Hiking Halla Mountain

Ryan, Brad, and I went out for a bit of a walk today up Mt. Hallasan, this time we took a trail that goes up the east side of the mountain that reaches the summit. The views from the top were specacular. You could see into the crater, but the lake was dry. There was also a great panorama view of the island. There was no trail around the crater, but you could still see Seogwipo City to the south, Jeju City to the north, and ocean everywhere in between.

It was a fantastic hike even though I realized that I've been getting quite out of shape. It was 19Km round trip or about 12 miles. The hike is quite popular since Halla Mountain is the largest mountain in Korea and a "Must Do" for many Koreans. We met some great people along the way. Ryan and I were practicing our Korean on each other and on strangers. All the people were a joy to talk to. We met some people from all over. We even met a fellow from Japan, who surprised me when after I told him I was from Indianapolis by saying, "The Colts! Very good team!" We also spent quite a lot of time chatting with a very nice group of guys from a Seminary in Incheon.