Aug 22 - Trekking up Dogyusan National Park

The whole day would be cold today and I started off with a cup of coffee, my camelbak and DSLR. The road was wet and glistening as I made my way up past the information booth to the trail. The office wasn't open and I glanced at the main board map before starting the hike. I had forgotten to get a copy of  the map the day before and would have to rely on the signboards and posts.  Realising the Chilyeon falls were just 300 m away, I decided to head there first.

As usual I was the only soul on a rainy day ( The rest were smart enough to rest) Today would be my longest trek on a cold day and I would be shivering at the end :) Chilyeon falls was nice and it was really good to see that there was a lifebuoy for rescue in case someone fell over.

The trek through Dogyusan National park had an almost mystical feel to it, perhaps because it was shrouded in mist and silent mostly. There was not much of a view due to the mist though I did come across a forest dwelling creature here and there.

The path itself was relatively easy and clear with the usual nice stairways prominent in all the other parks I had visited.

It did get a bit lonely after trekking for several hours all alone with not a soul in sight, passing through soggy ground in many instances and wondering if I was on the right track. In all my enthusiasm I had forgotten to bring my usual snack ( A bottle of peanut butter) and only had water to rely on.I did come across interesting trees along the way and at some points the features reminded me of Sobaeksan National Park.


The trek up to the peak took me about 4 hours in continuous rain. Came across many trees along the way which were beautifully shaped. It was obvious where early bonsai artists had gotten their inspiration, looking at these trees.

 I was pretty much starving when I came across a store selling food a little distance away from the peak. It was a little silly of me to completely overlook packing a snack and this store was like a major relief. In the cold weather, a bar of chocolate and hot coffee felt really good and allowed me to recover a little from the few hours of non stop trekking.

The stairway to the peak

After a short rest, I made my way up a final stairway to Mt Dogyusan and was amazed at the number of people I saw up there. It was then that I realised that most of them were coming up using a cable car station located just nearby. I had started off from another end so had no option to even know about this, though I did hear that Dogyusan was a ski mountain.

The peak was somewhat misty thanks to the rain and everyone was in plastic raincoats busily taking pictures. I left after standing at the peak for a short while as I started shivering rather uncontrollably.

Luckily there was a food establishment at the cable car where I could get some hot food. My hands were so cold that I could not stir up my bimbimbop and some korean ladies on the same table helped me, sharing their makkoli ( Rice wine) with me as well :)


Tired as I was, I took the cable car ride down and was treated to wonderful views of the ski park. Got somewhat lost at the base as it was rather quiet and I was a good distance from the information booth where my motel was. All I had was a resort nearby and I could not draw money from the ATMs there !

Finally managed to get a cab that accepted credit cards ( Thanks to a kind man at the reception)  and made my way back to my motel for about 30000 won. That was a major relief and a lesson to always have cash with me.

Dinner at the motel was awesome and I had a nice chat with the lady of the house and a few friends of hers. I was mostly drenched and set to leave the next day so had to dry my stuff quickly. Arranging everything under the fan, I crashed. It had been a really cold day.