Suraksan revisited 수락산 south to north - Seoul

For my first long hike of 2020, I revisited Suraksan (수락산) in the north part of Seoul, near Uijeongbu (의정부), and opposite the monster-mountain Dobongsan (도봉산). I did this hike a while back (2018), going from north to south. This time I went the opposite direction.

Getting to Suraksan Station, I left using Gate 1 and headed north a bit before turning east and heading up the road that forms the first part of the trail. There’s a wooden walkway and a lot of places to paddle in the stream in the summer months. Along the way, I passed a place I’d eaten at when I finished the hike at this end. Looked closed today though (coronavirus related? Lot’s of places aren’t opening at the moment…). I encountered three guys wearing red vests that appeared to be fire wardens; one guy was walking with his stick pointing straight out behind him, so I couldn’t really get past (thought he’d have my eye out) until the leader warned noticed and told him to keep it pointed down. Thanks.

I managed to get past and kept heading east then north east. The weather was sunny, good temperature. The leaves were dry on the ground and no flowers blooming yet. There were a few middle-aged ladies picnicking on some rocks on the river. There wasn’t much water, if any, in the river today. I tried to stick to this trail, but at some point I veered left and went a less trodden way. and didn’t notice till later when I checked the map on my phone. Oh well, on wards. Unfortunately, this is usually the time I get into a pickle since not all trails are that easy. Soon, I was scrabbling on loose earth and had to double back a few times; the leaves on the ground made it hard to follow the most obvious route. I used the map app to make sure I was going somewhat in the right direction and ended up having to scramble around up some sketchy looking slopes and making decisions. I followed some bits of rope up tied to trees and realised these were places where I wouldn’t be going back down from! So onwards again. Finally I saw signs of life, some guide railings at one of the smaller preaks, and was relieved to have found the main trail heading north-south. Phew!! This was a rock called Chima Rock (치마바위정상) and was pretty spectacular though not many views from here. This would be my picnic spot, under a tree, and where I’d finally meet some other hikers!

After my donut, egg and water lunch, moved on. I used the rails to head to what I thought was the trail north but after a bit, realised this trail was going to go south…so back up again and walked back to the rock and went past the west side of it and thankfully, finally, heading north. By that time I had to talk myself out of just heading back…ha.

On the main trail there were nicer views and quite an easy trek.

A good spot to take a video:

I got to the final climb and hit the peak for another donut break. The rocks at the top are very interesting and there were plenty of hikers just chilling out.

There was a small outcrop that looked like it would be fun to run up to, but I decided against it when I saw the drop to my left; lots of small loose stones around! The video will explain. I saw one young woman do exactly what I wanted…no fear in her!

Time to head down. I went north a bit further till I got to a main junction of sorts, the headed west. Here’s where the real danger started; the dry leaves covering the rocks on the steep trail made going down very slow–a few times I ended up on my arse… Very annoying! In retrospect, heading up this way would be much more preferable. After a seemingly long slog down, following rocky dry river beds with really steep high sides, I came across some river bad with actual water. Check out the video.

I got to signs of civilisation and walked past a temple then into a village area with lots of restaurants. They were 90% shut though. I waled past a favourite grilled chicked place I’d been to a few times with some friends on a few cycle trips (must post that up). I had a coffee then went to a masive super restaurant very nearby called 우리나라. The inside was massive and quite surreal looking since there were only three tables in use. The west facing window had a view of the beast that is Dobongsan, with the dinosaur back ridge. I had gomtang there, a kind of beef soup, and a well deserved beer.