| Baengnokdam
Peak 1950m/6398' |
August
14, 2006. A day after our visit
to Jeongbang Falls.
We left our packs at the minbak and walked to the Seogwipo
Bus terminal. We took a bus there for 35mins to Seongpanak
Ticket Booth, which was our trailhead.
Hiking Hallasan has some restrictions regarding time to
start and time to end the hike. They close the gate for
summit hikers at 10am, and they asked you to leave the
summit by 2:30pm. From Jindallaebat (store), hikers are
not allowed to hike to the summit after 1pm. The reason
for these restrictions is, it supposed to take 4:30hrs
to hike to summit from Seongpanak, and about the same
time to descend. They don't want people hiking after sunset.
This hike took us 2:45hrs up and 2:30hrs down. |
|
 
| This mountain
may be the highest mountain in South Korea but it's definitely
one of the easiest to hike. From the trailhead to about
three quarters of the trail is a boardwalk and has very
gradual incline. |
|
  (1)
About halfway on this 9.6km trail is a water source. It makes
the hike even easier especially if you require constant hydration.
(2) To add more convenience to this hike, a store is in place
at about three quarters of the way. This may have actually
been used as a sleeping shelter. |
  (1)
After passing the store, the boardwalk disappears and the
trail becomes more steep. This is also the first time we saw
the summit from the trail.
(2) The last bit to the summit is the steepest.
|
 
At the top, the party awaits.
After a few minutes, we saw the gentleman we passed on the trail
that made it to the top too. It's amazing to see a person with
disability hike up a mountain. |
  We
didn't have a clear view of the surrounding. Only for a bit
of time when we had a good view of the crater. |
  On
our descent, we saw more views bit by bit... and more interesting
people too.
We didn't realise we could finish this hike so early in the
day. We took a bus back to Seogwipo Bus terminal, grabbed
our packs, and went straight to Jungmun
Resort for another beach camping.
|
