With the temperature dropping a few degrees (to 28 degrees) and some clouds overhead, it's a perfect day to go for a hike. North of Seoul lies Bukhansan National Park, with many beautiful trails and easily reachable by metro/bus.
The trail follows a little stream for a while and then diverges up the side of the valley towards several gates at the top.
At a temple, it was time for "first lunch," croissants with apple, paprika, pickle, surimi crab, cheese, and mayonnaise. It shouldn't work, but it does!
The trail only knows two modes, steep ascent or descent; there's almost no flat surface.
After a while, I reached the first gate; from there, the terrain evens out slightly, and it's not much further to the second gate.
The first peak is not far away from the second gate, but the climbing gets steep. The view makes it worth it, though!
You have the sprawling Seoul metro area on three sides, and behind you are mountains and forests almost all the way to the North Korean border.
After soaking in the view for a while, it's time to move on. It's creeping towards dusk, and I still have far to go.
Getting down proved to be a bit more difficult, yes, that's the "trail" on the right, it's just a wall straight up. Not that the left is much better, it's a smooth surface and a fence that hopefully will stay in place.
Pretty cool to experience, though! Heading down, I passed several other peaks (again, the trail is either straight up or steep down, with no flat surface here, either).
It's time for second lunch, convenience store Gimbab.
With dusk setting in and rain starting to fall, I managed to get to the bus stop just in time. From here it's a short bus and subway ride back into the city.
Time for a nice dinner. They have this concept of "Chicken and Beer", which I can appreciate.
