Rock Climbing
What a fabulous weekend! Saturday morning I met up with Kelly and 25 strangers on the Adventure Korea bus for another weekend getaway...this time to Mungyeong in Chungcheongbuk Do to test our skills at a Rock Climbing camp. We endured a three-hour bus ride before reaching our final destination that afternoon at Mt. Joryong.
Getting ready to rappel down 100 feet...
Upon arriving, we received our room assignments (Kelly and I shared a large suite with four other girls) and unloaded our belongings before meeting the group outside. The place at which we were staying consisted of several cottages compose of separate suites. Also, it was located mere meters from the rock climbing walls and a ropes course. Before getting geared up, the owner of the company had us all line up for a Korean-style stretching session.
Since I tried rock climbing once before in Alaska, I was expecting climbing shoes in addition to a harness and helmet. Unfortunately, I was disappointed to find that shoes were not to be provided, and I had to resort to my 'Roos. After donning our gear, we headed to the practice spot. This was a rock slab that stood at about a 45 degree angle. We climbed up the wall before rappelling back down. With there being 25 of us and only two separate ropes and instructors, it took quite a long time.
Rappelling down the wall...
After the practice wall, we hiked to a 35 meter vertical rock wall for more some serious rappelling. My first try down was all over the place, but the second time, I literally shot down like a pro...well, it probably didn't look like it, but it felt like it! I was again disappointed to find that the rappelling wall meant the end to our rock climbing day. I was expecting much more...at least a vertical wall to climb up...unfortunately, no dice. However, we did get to try out the ropes course for a bit. Everyone split up into two small groups, with our posse heading to the "Trapeze." We had to climb a shaky ladder up to a tiny platform attached to a tree. From this platform, we leapt to a trapeze that was dangling several feet away (with a harness on, of course).
As the sun had set and it was starting to get a bit chilly, we decided to gather some firewood, retire our climbing gear, and prepare for dinner. Before changing, we walked to a beautiful waterfall that was located nearby. I then realized how serene it was here...this was definitely the first time I have not felt like I was in an over-populated country since being in Korea. Dinner was pork, tofu, rice, garlic, and red pepper paste, of which I ate twice my body weight after the day's activities! After dinner, we all sat around a huge campfire, roasting marshmallows and bonding with each other. I decided to call it a night around 11:30 pm.
The Trapeze
Sunday morning, we awoke to a soggy, gray day. Perfect hiking weather, to say the very least. We met in the common room where we were greeted with the intoxicating aroma of eggs and bacon. We foreigners then had a lesson in preparing kimbap, Korea's version of the sushi roll. It consists of canned tuna, cucumbers, pickled yellow radish, carrot, ham, and some strange root thing all wrapped up in rice and seaweed paper.
Getting ready to rappel down 100 feet...
Upon arriving, we received our room assignments (Kelly and I shared a large suite with four other girls) and unloaded our belongings before meeting the group outside. The place at which we were staying consisted of several cottages compose of separate suites. Also, it was located mere meters from the rock climbing walls and a ropes course. Before getting geared up, the owner of the company had us all line up for a Korean-style stretching session.
Since I tried rock climbing once before in Alaska, I was expecting climbing shoes in addition to a harness and helmet. Unfortunately, I was disappointed to find that shoes were not to be provided, and I had to resort to my 'Roos. After donning our gear, we headed to the practice spot. This was a rock slab that stood at about a 45 degree angle. We climbed up the wall before rappelling back down. With there being 25 of us and only two separate ropes and instructors, it took quite a long time.
Rappelling down the wall...
After the practice wall, we hiked to a 35 meter vertical rock wall for more some serious rappelling. My first try down was all over the place, but the second time, I literally shot down like a pro...well, it probably didn't look like it, but it felt like it! I was again disappointed to find that the rappelling wall meant the end to our rock climbing day. I was expecting much more...at least a vertical wall to climb up...unfortunately, no dice. However, we did get to try out the ropes course for a bit. Everyone split up into two small groups, with our posse heading to the "Trapeze." We had to climb a shaky ladder up to a tiny platform attached to a tree. From this platform, we leapt to a trapeze that was dangling several feet away (with a harness on, of course).
As the sun had set and it was starting to get a bit chilly, we decided to gather some firewood, retire our climbing gear, and prepare for dinner. Before changing, we walked to a beautiful waterfall that was located nearby. I then realized how serene it was here...this was definitely the first time I have not felt like I was in an over-populated country since being in Korea. Dinner was pork, tofu, rice, garlic, and red pepper paste, of which I ate twice my body weight after the day's activities! After dinner, we all sat around a huge campfire, roasting marshmallows and bonding with each other. I decided to call it a night around 11:30 pm.
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The Trapeze
Sunday morning, we awoke to a soggy, gray day. Perfect hiking weather, to say the very least. We met in the common room where we were greeted with the intoxicating aroma of eggs and bacon. We foreigners then had a lesson in preparing kimbap, Korea's version of the sushi roll. It consists of canned tuna, cucumbers, pickled yellow radish, carrot, ham, and some strange root thing all wrapped up in rice and seaweed paper.
Sitting around the Bonfire.
We all had to psyche ourselves out to hike for five hours in the rain and mud, but we did it, and it was not all that bad. It was quite muddy and miserable at first, but as we ascended higher and higher, the rain turned to snow. Finally, the sun came out, and things got much drier and warmer. The hike was quite strenous, with various pseudo-rock climbing spots consisting of rope nailed into the mountain. Almost three hours into our hike (and after much complaining from yours truly, I must admit), we reached the peak of the mountain, where we had lunch and tried to dry out a bit.
Finally, we basically slid back down the mountain, boarded our bus, and made the journey back home. We all exchanged e-mail addresses and phone numbers (as almost everyone in the group got along amazingly well) before boarding our respectable subway trains bound for home. I came home and crashed...it was an awesome weekend, and I am glad to have met some new people!
posted by Tiffany Joiner @ 6:58 AM
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