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Korea Winter Trekking in a Nutshell: Outside Seoul
“Oh, South Korea should be beautiful this time of year, with all that snow.” “Well, must be wonderful in South Korea this time of the year. All that underwear!” So sums up our frigid, snowy South Korean winter, though I might have paraphrased a bit… (Extra props to those who can identify this set of wintry quotable quotes!) We hiked so much over the winter that we’re not trying to post separately about each hike. Instead, this post will be a “photo album” representative of our favorite chilly treks outside of Seoul, with brief information about where to find each trail for those who may find themselves hiking in future…
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Korea Winter Trekking in a Nutshell: Seoul
Now that spring has sprung in South Korea, it feels as though the winter flew by in a blur. Many months ago, we were determined that we would not lose our whole winter in Seoul just sitting inside. And with COVID restrictions, being indoors in public spaces often was not an option. Having been warned about the low temperatures and cold winds that are common in this mountainous country, we brought along our warmest layers and prepared to spend time outside no matter the weather. Small groups of intrepid hiking friends joined together to tackle often icy, snowy trails, often comparing how many layers of thermal underwear each person had…
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What is Seollal? How We Spent Our Lunar New Year
Lunar New Year, the first day of the year on the lunar calendar, is celebrated in many Asian countries. The date usually falls in January or February, this year falling in mid-February. In Korea, the day is called Seollal (설날). Although Seollal itself is just one day, in Korea typically the day before and the day after also are public holidays. This is one of the most important holidays of the year, and traditionally families travel to their hometown to be together for this day. As with all holidays over the past year, Seollal traditions were disrupted in 2021 due to COVID-19 concerns. Many fewer Koreans traveled to be with…
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Walking Through the Woods on a Snowy Morning: Odaesan National Park
PyeongChang may be winter sports country, but it’s also remarkable hiking country. After our trial run the previous day in the cold and snow of PyeongChang’s skiing mountaintops, we were prepared for our wintry hike of Odaesan’s Birobong Peak. This 7km course offers an elevation gain of about 1,100 meters. We easily found a taxi to drive us to the trailhead at Sangwonsa, the first of three temples along this route. In order to reach the trailhead, we drove past Woljeongsa Temple, famous for its fir tree forest, which looked worth a visit if you have time. We were anxious about transportation and timing, so for this visit we kept…
