Text and Photos: AM@山中遊子
A white winter was what I longed for ever since I was young. I wanted to wander in the snow, to see the beautiful snowy mountains with my own eyes, and to climb the highest mountain of any country. After my first overseas climbing in September 2013, I was hoping for more climbing abroad but it was not yet snowing at Mount Fuji, so we had this trip instead. The journey gave me everything that I asked for, as soon as I saw white snow on the ground, I was thrilled just thinking about climbing the mountain.
“Every living thing on Jeju Island lives in her eyes.” When we arrived at the hotel in Jeju city, the window of our room was facing directly towards our goal of this journey – Hallasan, the highest mountain in South Korea. Hallasan is a shield volcano with a height of 1,950m which is 207m higher than Seoraksan, the highest mountain in mainland Korea. I went on this trip with my girlfriend who rarely goes hiking with me, and it was also the first time we attempted to climb a snowy mountain together. We had never experienced minus degrees celsius before, nor walking in a snowy mountain. Besides, I had no idea how the mountain would be and I needed to look after my girlfriend so I was very nervous.
Jeju Island is famous for three things: not fried chicken, but “many rocks, wind and women.” We felt the chill from just walking on the street, which made us think about what it would be like up on Hallasan. Climbing the mountain was only my goal but not for my girlfriend, shopping was hers. It was a 5-day trip but actually we only had 3 whole days after travelling by plane, so on the half day we had, we walked around the city and prepared some food for our hike.
We were ready to depart early the next morning. We took the 780 bus from outside the hotel directly to the entrance of the Seongpanak Trail. There are four Hallasan trails, but Gwaneumsa Trail and Seongpanak Trail are the only two that reach the peak. Since we were new to climbing a snowy mountain, we decided to go for the Seongpanak Trail which is relatively flat but at approximately 20km in length for a return trip, is a longer route.
We soon arrived at the entrance after walking the Tai Mo Shan-like path. It was surprising that we were the only two there. We started the hike at 10am, even the pile of residual snow at the entrance made me feel excited. There was more and more snow along the trail which made us slow down and took many photos. We finally reached the Jindalraebat Shelter at 2pm, it was our last chance to get some supplies before the summit. There were hot drinks, instant noodles and even ice grips. We ate some food to replenish energy and saw that it was -6°C according to the information board. But I was way too excited to feel the cold because of the nice weather coupled with my first experience in sub-zero temperature.
When we were about to start the last leg of the trail, an administrator stopped us from going further and said the time for summiting had passed. I was stunned, no wonder there was no one at the entrance. The trail is popular and long; therefore, certain mountain control is required to reduce the risk of having accidents. As a result, because I had woken up too late and took too many photos during the hike, we failed our first climb to Hallasan. We could only hike another time but this was my first time to feel the failure of hiking abroad.
After leaving the mountain, we had a feast but my girlfriend noticed that I was still upset. She knew what I was thinking about and comforted me by suggesting we climb Hallasan again the next day. I was really thankful for her understanding. At 8:30am on our third day on Jeju Island, we were on the mountain again. It had snowed the night before. And compared to the day before, the weather was not as good, the scenery was whiter, the temperature lower and everything looked completely different.
Once again, we were at the Jindalraebat Shelter. We bought two pairs of ice grips because we were sliding down the mountain the day before. This time we skipped lunch and rushed to where we had been stopped. There was no warning time and finally we could march to the peak.
We had been walking in the forest but it became spacious and sunny at the last section of the trail. However, the closer to the peak, the stronger the wind was and we felt unbelievably cold since we did not have lunch. I recalled that it was -12°C when we were at the Shelter and as I looked back towards my girlfriend, I saw she was crying from the wind blowing in her face. We immediately found a shelter to rest. In spite of the sun, blue and cloudy sky, I remember that it felt so surreal to see her tears and snot had frozen. At that point, I said to her that we should leave the mountain, as it didn’t matter whether we reached the top or not; I just wanted her to be safe. She unexpectedly shouted at me saying there was no way we would give up at this point. While I was pondering the decision, the snow near the top had slightly cleared out and we saw the pillar of the peak. We then supported each other to the wooden pillar. We were a day late but we were finally there – Hallasan in South Korea. It was my second time reaching the highest mountain of another country.
It took time to descend the mountain so we did not take many photos on our way back. It was already dark when we returned to the mountain entrance but we were able to catch the bus back to the city centre. And there we had it: we completed the goal. I was really thankful for my girlfriend’s understanding in order for me to achieve my small goal. Within the next half a year after this trip, I summited Mount Kinabalu in Sabah and Mount Jade in Taiwan, and reached my goal of climbing the highest peaks in four East Asian countries in one year.
Afterword:
I did not know this Hallasan journey in 2014 would be written seven years later. In these seven years, I have been to different mountains but I am no longer together with the girlfriend who climbed Hallasan. I am not sure about her life now but I still appreciate what she did.
*The Jindalraebat Shelter has been closed.