We packed our bags for a trip around the south of "Sparkling" Korea. We left some clothes and things we didn't need with George (Glens cousin) and borrowed his tent and with our bags we headed to Jirisan national park to ascend the peak.
On arrival it was clear camping was out of the question for three reasons 1. its illegal 2. the paths are relentlessly steep with no clearings and 3. there are wild bears in the area. Still we started lugging our necessities for the next two weeks (including the tent) up the path, the only way i can describe it is by quoting the book "difficulty rating 5, very strenuous'. It felt never ending but after 4.5 hours we had completed the 8km to the shelter where a monk was living at 1475m in literally freezing conditions. We ate noodles and went to bed when the sun went down, it was 5pm and despite the hard floor and minus temperatures we slept well.
The morning brought sunshine, more noodles and coffee then we continued on over one peak to another until we reached Chanwongbong peak 1915m. The forest from the previous day cleared and the views opened out to be spectacular. The descent was just as tough as the climb but it was beautiful to see the colours reappear as the height dropped again and meet people on the way up.
Despite the pain in my legs, back, neck, feet (i could go on)... it was absolutely brilliant and we completely loved it. Luckily there was a bear friendly campsite at the bottom so we managed to use the tent.
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