Hiking Cheonggyesan

If you've been following me on any of my other social media (facebook, instagram, maybe even twitter!) you might have noticed that I'm not in America any more! Right before the new year I decided to head off to Seoul, South Korea for a year to get a change of pace from regular life in America. Lets just say I am not disappointed! I've made a few good friends here and I'm starting to get used to not speaking the language well, though I am improving. My conversations are getting longer and longer with people and I'm starting to be able to joke around a little bit.

I want to let you know how happy I am to be back in mountains. I missed them a lot when I was in Michigan so to have mountains literally right out my doorstep - I walk twenty feet and I can climb some short hiking trails - is a wonderful thing. I regularly go up and down my little mountain in the mornings.  

This weekend a friend and I decided to scale up and do a very cold and somewhat icy winter hike in Cheonggyesan, which is a mountain that is a popular outdoor recreational area just south of Seoul. We couldn't go as far as we would have liked because of the ice on the trails but we still enjoyed the golden light and the change of scenery. Hiking in South Korea doesn't seem to be a solitary endeavor, though. Everyone heads to the trails and you are in the company of hundreds of others who are all getting their weekend exercise. There's a solidarity and a cheerfulness that carries you up the trail with everyone else. I think as the weather warms I will be heading there more often, since it's only a few stops away from my house, and I'd like to get some trail running in there, especially on weekdays if I can manage it, when I presume the trails will not be as full.