Baekdu Daegan Hike – 2015

All the long distance trails I have hiked so far have left me with fond memories. I have loved all the trails, although on some days I hated them. All were nice experiences where I learned a lot about myself and the world. However few have been as memorable as the Baekdu Daegan trail. The trip on the Baekdu Daegan in South Korea encompassed a lot of things: tough trail, beautiful scenery, unknown culture and traditions, unknown language, wonderful encounters, ackward situations and best of all, a lot of chocolate and candy.

I ordered the guidebook for the Baekdu Daegan trail before leaving for my Te Araroa hike in New Zealand. I was thinking of hiking the Baekdu Daegan after the Te Araroa, but I had done little planning because I was not absolutely sure that I would go on another long distance hike after completing Te Araroa. However as the months passed in New Zealand, I knew I would want to do more hiking while on sabbatical leave and I booked my plane ticket to Korea. I also convinced a friend I had made on the Te Araroa trail to join me.

Therefore, I didn't know what to expect of the country and of the trail. I got to Seoul not knowing how to reach the start of the trail and I was a little nervous about the whole trail ahead. I had read most of the information in the guidebook and had a general idea of what my options were, but still needed help from staff of the hostel to figure out which bus to take to Jiri-San national park, the southern terminus of the trail.

The bus we boarded two days after getting to Seoul was full of hikers in shiny bright gear equipped with fancy backpacks and poles. All of their gear looked new and fancy. From the crowd there we felt reassured that we were at least headed to a hiking destination. The bus destination was the national park, but we had no idea where exactly in the park we would arrive. The bus dropped us at a location that was not documented in the guidebook, but we were easily able to figure out our way to the start of the trail by looking at information boards.

The thing that blew off my mind the most in Korea was the generosity of the people we met. It was pretty obvious to everyone that we were foreigners and while we were on trail our arrival always seemed to surprise people around us. The path and the routes we walked to get around the closed trails sections took us through some remote sections of Korea, where I'm guessing people don't see foreigners very often. People we crossed on trails and on roads would come up to us and give us food or slip candy in our hands. Drivers stopped to offer us rides. Merchants gave us fruits. Sometimes people we met in town invited us to spend the night at their houses, or even more surprising, would call their friends so that their friends can host us for the night. Language barriers were making some situations difficult, but as the trip progressed I learned to just let go and accept that even if the situation was awkward and sometimes uncomfortable, it would probably end up in a nice way.

The trail itself was sometimes frustrating. There were some very nice sections, especially in the national parks, however some sections in between were in less interesting area scenery-wise, and some parts seemed to have had little maintenance as the vegetation was slowly taking over the trail. Some parts were very steep and our progress was slow, climbing up and down small cliffs with the aid of old ropes really slows you down. Sections of the trails are closed so you have to find your way around those, which is not always obvious. We were always a little disappointed when we had to leave the trail to go around the closed sections, but these detours are probably when we have had our most memorable experiences in Korea, thanks to the wonderful people we met along the way.