Making Goals to Acheive

“The bottom can only be accepted by those who aren't hungry enough for the top.”

― Edmond Mbiaka

 

I’m back on the scene, sharing my stories and adventures. I’ve still been exploring and getting around South Korea with spontaneous adventures. I’ve just been so busy that I haven’t had the chance to post them. This month I’ll be sharing some stories. I want to show you how beautiful and wonderful South Korea is, hopefully convincing you to visit one day.

So, I’m pretty sure by now you’ve recognized that I enjoy the outdoors, nature, and love being adventurous and spontaneous. I recently made a goal to hike the highest mountains in South Korean, as well as mountains in surrounding areas, regardless of the size. In November, I decided to do something that sounded great in thought, but had me rethinking my decision in actual time. I came across a zip-line ad that claims to be Asia’s longest and steepest zip-line, with wonderful views of mountains to see as you go down. I thought I needed other things to do during my time in that province, so I thought I could find some mountains to hike during my weekend there. I did my research and came across a couple mountains to hike. With hiking, you never know how long it may take to complete, so I have to figure out a range of times for transportation.

Anyways, so my first leg of the trip from my city to the zip-line went okay. I took the train (amazing views during the ride) and arrived with perfect timing. I was able to go out on the skywalk (Jeongseons Skywalk), which is made of glass and sticks out over the cliff. I’ve been to one similar in Busan, Oryukdo Skywalk. I wanted to record my ride, but I didn’t want to lose my phone in mid-air. (A GoPro for Christmas would be awesome! 😉)

  

After that, I made my way towards the city I was staying in. I went to Mindungsan Mountain for a trek that I thought would be casual, but wasn’t that casual. See, I've prepared myself for hiking in the cold, but I wasn’t prepared for the snow. It threw me off. It got to a point were I was so tired that I dropped my backpack down somewhere and hiked the last kilometer I had. Once I made it to the top, I took my few little pictures and immediately trekked back down. My body was sore, and I just wanted to fall in a bed. I made it to my hotel and spent an hour in the spa, trying to revive my body…
  

Because on day two, I planned to hike another mountain. 😊 (smile of sarcasm) I’m dragging to mountain two and rethinking the idea to hike. When I got off the train, I didn’t know how to read the bus schedule, so I hopped in a taxi. I think the taxi driver was blown by me wanting to be taken to the mountains. He dropped me off at this bus stop and told me to catch the bus there when I finished. So, I’m walking trying to find the entrance; 20 minutes later, I find it. Mind you, it snowed during the night. I have to trek my way through about a foot of snow. An hour and a half in, I wanted to quit. I was tired, I couldn’t see the finish line, I saw animal tracks (0_0) … 2 hours later after I pushed through…

I made it through the trail; I came out with frozen pants, cold fingers, and I lost my hot packs along the way. During my hike, I thought I could use Korea’s version of Uber once I made it to the end. -__- Little did I know; the taxis didn’t reach that area. SOOO, my GPS had me walking 20 minutes to a bus stop. I get to the bus stop and realized that this is the place where the taxi driver dropped me off. Best be believed I learned how to read the bus schedule in that moment. Long story almost finished, these Koreans from a nearby restaurant picked my freezing butt up and dropped me off at the bus station. THE END.

Until next time,