have died, but had luckily gotten caught in a tree.)
We got to watch the 2 rescue helicopters come, pick up the 2 women and fly away. The first one was still a bit far from us, but by the time the second one came, we were almost directly underneath the pick up zone.
After picking up the woman, the 2nd helicopter stayed and hovered here for about 5 minutes. All the other hikers on the trail just kept moving and walking underneath it, so we followed suit. The wind was incredibly strong and was whipping up all the dead leaves from the ground. As we walked beneath it, we had to struggle to stay on our feet and keep out head down to keep the debris from flying in out faces.
Out in the open air after the path through the trees is my favorite part. The last stretch of trail to Sinbulsan's peak is just a rocky ridge, on which you have to just walk along the top and be extremely careful not to fall to either side.
The height, the danger, the view.... all add up to an invigorating feeling of adrenaline and excitement. I love it! It feels like you're balancing on top of the world! Or walking among the clouds!
The view at the end of our trail was as rewarding as can be, with the beautiful sunlight cascading down onto the mountains on the opposite side that we had climbed.
As typical of all mountain climbs, I got a picture with the marker: proving I stood at the absolute highest point on the mountain I had conquered.
Our descent began gradual, among the beautiful, golden grass fields for which we had just missed the peak in color. Then the view below was the last we got before we began our journey back down into the trees, to that little white-dot of a parking lot far, far below.
.JPG)
Comments
Post a Comment