I conquered another mountain and actually enjoyed the climb.
Introduction
Another weekend, another mountain to conquer. This time I asked a few people for their opinion and my colleague Dr. Japan suggested I visit the “rainbow waterfall”. After several Google searches, we determined he was talking about Hongryong-sa (홍룡사) in the foothills of Cheonseong-san (천성산). Good enough for me, let’s go!
Background
Although not technically apart of the Yeongnam Alps, Cheonseong-san connects to the eastern mountain of Yeongchuk-san. Essentially, the whole mountain range splits the city of Ulsan (my current residence) and the southern city of Yangsan. Cheonseong-san translates to “the one thousand sage mountain” and is named after the 1000 disciples of the great Shilla monk Wonhyo-daesa who followed him from China to gain enlightenment at his temple of Naewon-sa.
Not in search of enlightenment, I traveled further south to enter at the temple Hongryong-sa for the most direct path to the summit. For travel tips, I took intercity bus 3000 from Ulsan Station to Yangsan and took a taxi for the rest.
The Journey
11:30 AM. I began my trip by walking along a curvy, paved road to the temple. There are a lot of families picnicking along the nearby stream and several other groups walking to the temple as well. I’d prefer a solitary climb, but having other people within shouting distance is not the worst thing for hiking.
11:45 AM. After about 15 minutes I make it to the temple entrance. The information sign is completely in Korean, so I still don’t know that much about its history. One day I’ll translate everything and add it the “Temples” section of the website. At this point, all temples look the same so I only spend about 5 minutes taking pictures of the main halls. This Buddha statue did catch my eye though.
12:00 PM. I follow a large group of Koreans to check out the “tourist” attraction of the temple, the Hongryong pokpo or “red dragon waterfall”. Sandwiched between the Yongwang-gak (Dragon king shrine) and a Dragon king statue sits a natural waterfall that generates a permanent rainbow near the base. As you can guess, this is everyone’s favorite place to take photos or selfies. I decide not to stand in line and continue on with my hike up the mountain.
12:30 PM. I stop at a bench to eat lunch and plan the rest of my journey. Essentially, I have one trail to about the 800 meter mark and then have a binary choice. Counterclockwise appears to be paved and has a hermitage (monk living quarters off the Temple grounds) I could check out, while clockwise goes through the woods. As mentioned above, Temples do not hold my interest anymore so I decide to go clockwise.
1:00 PM. I’ve been walking for about 20 minutes and feel great. The mountain slope is pretty gentle compared to Gaji-san and the noise of the park and Temple has really dissipated. I’m also seeing a lot of butterflies and interesting landscape like this.
2:00 PM. I’ve reached the fork in the road and stick with my original plan. The trail immediately starts to narrow and the mountain side is getting steeper. I’m also starting to encounter many rock obstacles like this junction.
Nevertheless, I continue on and reach an opening in the mountain side. Although it’s not the summit, this panorama view of Yangsan is my favorite picture of the trip.
2:30 PM. The trail is becoming more and more obscure as I enter a dense forested area. Luckily for me, previous hikers have marked the easiest path with colored ribbons. I briefly veer off course to take photos of blooming magnolia trees which are everywhere in this region.
3:30 PM. The trail once again becomes well defined as I leave the forest to the naked mountain top. The view is absolutely beautiful and I spend about 20 minutes taking pictures of the protected landscape.
My phone says I can walk about another 100 meters to the literal summit, but I think my current view is better. I guess you could say I didn’t make it to the very top, but I’m still counting Cheonseong-san as conquered. I decide to walk down a northern trail somewhat parallel to my path up the mountain. There’s not much to say about the climb down, but I did find some interesting insects and flowers.
I’m two weeks into this new arc and feeling pretty good. I end every trip tired, covered in sweat, but satisfied with my accomplishment. By my count I only have about 6,000 more mountains left in the peninsula. See you next week.