This is Hiking in South Korea

Looking back at my time here in Korea, I definitely wish I had gone hiking more.  So when my North Korean father (by proxy!) finally convinced me to go, we coordinated a mini outing with friends from my church - Hosanna International Ministry in Hadan.

North Korean hiking faction

It's springtime now and we've had an odd cold snap the past week or so.  This past Saturday (4/13/2013) was a bit warmer and as sunny as could be.  I couldn't have asked for better weather for hiking.  Cool, crisp, a little bit windy at the top but when you're hot from hiking it's a welcome thing.  We hiked up a mountain in Hadan near the church.  The summit is 496 meters so it wasn't a killer which was good since we were mostly made up of amateurs, like myself.

It's days like this one that remind me how truly fortunate I am to have this opportunity in my life.  I mean c'mon - I'm hiking in South Korea!

Look at that view

All mountains in Korea have trails cleared out.  There are little places to take breaks and snap pictures of the beautiful scenes.  There's usually some sort of underwater fountain that has a spout coming to the surface.  Along with it is the all infamous plastic cup for drinking the water.  Korea is so community-minded that every hiker uses THAT ONE cup to take a swig of water from.  One of the women who was with us (from Brazil) was about to go for the cup when I reminded her of the 6,000 people who had drank from it before her - this weekend alone.  Out came the empty water bottle.  Good choice!

At the summit

Taking this hike made me realize one thing - I need to hike more.  It's such a great way to blow off steam, spend quality time with friends, and see the awesome Korean landscape.  I can't recommend it enough.  I took so many photos and video clips I could've made a full-length feature presentation.  Instead, I made this 3 minute video/photo montage...