Bukhansan National Park - Baegundae Peak
- Sarah Taylor
- Nov 1, 2022
- 3 min read
Since we’re not in Seoul long and the weather is beautiful and we’re, y’know, us, we had to go to Seoul’s national park. We decided what the heck, why not do the tallest peak. I was a bit nervous going into the hike, having heard how crowded it is at the peak and how steep it is.
We subwayed one hour to the East side of the park and walked 2 km to the trailhead. I was expecting the road part to kinda suck but it was actually nice - there weren’t many cars and there were a number of hiking clothing stores, convenience stores and cafes which we skipped, eager to start our hike. The first chunk of the hike was easy enough. There were some stair sections - the classic rocky stairs we’ve seen in other parks. The fall leaves were beautiful and we had fresh legs and lots of snacks and water.
I read one review of the trail that rated it as a 7/10 in difficulty and the author mentioned waiting one hour in line for a photo at the top so I was expecting it to be crowded but hoped it wouldn’t be too bad since it was Monday. Being used to our Canadian peaks though, it still felt incredibly crowded. I was rightfully nervous. I forgot that I was scared of heights until we started the last section to the summit. The line up of people behind me wanting to ascend and the stream of people descending, all of us trying to walk the same narrow path made me hecking anxious. Not to mention the people who hopped the fence to take photos on the ledge. The wire railing didn’t seem like enough to prevent an accident. With thoughts of the Itaewon stampede in the back of my mind, I made Cam take a break with me as soon as there was a wide and flat enough section to wait. I was worried about getting back down after and I almost wanted to stop there. But we’d made it that far so we continued on.
At the top, people are spread out on the face of the mountain, eating lunch and taking pictures like there’s not a cliff beside them. And as the reviews promised, there was a line to the real peak, a few more meters up. Cam and I agreed we didn’t need or want to wait in a line to pose for the classic photo where you pretend you’re on the peak alone. You’ll see most of my photos instead capture the weird agoraphobia at the top of the mountain.
After some gimbap, chocolate, and water, we made our way back down before another wave of people could start coming up. On the way down, I used the strategy of staring at my feet, with my visor blocking the scary views. At some point, I found some peace remembering the West Coast trail (WCT) and coming to the conclusion that the boulder section on the West Coast Trail was much more dangerous. On the WCT there were no railings, it was much more slippery, we had big packs and there was no way to call for help if there was an emergency. Here at the top of this dramatic mountain, it was dry (although the rocks are smooth and slippery in sections), we had a secure metal railing to hold, and we had cell reception and a million people to ask for help.
After the scary part, there’s an easy stair section, and the rest felt like a breeze. High on the adrenaline of the views from
the peak, the fall colours seemed brighter and more beautiful. We talked about going up a second peak but opted to loop back instead (partly because we accidentally missed the turn).
Overall - fitness wise, that was an easy enough 11 km hike for us. But that was the scariest hike I’ve done. Neither of us have summited a mountain like that one before.
Here's the route we took: Afternoon hike at Uidong - Baegundae - Wonhyobong on AllTrails
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