Go take a hike. Dobongsan

Dobong Mountain. A beast of a mountain. In fact, some parts would totally be deemed unsafe by American standards. But it was beautiful. This mountain is very popular because it's close to Seoul and is very accessible by public transportation.
It took 2 hours to get up and 1.5 hours to descend. The mountain stands at 739 meters (2424 ft).

From my apartment, I jumped on the 72 bus and within 40 minutes I was standing at the mountain entrance.


With any sport, most Koreans go all out. They have the latest clothes and gear-- materialistic conformity anyone? I felt a bit deviant without a hiking stick, sun hat and a colourful jacket. And I could have purchased all of the above as I walked through the mountain entrance where store after store of hiking accessories were on display.

These women were all ready to go. Notice the similar clothing and gear?

At the entrance there was also food available for your hike up.
Here we have rice cakes:

Want a slab of pig for your hike?

Even some Makali (rice wine):

This was our destination: Jaunbong peak!

Trail map:

Route distances and estimated times:

The pink highlight is our route:

I'm not entirely sure why air hoses are a big thing here, but it most likely has to do with an obsession over clean feet. After your descent, you use the nifty hose to clean off unwanted dirt from your hiking shoes.

Heading up- most of the trail was rocky.

I love hiking in Korea because of the awesome temples you stumble upon!!

Buddha statues:

(Thanks for the hiking pants, Kate!)

good luck drinking well

Cheunchuksa temple:

An hour and a half later we reached a rocky plateau:

This was our view:

Desperately needed to rest:

Man made rainbow of colour:

I wish I would have taken a picture of the trail to the peak... it almost seemed impossible. They had a hand rail and some rope for you to use as you climbed the rocks. It was a steep (maybe 70 degree) incline.
But once you got to the top you had an amazing view!

When in Rome... a kimchi and kimbop lunch on the peak's top.

I am so impressed by how many older Koreans were hiking. Some were well into their 60's and 70's. Something you don't see too often in the States, huh.