The first hike of spring
Ah, the fresh, sweet scent of arnica gel, sure sign of spring and sore muscles.
It was supposed to be an easy hike - less than three hours with no metal stairways or ladders. Mount Bugak (Bugaksan) is a small mountain behind the Korean Presidential Residence (called the Blue House) and Gyeongbokgung Palace. The mountain was crucial to the decision to make Seoul the capital of Korea, since it provided a good buttress against enemies coming from the North, had neighboring mountains to the South and West, and a huge big brother mountain behind it to the North. (Remember, Korea is a peninsula - land enemies come from the North). The lack of a good mountain in the East led to centuries of debate over whether to move the capital; the debates continue today for reasons unrelated to mountains.
Bugaksan was off-limits to all hikers for almost 35 years due to a major attack by North Korean commandos in the early 1970s. 15 North Koreans managed to sneak into South Korea, camp on a nearby mountain for three weeks, observe the Presidential Residence, and eventually attack the President during an outdoor ceremony. The President escaped, but the First Lady was killed. The army was given sole control over Bugaksan thereafter, filling it with barracks and look-out posts, but also allowing a rich diversity of wildlife to develop. The area was reopened to the public two years ago, with a formal system for signing in and limits on how long and how late you can hike.
I had not counted on three things. First, as promised there were no metal stairways. Instead there were lots and lots of stone and wooden steps. The trail followed the old fortress wall of Seoul, passing the Northern Gate (equivalent to the now burned South Gate, Namdemun). Up, down, up, down. Second, I had not realized how little verticality there has been in my winter life. Rice fields are pretty flat, my walk anywhere in town is pretty flat, and since I wasn’t in my office for 2 months, I wasn’t doing 3 flights of stairs 4-5 times a day. After lots of flatness, your calves notice every up, your knees every down.
The third factor was putting too much leg work in one weekend. But, really, the square dance had only lasted a couple of hours. And it was supposed to be a very short parade! More on those in future entries.
Add comment March 9, 2008
