On January 31, I embarked on a 2 day, 1 night trip to Jirisan. I had been to Jirisan just once before - to Baemsagol, which is a famous valley in Jirisan, but had only been there for a few hours. I was off for winter vacation for about a month, and had dedicated a lot of January to exploring various peaks in Korea and gaining confidence in hiking. So, I felt ready and excited for my trip to Jirisan.
As you may or may not know, Jirisan has the highest peak on the South Korean mainland. Only Hallasan, which is on Jeju Island, is a little higher.
I left Jeonju early in the morning, and took a bus to Namwon Bus Terminal. There, I took a taxi to Baekmudong. The taxi ride took about 40 minutes and cost about 40,000 won. The taxi driver was kind and brought me as close to the park entrance as possible, and I got there around 8:15 AM in the morning.
The route that I decided to take was to start at the Baekmudong (백무동) entrance and pass various waterfalls up to Seseok Shelter. Then, I hiked past Chotdaebong Peak and over to Jangteomok Shelter, where I spent the night in the Jangteomok Shelter. In the morning, I woke up to see the sunrise, and then hiked to Jirisan’s highest peak, Cheonwangbong (천완봉), which is at 1915 m. Then, I hiked down to Jungsanri Village, took a bus to Wonji, and then another bus back home to Jeonju.
The hike up was quiet and calm. I was the only person on the trail, and didn’t see anyone else until I got up to Seseok Shelter. The first part of the trail took me past some waterfalls. Since it was well below freezing that day, the waterfalls were frozen, but beautiful nonetheless. The last 700 m or so up to Seseok Shelter was a bit steep.
I ate lunch at Seseok Shelter, and then started the hike over to Jangteomok Shelter. I had made a reservation online the night before to stay at Jangteomok Shelter for the night. It was a bit early, and the shelter didn’t assign sleeping spaces until 5 PM, so I took my time on the trek over.
Finally, I arrived at Jangteomok Shelter. Since it was still a bit early, I waited with some others in one of the rooms designated as the waiting room. Around 4:30 PM, the office opened (they opened a little early for us), and everyone got their assigned sleeping spaces.
The shelter was clean and nice. Since it was so cold outside and it was a weekday, there were not many hikers there at all. The female hikers were assigned a room together downstairs, and there were just four other fellow hikers with me in the room at night. From talking with the fellow hikers, they seemed to be pretty avid hikers themselves, and one woman talked about how she was part of an climbing team that does rock climbing in Korea.
In the morning, I woke up early to see the sunrise outside. Most of my fellow hikers had already left early in the morning to make the trek to Cheonwangbong to see the sunrise there.
It took about an hour to get from Jangteomok Shelter up to Cheonwangbong Peak. It was a really nice and clear day. The weather at Jirisan is somewhat unpredictable, but I was rewarded with an excellent view all around.
I love the Korean mountains, and each mountain has its own special qualities. I always enjoy my mountain hikes and feel they are worthwhile. I guess the different thing that I felt after my Jirisan trip compared to others was that I felt much more calm and peaceful. I hope to schedule another trip back soon.