Gangwondo Hongcheun Yongwhasan Mountain Climb in Korean- Big Rock and Ahnbu Course - Hike

1.     Date and Time : July 12, 2018.  09:30~16:30 (7 hours and 30 minutes including break one hour).

2.     Location : Hongcheun District at Gangwon Province in Korea.

3. Distance and Course : About 14.21 km. Course is to start Sayeokyeo Bridge Parking Lot => Big Rock => Yongwhasan Summit (878.4m Altitude) => Ahnbu Junction => White House Junction => Back to Sayeokyeo Bridge Parking Lot.

4.     Access :

There are various ways to reach the Seoul Express Bus Terminal where you will take express bus bound for Chooncheon Express Bus Terminal, non-stop and taking one and half an hours. As soon as you arrive, you should walk to Chooncheon Intercity Bus Terminal taking 7 minutes for 446m where you should get on local bus No 7. You will get off at Yaksamyeongdon Residential Office Bus Stop after about 13 minutes for 7 times bus stops passing. You should change to local bus 37 and get off at the Yangtong Bus Stop, last Bus Stop taking 1 hour and 5 minutes for 42 times bus stop passing. As soon as arrive at Yangtong Bus Stop, you should walk to Sayeokyeo Bridge taking 6 minutes for 391m. Please refer to the map of “Transportation from Seoul Express Bus Terminal to Yangtong Bus Stop”. I estimate total transportation time from Seoul Express Bus Terminal to Sayeokyeo 4 hours for one way which estimate about 8 hours for round trip. But you would reduce this transportation time to 4 hours for round trip in case you use private car or rent car which you could save four hours for the transportation. 

4.     Overall Remarks.

       Yonghwasan (Mt. 878m) is 28km away from Chuncheon-si (city) to the north. It marks the boundary between Chuncheon-si (city) and Hwacheon-gun. It has been more famous for its mystic surroundings of a primitive forest and has transmitted its beauty by word of mouth to only a few mountaineers who love it,
When ascending the summit of Manjangbong (Peak) along the indented 12km path, you can look out Paroho (Lake) of Hwacheon dam at a distance. It is a mountain with continuous wonderful rocks such as Kettle-shaped Rock, Witch-shaped Rock, Commander-shaped Rock, etc, keeping various legends. It is 875m high above sea level, starting from Sabuk-myeon, Cuncheon-si (city), via Hanam-myeon, Hwacheon-gun, stretching to the north of Yuchon-ri, Gandong-myeon.
The hike trail starts from the last stop of Gotan-ri village after entering on the path right side of Chuncheon dam. It takes about one hour and a half to the summit, therefore it is a proper route for light hiking.
There is a rock which looks like the beak of a kettle not far away. People have performed a ritual for rain by slaughtering a dog under the beak of this kettle-shaped rock during a drought since time immemorial. Since it rained as soon as people turned around after having covered the beak of the kettle with dog's blood, they went there to perform the ritual with raincoats. As the rock is wet with dog's blood, the ritual for rain is called 'Gaejeoksim'. At a short distance from here, there is a Paduk board-shaped rock, 2m in width and in length. It is named as is since fairies came down there and played Paduk (Chinse Chess) on it.

You could take a look more highlight of Gongjaksan Hiking which I recorded at the mountain climb. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xhLDvNZJBJI

5.     Detailed Course Information

I have first moved to KNPA Yongwhasan Recreation Forest Center and checked if I could take complete hiking course from there and learned it is possible but too long distance via the Center. Therefore I moved down some and found White House Junction which I should pass this junction again when I walk back to after touching down the Summit. I parked the car around Sayeokyeo Bridge and checked Hiking Corse Information which course I would better take and decided to take suitable course as described above Article 3. I started to walk on asphalt paved road for short while and met end of this paved road and off road starting and passed Yangtong small village. As I walked through these roads for about half an hour, I reached Military Explosion Treatment Zone where they sometimes ban to enter this boundary. But these are not military schedule today and I could freely pass this special area. The road conditions were being changed to rougher and more rocky and wild stream. I walked these roads and sometimes crossing over the streams for about some more one hour and found three way junction without any sign or landmark and turned left at the Junction and kept walking up for about half an hours more and reached Junction stating as 300m to Big Rock and 700m to Summit. I continuously walked up through steep stairs and slippery rock hill via the Big Rock Hill for about half an hour more and met Big Rock positioning at peak. When I walked through ridge road for about 10 minutes, I found elegant rock cliff and candle stick Rock nearby and tried to take a nice photo for these two scenery. I continuously climbed the rock hill for about 30 minutes more and finally touched down to Yongwhasan Summit-878.4m Altitude and getting down looking around the Summit for short while. But I could not see the surrounding view since taller trees are fencing around the Summit. I walked down for about a quarter minutes and reached three way junctions as the one 2.4km to Yangtong Valley and the other 7.3km to Baehuryeong and I took a Yangtong Valley downhill course.  I passed very steep hill road, stream road, jumped over fallen wood log, invisible trace road and so on for about one hour and half any hour and reached Yangtong Water Fall which looks really fantastic and splendid scenery. Thereafter I tried to keep on track to follow stream as a guide reference to downhill and eventually back to parking Lot via White House Junction after one hour struggling against no road sign or hardly traced road due to heavy rain damaged existing road.  

                 .