Leg 36: Jeongdongjin Station to Anin Beach

I had finally reached the leg that had more or less caused this foolish quest of mine to walk up the east coast of Korea.  Back in 2014, on my birthday, I had done a hike with a hiking group.  They brought us out here to the mountain, and this leg of the trail.  I didn’t know anything about the East Coast Hiking Trail at that time, but it was a lovely winter day, and there had been snow falling and building up in the trees.  It was such a lovely day.

 

And when I finished that trail that day, I was confronted by this sign.

It showed a trail that ran all the way up the east coast.  I was intrigued.  I tried looking it up.  There was not much information.  But I filed it away for future reference.

This year, the time came when I was getting bored of just sitting in my house and playing around on Facebook.  I wanted to get out and do something.  I wanted to see some more of Korea.  And I had just turned down an invitation to do the Appalachian Trail with a couple of friends.  I was not in any shape to do that trail.  But this one came back to mind.  It wouldn’t be nearly as grueling, and it wasn’t as long.  I could do it on weekends and spend some time.  And it would help me get back in shape after having broken my ankle.  The more I thought I about it, the more I remembered that magical day in the snow on the mountain on this leg of the trail.  The more I remembered the magic, the more I wanted to give it a go.  Now, if I had known how some of the legs would go, how I would walk around an ugly industrial town, then look down on an hellish industrial nightmare, how the trail would seem to be almost an afterthought to the caretakers of the Busan section, how the markers would sometimes be inadequate in some spots and the frustration that that would cause, I might have reconsidered.  I began the trail on the promise of this one leg, that ran over a mountain.  None of the other legs really has gone over a mountain, has really been a mountain hike, like this leg.  It has mostly been a fairly flat trail, and has mostly been quite easy to handle.  And I am glad that I did start it.  And I am amazed in some ways that I made it this far.

But the views all the way along have made it worthwhile.