Niall, Mat and I went up Nogosan which is opposite Bukhansan. We stayed overnight at the peak to catch the sunrise.

Here’s an AllTrails route:

I had to wait till after work before I could start my hike up the mountian so it was a pretty mad dash to get my stuff from home then a bus to Heunguksa Temple (흥국사) bus stop. Niall and Mat started much earlier and were at the peak as I was following behind them! It was a hat evening and very muggy and I was drenched in sweat, in part to the heavy backpack. On the way I got some nice views of Bukhansan opposite me.

The trail you need to take isn’t on my map app, so had to look out for a right turn at some point. As I neared the peak, the light was fading quick, so pushed on a bit faster. Eventually I found them, plus about six or seven additional groups with the same idea as us! I’m really not sure what the rules are on camping; all I know is that camping on National Park land is a no-no; we however, aren’t on National Park land at this spot.

Once set up, we chatted for a bit, had a bit of food, then got ready to sleep. I didn’t bother with my flysheet since it was so hot out. Niall had a bivouac, so looked like a bagged up snake in the grass!

The next morning, everyone was up with their cameras and tripods in prime positions to catch the rising sun and the mist drifting out of Bukhansan. It was very beautiful and my iPhone lens can’t really do it justice.

We had a rough plan to take our stuff then hike over to Bukhansan and hike through to the other side, but after the effort it took with our camping pack the night before, both Mat and I decided not to. Niall, however, chose to do it; check out his accompanying video. It wasn’t easy by any means, but he did it!

On our way out though, we dropped by Heungguksa Temple for a proper look.