Fall is definitely hitting Gyeongju these days. Mornings and nights are brisk as can be, but days are sunny and sprinkled with autumnal colours. This weekend I decided to take advantage of the gorgeous weather by heading hiking. It's been a while since I have! A friend had told me about this trail famous for having fields of Silvergrass. After a little research, I found this website with lots of useful info. Turns out the silvergrass can be found on Mount Dongdaebong where we hiked to the Mujangbong Peak. The 18 bus took us from Gyeongju directly to Amguk village where the trail began. It seems forest on top of the mountain was cleared to become a farm of some sort, but when the project fell through this silvergrass took over.
I hiked up with two friends, Dan and Ian. We hiked at a leisurely pace taking photos and enjoying the colourful trees. I actually forgot about the grass while hiking since it was so pretty to be outside. It was a lovely surprise though, as it is quite an unusual mountain topping. The grass really was silvery as it caught the sunlight and glinted beautifully. Sadly, I don't know how well it photographed. It was really beautiful and peaceful.
Hiking in Korea is always amusing because Koreans get decked out in hiking gear. Most people look like they're either going on a week long deepwoods backpacking trip or a advertisement photo shoot instead of a three hour hike. They have huge backpacks, hiking pants, jackets, hats, gloves, and shoes. Also everything is coloured from bright to neon. We never had to worry that we had gotten on the wrong bus as all we had to do was follow our neon friends.
After reaching the peak, we headed down the other side of the trail. It was super steep. Everyone we passed who was going up was panting heavily and looking fairly miserable. There were even ropes for us to cling to as we climbed/jumped our way down. We were very very happy to have ascended on the gentler trail! I would have taken a photo but I was a little preoccupied with survival.
I hiked up with two friends, Dan and Ian. We hiked at a leisurely pace taking photos and enjoying the colourful trees. I actually forgot about the grass while hiking since it was so pretty to be outside. It was a lovely surprise though, as it is quite an unusual mountain topping. The grass really was silvery as it caught the sunlight and glinted beautifully. Sadly, I don't know how well it photographed. It was really beautiful and peaceful.
Hiking in Korea is always amusing because Koreans get decked out in hiking gear. Most people look like they're either going on a week long deepwoods backpacking trip or a advertisement photo shoot instead of a three hour hike. They have huge backpacks, hiking pants, jackets, hats, gloves, and shoes. Also everything is coloured from bright to neon. We never had to worry that we had gotten on the wrong bus as all we had to do was follow our neon friends.
After reaching the peak, we headed down the other side of the trail. It was super steep. Everyone we passed who was going up was panting heavily and looking fairly miserable. There were even ropes for us to cling to as we climbed/jumped our way down. We were very very happy to have ascended on the gentler trail! I would have taken a photo but I was a little preoccupied with survival.
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| No soil under me? No problem, I shall be a floating tree. |
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| Temple remains. Pagoda. Best part: we saw a chipmunk climb in and out of the pagoda! |
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| Walking sticks are very popular. |
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| Taking photos alone is always awkward, so somehow my joke pose turned out the best. |
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| If you don't have a smartphone you can't survive an emergency I guess. |
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| Peeking at the peak! |
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| View from the peak. |
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| Pretty colours |
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| Back in Gyeongju, I passed these glorious hiking backpacks. If you haven't already figured it out: Cute is BIG in Korea. |
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