I went to what I still call "Uijenongbu City Park" because I don't know what it is really called. I noticed they had a new trail roped off going up toward the area I was interested in birding so...off I went. It turned out this is the trail that goes over Highway 3 and into Bukan National Park. Well, why not? So I kept on trucking.
In the early stages of my hike, there were many reminders of where I was, from a military standpoint. I was on the western border of the Uijeongbu Corridor, a historical invasion route of the peninsula from the north, and a direct route from North Korea to Seoul. Many of these fortifications are still maintained, at least to some degree, by the looks of it.
On the way up the ridge line, I saw several birds, including Long-tailed Tit, White-Backed Woodpecker, Pygmy Woodpecker and Eastern Crowned Leaf Warbler. The temperature was pleasant, and the trail was busy. Spring is starting to really take hold here and I saw lots of bushes with these pretty purple flowers.
On one overlook I was able to get a picture of where I had gone so far. You can see Camp Red Cloud in the upper left. I walked through town behind the high-rise apartments to the right and then up the ridge in the right foreground. (was it really that far?) The haze/pollution is evident in the picture.
The mountains are rugged and beautiful with lots of outcroppings.
I saw lots of these banners throughout the park, I assume this is the Korean equivalent of Smokey Bear? I saw him and his little friend on some different signs as well, maybe they are the Korean National Parks mascots? This one seems to be about fire prevention.
It's places and days like this that God just soothes my soul. How can you not feel His goodness walking down a path like this?
After going along the ridge line for a while, I decided maybe I should head back down before I wore myself out completely. So I found a path headed down to Uijeongbu and it followed a growing mountain stream for a good part of the way. I took several pictures. Here's one of them. The sound of the rushing water was very nice.
As I came closer to the bottom, I came across a Buddhist monastery. It marked the farthest part up that you could drive. (Well, you might drive, parts of it looked pretty hairy to me!)
Apparently, the ascetic life isn't quite what it used to be. (Note the two satellite dishes and propane tanks next to the houses in the foreground.
Once I reached the entrance to the park, I stopped at a local shop and bought a Korean-sized bottle of orange juice. This was quite refreshing as I hadn't brought quite as much water as I would have if I had known how far I was going to go. (Korea has bottles of juice that are 1.5 liters in many stores.)
I was then faced with a dilemma, well two, actually. The most pressing one was finding a subway stop. That I accomplished in short order with the help of a street sign pointing me in the right direction. (I really appreciate how much English is in this country!) Then I had to decide to go shower before meeting friends for dinner or go to Eungbang Station near the Han river and look for ducks.
Ducks won. (Sorry, guys!)
Once I remembered what line I wanted to transfer to, I arrived and started looking to see what was around. I was soon greeted by this lovely couple.
Mandarin Ducks! These relatives of the Woodduck are quite the sight to behold. I sat and watched them for almost 30 minutes before I had to head back north.
I also saw the more common ducks for this spot, including Mallards and Eurasian Teal
As I was starting to think about leaving, a Great Cormorant flew in and decided to dry off for a while.
I finally succumbed to my schedule and took the subway back to Uijeongbu for my dinner engagement. We ate at the Spaghetti House and then topped it off with ice cream at Baskin Robbins. A good day, a refreshing day, and yet, at the end, I was tired and glad to shower and hit the sack.
Until next time...
