#mthalla

Today was was the big day. The day we hiked Mt. Halla/Hallasan. It is the highest peak in Korea at 1,950 meters (6,398 ft). The entire hike is 9 hours. 4.5 up and 4.5 down the other side. In total, 18.3 km, or about 11 miles. 

Elissa and her friend had to head back to the main city in Jeju that day and would not be able to hike the whole thing. That morning, I figured I would hike up and down with them and go back the next day to hike the whole thing. However, once we started  hiking, I thought, why do this again tomorrow? I’m hiking the whole thing today!

We decided to hike up Seongpanak Trail, which is one of only two trails that go to the top. Once we started hiking, we found signs that said you had to reach the checkpoint of Jindallaebat by 1:00pm to be able to continue to the top. Since I had to make that point and Elissa and her friend wanted to go as high as they could, we kicked it into gear. However, they were only able to make it to the third checkpoint before they had to turn around. 

The route was not too bad for the first part. It gradually gained difficulty. According to the map, it went from easy, to medium, to hard. I mostly agree with their rating, but I think Koreans base their grade system on how well paved the path is, since the “easy” was crazy well paved, like walking on a flat bridge the whole time to “difficult” being scaling rocks. 

I made it to the last check point with plenty of time to spare. I was able to have some ramen there, since I didn’t pack too many snacks because I initially didn’t think I would hike the whole thing that day. 

Once I got within about 400 meters from the top, crazy strong winds kicked in and it got really cold. When I was about 200 meters from the top, the winds were so strong that I had to cling to the railings to not be pushed off and when a big gust hit, I had to turn away because it would hit me in the chest so hard I couldn’t breathe. At that point, they announced something over the speaker in Korean. For all I know, they were telling everyone to turn around because the winds were too strong. But, since there were still some people trudging to the top, I continued, determined to reach it since I had hiked nearly 5 hours to get there. 

I finally made it to the top, but wasn’t really able to get any pictures for fear of flying away. Also, my hands were so frozen I was afraid my phone would be knocked out of my hands by the wind. I did take a few videos though!

I concluded that the Halla Gods must have been pissed that day with the fury they were impaling on those of us who made it to the top... 

Since the wind was coming from the route I planned on taking down, the Gwaneumsa Trail, I wasn’t sure if it was open or safe since everyone going down the mountain was going down the way we came up. However, I eventually saw a Korean couple making a run for that trail, so I followed close behind.

The wind didn’t ease up for a while, but the views from this side of the mountain were drop dead gorgeous. I felt like I was back in Yosemite. It was amazing and I was happy to be able to take my time down the mountain because I no longer had any checkpoints to make. 

It took me, I think, about 3 hours or so to make it to the bottom and omg, my feet hurt bad! Also, I had to pee because the bathrooms on the mountain smelled so bad that I couldn’t get within 50 feet of them before I started gagging.