Korean Job Discussion Forums

jlb · Joined: 18 Sep 2003

I'll probably have lunch in Gurye so probably closer to 1:00 or 1:30 at the temple.

heydelores · Joined: 24 Apr 2006

I just bought my train ticket. As jlb said, they're going fast. I was able to get a seat from Suwon to Gwangju for Oct 2, so jlb and others, shall we just plan to meet at the temple the afternoon of Oct 3? There were no seats heading back from Jinju for the whole weekend, unless I wanted to arrive at 4 AM (I don't). How are the buses on Chuseok? Can I buy a bus ticket in advance? I DO NOT want to be stranded down there when we're finished with the hike.

jlb · Joined: 18 Sep 2003

Hey everyone, what's the head count for this expedition? Who has gotten their tickets and are in for sure? We can make shelter reservations next week I think if we get a final number.

So far it looks like:

JLB
HeyDelores

Inspector Gadget?
Njord?

???
???

The logistics I have worked out are:

Arrive in Gurye, Tuesday at about 11:30. Will have lunch probably and then we can meet at Hwaeomsa (temple) between 12:30 and 1:30. We could try to aim for 1:00 though.

First night (T). Hike to Piagol Shelter...a bit out of the way but apparently the views are much better and it's an enjoyable walk. Bring your headlamps! We might need them depending on when the sun goes down and how fast we are.

Second night (W). Hike to Pyoksoryong Shelter...14 km or so along a ridge so should be very doable.

Third night (R). Hike to Chibatmok Shelter.

Friday- Hike to Daewonsa (temple). Those heading back on Friday could go while the rest of us (me?) could find place to camp or head to Jinju or a yeogwan at the mountain or whatever. A nice meal and drink is always enjoyable at the very least!

How do these plans sound? I'm pretty fexible if someone has a different plan.

Looking forward to the hiking and meeting all of you!

If you are coming, could you maybe pm me your email and cell- phone number (I'm assuming you're bringing it on the hike!), that would be cool and I'll send it out ot the group so we can have some contact info.

heydelores · Joined: 24 Apr 2006

I'm in and have my tickets. I'll plan to meet you at the temple. How long do you think it'll take us to get to the shelter the first night? My night vision is pretty bad.

If we get a head count, I'm willing to make reservations for us at the shelters.

I'm planning to stay overnight Friday night. I think a jjimjjilbang will be in order! I'll take the bus back on Saturday. Bus tickets are on sale now for the week of Chuseok.

inspector gadget · Joined: 11 Apr 2003 Location: jeollanam-do in the boonies

I am also in, I live halfway between Mokpo and gwangju so I will be taking the bus from Gwangju to Hwaemsa (there is a direct bus) on tuesday morning.

That plan sounds good but I am thinking we should meet at 1:00 for sure if thats possible, earlier the better. The sun will be going down pretty early I think.

I also plan on staying somewhere around there friday night.

I will send you guys a PM with my contact details.

Not sure about Njord??

just because · Joined: 01 Aug 2003 Location: Changwon - 4964

Certainly get there early, the earlier you can the better it will be....

Njord · Joined: 12 Jan 2006 Location: South Korea

jlb: Sounds like a good plan. I'm in. I had actually penciled in the same shelters as you.

On Sunday I went to Jirisan for a one day hike with one of those Korean hiking groups you see. I could say more about this experience, but I don't want to get off topic. We went up from Hwaeomsa and then back down the Piagol valley - which made for a difficult 7 hour hike. My own opinion is that the hike up to the ridge line from Hwaeomsa is significantly less scenic (although there are 2 km or so in a bamboo forest which was interesting for me). However, the nice part of Piagol (with waterfalls and a stream) is below the shelter so you wouldn't see much of this going your proposed route. Also, the hike up from Piagol to the ridge line is just about 2 km of stairs and rocks that are just as steep as the stairs. I'm not that keen to go out of my way to do that.

My suggestion is to either hike up the Piagol Valley and stay at the Piagol shelter for a very easy (and short) first day or to go up from Hwaeomsa and stay at Nogodan. Nogodan isn't that bad, the view is OK, and they have a shop that sells food and drinks. I didn't get a good look at the Piagol shelter (just saw it quickly on the way down) but I really don't get excited about sleeping in any shelters.

Edit: Inspector Gadget: I see your avatar picture is from Stockholm. Did you go as a tourist? I lived near Stockholm last year and I did a double take the first time I saw that sculpture in the water.

inspector gadget · Joined: 11 Apr 2003 Location: jeollanam-do in the boonies

Njord,

Indeed I was a tourist, actually while working on board a cruise ship, we were cruising in the Baltics on 14 to 16 day cruises. The normal ports of call were amsterdam (home port), oslo, stolkholm (overnight), helsinki, St. Petes (overnight), Tallin, (sometimes gdansk), Copenhagen (overnight) and back to amsterdam.

Stolkholm was awesome, loved the place, did some great things while I was there, at the time I was also dating a massage therapist on board the ship and she was from Stolkholm, Sweden. As a result I really got to see alot of that part of the country.

As for the choice of routes to take and shelters to stay at, I am not sure but I am going to check out a map today and will write again to put my thoughts down about that.

jlb · Joined: 18 Sep 2003

Hey Njord and IG: happy to hear that you're in. It looks like it will be the four of us then. None of my fellow Cheonanites wanted to come Sad

I'd be up for hiking up Piagol valley on the first night...but do you know the logistics of this? Would there be buses from Gurye or is it a taxi ride (under 10 000 hopefully!)

I would also be up for hiking to Nogodon too...what does everyone else think?

heydelores · Joined: 24 Apr 2006

inspector gadget · Joined: 11 Apr 2003 Location: jeollanam-do in the boonies

As I see it we have three choices to start the trek from the western side.

1) meet at hwaomsa temple and hike to Nogodon shelter.

2) meet at Piagol area entrance and hike to Piagol shelter.

***from what I can tell with the maps on the Jiri website, they are not so close, ie we can't meet at Hwaomsa and hike to Piagol, it doesn't seem to mark a trail ***

3) meet at Songsamjae area, north of Hwaomsa, this from what i can tell is at a very high elevation, that would make the climb to the ridge shorter on the first day.

I am trying to find a better map of this park but I am not having much luck.

I am going to ask a co teacher if she can find a better map on line for me.

We need to make some decisions about shelters before booking them.

The maps on the jiri website suck.

heydelores · Joined: 24 Apr 2006

inspector gadget · Joined: 11 Apr 2003 Location: jeollanam-do in the boonies

If that were the case we could likely push on and make it to another shelter further along the ridge. I think my co teacher may locate a map for me via one of the teachers here at my middle school.

hopefully

heydelores · Joined: 24 Apr 2006

Well, what do you all think? I'm flexible, though I'd prefer to be at a shelter before it gets pitch dark, unless you happen to enjoy hiking with a blind person. The idea of starting at a higher altitude and pushing on a little farther is fine by me, but I'd be happy with one of the other suggestions, too.

jlb · Joined: 18 Sep 2003

I'd be happy to:

Meet at hwaomsa temple and hike to Nogodon shelter.

The other two starting points sound good but my only concern is how easy (or not!) they would be to get there. Hwaomsa seems like the biggest transport area for that side of the Park and hence the easiest to get to.

But I've never been to Jirisan so I don't really know! Anyone with better info. on transport?