We naturally decided to go to the top, which was what a lot of other Koreans were doing as well. I have never seen a hiking trail so busy anywhere. Here's a picture of a couple of my stalwart companions. If it looks steep, it was, but this part had steps, so, actually, it was one of the easier sections!
But we did not have a corner on stalwartness by any means. Young and old, male and female were trekking as well on this sunny Saturday. One that really turned my head was this gentleman....yes, he's barefoot.
As we got closer to the summit, we had some good views. (They could have been better but smog is a pretty common thing here.) Through the mist, this is Seoul.
The hike got progressively steeper with more and more challenging terrain. Here is a picture from the summit of the last little bit. There is a handrail...and lots of rock. No steps. Just grab, grunt and go.
From the top we had great views. I could even see the reservoir I rode my bike to a while ago. (See several posts down)
What's that? Yes, this is primarily a bird blog. I saw several Eurasian Nuthatches (Sitta europaea) while on our hike. I tried in vain to get a photo. Out of all my clicking, this is the best I managed. Quite possibly the world's worst nuthatch photo ever. But, I feel obliged to include something with wings in most of my posts. (No, trust me, it was a bird...the blurry thing behind the twigs, really...)
According to my GPS we covered about 6 miles and went up about 2,200 vertical feet. Well, after a lot of walking on this long weekend, I'm just going to sit here with my feet up for a while. Until next time, keep sauntering on.
