Life is a different Wave moving by Time and ending at Shore: Choongbuk Yeongdong Minjugisan Mountain Hike in Korea- Minjugisan Forest Recreation Center Course

1. Date and Time : Nov 1, 2018 07:00~12:30 (5 hours and 30 minutes including half an hour break).

2. Location: . Buhang-Town, Gimcheon-City, Gyeongsangbuk-Province and Muju-District, Jeollabuk-Province and Yonghwa-Town, Sangchon-Town, Yeongdong-Districr, Chungcheonbuk-Province

3. Distance and Course : About 16.95km. Course is to start at Minjugisan Forest Recreation Center => Limdo Hyeushik (Rest and Break Pavilion) => Limdo Junction => Daepiso (Shelter) => Minjugisan Summit (1241m Altitude) => Back to the Minjugisan Forest Recreation Center. Please refer to the Choongbuk Yeongdong Minjugisan Hike Map and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DRUsosiT128

4. Access :

There is several ways to connect “ITX Seoul Station” connecting by subway lines No. 1, 4 and AREX). Please walk to the ITX Seoul Station from the Subway Station taking 2 minutes for 240m and check boarding gate number at the information sign board and follows the information and get on ITX bound for Yeongdong taking 2 hours and 9 minutes. When you get off at the Yeongdong Train Station, please walk to Yeongdong Station Bus Stop taking 2 minute for 102m. You could get on local bus No. 143 and get off at Samchonri Bus Stop taking 1 hour and 37 minutes for 38 bus stop passing. You could walk to Minjugisan Recreation Center taking 10 minutes for 676m. Please refer more details to the “Transportation from ITX Seoul Station to Minjugisan Forest Recreation Center”. You could simply take reverse course on your way back home. I could estimate total transportation is about 4 hours and half an hour including waiting times for one way which comes total 9 hours for round trip. But you would reduce this transportation time to 7 hours for round trip in case you use private car or rent car which you could save two hours for the transportation.

5. Overall Remarks.

Minjujisan (Mt.) covers parts of 3 provinces; Yeongdong in Chungbuk, Gimcheon in Gyeongbuk, and Muju in Jeonbuk, and draws an 8-kilometer-long main ridgeline to the north, connecting Gakhosan (Mt.), Seokgibong (Peak), and Samdobong (Peak).
Sobaek mountain range stretching down to the southwest from Taebaek mountain range, the spine of Korea, goes down to Chupungnyeong (Ridge) and rises again to form Minjujisan (Mt.), located 15km from Chupungnyeong to the southwest. This place holds the Mulhangyegok (Valley) which is famous for its scenery. Anyone who has ever paid a visit here says that they have never seen such a beautiful place. Especially, the valleys connected from Daebul-ri to Seokgibong (Peak) and those from Mulhan-ri to Samdobong (Peak) are over 5km in length, and renowned as the places that have not been damaged at all. Also, the ridge between Samdobong and Seokgibong shows a splendid scenery with full of various shrubs, azaleas and royal azaleas. Also, this place holds beautiful sceneries such as Okso, Eumjuam, Euiyonggolpokpo (Waterfall). On Samdobong (Peak), there exists a monument of peace which people from 3 provinces (Chungbuk, Gyeongbuk, Jeonbuk) have raised to live peacefully without dispute

6. Detailed Course Information

I was staying at Minjugisan Creation Center Lodge for three night covering near mountains listed at 100^th Korea Mountain like Cheontaesan, Daedunsan and Minjugisan and could star to climb the Minjugisan quite early in the morning, 07:00 hour. This Lodge is a condominium style where we have to prepare everything for temporally living like toiletries including necessary towels and food stuff, no shop at the Center paying KRW35,000- per day. There is not bed at the Center Lodge and sleeping on floor with matrass and blanket which is available at each room. I used to try to arrange this kind of forest lodge taking into account nearest and convenient to planned or targeted mountains here and there. Anyway I came to hike start junction at the Center as see at the photo and started to walk on mountain transportation road which is wide and easy walking. This mountain transportation road was originally arranged for transportation of forest products or related stuff. But we could walk on this road comfortably for about 20 minutes and found landmark stating as 4.5km to Minjugisan Mountain Summit. As I walked a few steps, I saw one neat pavilion at right which we could take break and rest. I was continuously walking through this road and found deep foggy around here and there on the course which made me somewhat mysterious feeling under no artificial interference like human sound or human made equipment noise. I kept walking on the road for about a quarter minutes and saw next landmark stating as 4km to the Summit. I carried on walking softly for half an hour and reached next junction mark stating as 2.8km to the Summit at straight. When I was walking on the same road, I found sun was rising and lighting to colorful mountain and valley which looked as great nature view as see at the photo. I was keeping walking on the road for about half an hour and met junction where either way going to the Summit at straight or 5.5km to Ahnjeonggol at left. I took straight and walking on different condition road than mountain transportation road before which was highly sloped and narrow hiking road and somewhat slippery rocky road. I started to feel hard to breath time by time according to higher elevation. As I was struggled against this so steeper road for about a hour, I met one small spring which was a origin of Yongwahcheon- Stream which looked as so insignificant water follow down. I was wonder how this tinny water getting bigger and bigger and finally changing to big river, Yongwha River. I was really and hardly fighting against so deeply steep uphill road for an half an hour more and reached junction mark; only 300m to the Summit at right and 2.9km to Gakhosan Mountain at left. I turned right and walking on very sharp and narrow road for about 10 minutes and finally touched down Minjugisan Summit Monument stating as 1,241m altitude and looked around surrounding elegant mountains holding foggy could which looked as magnificent or spectacular landscape or nature scenery. I took down on the camera as see at the photo. It was minus 2 degree C in the morning at foot of the mountain this morning which provably minus 4 degree C at the Summit area. I saw frosted trees just below the Summit which made separate scenery between frosted area and unfrosted area. I found this separate landscape was extraordinary picture which I could take only at that time since frost so quickly melted soon. I decided to descend the Summit through same road which I took this morning and back to the Minjugisan Forest Recreation Center after two and half an hour downhill walking from the Summit.