Life is a different Wave moving by Time and ending at Shore: Gangwondo Inje Bangtaesan Mountain Hike in Korea- Bangtaesan Forest Recreation Center Course

1. Date and Time : Nov 11, 2018 10:00~17:00 (7 hours including one hours break).

2. Location : Sangnam-myeon (Town) and Girin-myeon (Town), Inje-gun (District), Gangwon-do (Province)

3. Distance and Course : About 13.63km. Course is to start at Bangtaesan Forest Recreation Center Parking Lot No. 2 => Maebong Junction => Godanggi Valley => 1365 Junction => Bangtaesan Jueokbong Summit (1,444m Altitude) => Back to the Parking Lot No. 2 through the Same Ascending Course. Please refer to Inje Bangtaesan Mountain Hike Course and

4. Access :

There are various ways to the Dong Seoul Bus Terminal where you could use subway or bus or taxis depend on your situation. You could take Inje Intercity Bus Terminal at Dong Seoul Bus terminal and get off at the Terminal 2 hour and 10 minutes. But there is no proper public transportation from there to Bangtaesan Forest Recreation Center which takes about 1 hour only by taxi for more than 40 km. Therefore it would be too long way to take a taxi for the trip. So you would better take rent car instead.

5. Overall Remarks.

Baegunsan (Mt.) holds Donggang (River). Donggang (River) holding the "secret of ancient times" and "heavenly sight" flows quietly from the deep mountains of Gangwon-do. Considering this, the hike in Baegunsan (Mt.) gives you the feeling of becoming a fairy. To hike in Baegunsan (Mt.), you should cross Donggang (River). You should also cross the river back after the hike. But you can also ride in a boat to Seopsae after coming down from Chiljongnyeong (Ridge) to Munhee village without crossing the water. This is the way to enjoy both mountains and river at the same time. But, the hike to Baegunsan (Mt.) usually starts from Jeomjae village.
If you arrive at the saddle of the ridge after crossing the river through the village and across the cliff diagonally on the back, take the course to the ridge at the end of the cliff continuing endlessly. The scenery of Donggang (River) viewed from this ridge is magnificent. After the cliff road ends and the gentle ridge is passed, it is the top. It takes 2 hours from Jeomje to the top. From the top to Jejang village, a steep ridge composed of 5 peaks continues. Especially, this section is quite dangerous since the trail hangs at the end of the cliff. You must be cautious at all times and should not hike on rainy days or on wet grounds. In the saddle right before the last peak, there is a passage leading down to Munhee village. Since the road is gentle and wide, it seems like walking on park roads. 30 minutes' walk from the crossroad will lead you to the riverside.

6. Detailed Course Information

I was traveling down to Bangtaesan Forest Recreation Center in Inje District, Gangwondo Province early in the morning in Seoul at 07:00 hours on Nov 11, 2018 and arrived there about before 10 o’clock after less than 3 hours driving. When I passed PNS Ticket Booth, they requested to pay parking fee as KRW3,000- per car and heard there was Parking Lot No. 1 and 2 where Parking No. 2 was about 2km to Hike Starting Point, Parking Lot 1 was 2 km longer distance to Hike Starting Position. I drive the car to the Parking Lot No. 2 for about 5 minutes and parked the car there and checked hike course map. But there was no hike course map and only walking course map available. I could easily find the way to walk up to the hike since walking course was moving to Maebong Junction. I was just walking on hike the course for a moment and found there was so clean and turbulent rocky and stony stream at left which I should followed up with. I continued to walk this road for about 10 minutes for the Parking Lot and met Maebong Junction which I could take either way; 4.2km to the Summit at right or 2.7km to the Maebong Peak at left. I took a right road and kept walking up on the road for about 10 minutes more and reached next landmark stating as 3.6km to the Summit at right and 400m to Bangtaesan Forest Experience Field. I have walked there at the landmark without any hard or difficult so far but there was a foggy on the road and carried on walking on the similar road for half an hour and found somewhat steeper sloped wood stairs and oak tree forest. As I passed this road for about 10 minutes, I faced 2^nd wood stairs which was very heavily sloped wood stairs for about half an hour and continuously walking on steeper uphill road under support of rope guide rail for about 40 minutes more and reached softer rocky and stony ridge road at oak tree forest. When I made hard effort to climb on steeper uphill road for half an hour more, I was able to see 1365 Junction where junction mark stating as only 400m to the Summit at right and 1.4km to Guryeongdeok. I turned right and found there was a Summit in front which closely looked like touchable. I kept climbing on somewhat sloped road for about a quarter minutes and finally touched down the 1,444m Altitude Bangtaesan Jueokbong Summit looked around view at the Summit and could not see clear scenery of surrounding mountains due to somewhat heavy foggy around. I took a some photo around and descending the Summit through the same road that I used this morning and eventually returned Parking Lot No. 2 after about 3 hours descending from the Summit which means total 7 hours hiking.