The plan for the long June weekend was to do a 2-day trek in Deogyusan National Park, near Muju ski resort in Jeollabuk-do. However things didn't turn out that way exactly. We started in glorious sunshine from Gucheondong and made a long approach along a valley up to the temple at Baengnyeonsa. From then on the going got a lot tougher as we gained height remorselessly. Some were struggling, others were finding a new lease of life from nowhere and others again were checking out emergency bivouac spots for the night.    

The sunny weather of 28 degrees at ground level never really affected us as we were in shade for most of the ascent and by the time we emerged from the foliage we were so high up anyway that it was quite nippy if you stood around. We got to the Hyangjeokbong hut, our planned accommodation for the night at 5.30, only to discover that there was no room at the inn . The innkeeper didn't seem to be in any mood for negotiation and we soon decided he wasn't even worth trying to bribe.  He offered us a place on the kitchen floor but even in high summer it was going to be freezing at that altitude, nearly 1600m. It wasn't the preferred choice, as the temperature was 15 degrees and dropping quickly. We decided on a contingency plan, to make a dash for the summit and quickly descend to the valley and find a yeogwon for the night.

The summit, Hyangjeokgbong 1614m, the fourth highest in South Korea, was reached at 6 p.m., and we took a few pictures before deciding to take the easy option of the cable car which was still running. Lo and behold as we approached the cable car station, it stopped running, they were just packing up for the night, so we had to walk down the giant slalom ski slope all the way to the bottom. From there we walked down past the ski resort to a little village near Gucheondong where we found a yeogwon for the night.

After a lie-in on Monday morning we had brunch in Gucheondong, had a paddle in the river and got the bus back to Cheonan. It would have been nice to stay in the hut and carry on south to Jeungbong, so in future it'll be worthwhile to make reservations for huts.

See the Deogyusan photo album here.

Cheonan Station

Cheonan Craic

Tour 2 Korea

Korean Railways

Korea Weather

The Korea Herald

Korean National Parks

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