This post is about a family. To protect their identity, well call them the "Stjernholms" and say they live near "Denver, Colorado."
You could say I have bad luck traveling with members of the Stjernholm family. Before I explain, I'll warn you this story might get rather lengthy. So if you don't want to hear about it, well, then I don't understand why you are still reading about it.
You could say I have bad luck traveling with members of the Stjernholm family. Before I explain, I'll warn you this story might get rather lengthy. So if you don't want to hear about it, well, then I don't understand why you are still reading about it.
My first encounter with the Stjernholms was when though a man named Mike, pictured to the right. Mike Stjernholm is the one on top. He's been known to spontaneously break into fits of push ups or lunges, but would never hurt a fly.
Mike is affectionately known as "The Saint," and I met The Saint about 5 years ago while traveling. We went on a number of trips together that never went smoothly.
One time for example, Mike, myself, and three others decided to hike a mountain. Simple enough. We ended up detained by Malaysian immigration, and hours later Mike was inside a male flight attendant's house being pressured to join a local pornography ring. Without going into detail I'll just say that was the most normal part of the trip.
I learned many important things that trip, during our sleep deprived race to the top of Mt. Kinabalu. I learned the importance of planning mountain related activity, and I learned the importance of planning Stjernholm related activity.
When I learned Mike's brother, Matt, was also living in Korea, I knew I had to find him. Matt is a good friend, by which I mean I'd never met him before, but his last name enough convinced me the adventure would be worthwhile.
Mike is affectionately known as "The Saint," and I met The Saint about 5 years ago while traveling. We went on a number of trips together that never went smoothly.
One time for example, Mike, myself, and three others decided to hike a mountain. Simple enough. We ended up detained by Malaysian immigration, and hours later Mike was inside a male flight attendant's house being pressured to join a local pornography ring. Without going into detail I'll just say that was the most normal part of the trip.
I learned many important things that trip, during our sleep deprived race to the top of Mt. Kinabalu. I learned the importance of planning mountain related activity, and I learned the importance of planning Stjernholm related activity.
When I learned Mike's brother, Matt, was also living in Korea, I knew I had to find him. Matt is a good friend, by which I mean I'd never met him before, but his last name enough convinced me the adventure would be worthwhile.
So Matt and I got in touch, and began planning, something I'm terrible at. First we tried setting up a trip to Seoraksan National Park in northeastern Korea, but travel difficulties and a lack of vacation days killed the vision. Next, we failed a number of attempts to meet in larger cities, festivals, Et cetera.
As months passed by, it seemed I'd never meet Stjernholm version 2.0, until a few weekends opened up towards the end of September.
Matt came up with the good idea to head to Jirisan National Park, and four others agreed. Our group of six hikers was cut to five after a friend dropped out last minute. This friend starts every joke by saying "Ok everyone I have a joke to tell you. Are you ready. This is a joke." Maybe it's a good thing she couldn't make it.
As months passed by, it seemed I'd never meet Stjernholm version 2.0, until a few weekends opened up towards the end of September.
Matt came up with the good idea to head to Jirisan National Park, and four others agreed. Our group of six hikers was cut to five after a friend dropped out last minute. This friend starts every joke by saying "Ok everyone I have a joke to tell you. Are you ready. This is a joke." Maybe it's a good thing she couldn't make it.
Jirisan National Park
In order to traverse Jirisan, you need to sleep on the mountains and reserve cabin space exactly two weeks ahead of time. To the minute.
At 10:00 a.m., two weeks in advance, the five of us logged onto the park website to make this happen. By 10:01 a.m., all of our computers were frozen and every single cabin had been booked. Man. Koreans are good at planning. I'm not. I may have mentioned that.
So yet again, Matt and I failed at meeting. I was ready to give up. Then I thought to myself, what would Mike Stjernholm do? Probably push ups. Or at least something related to not giving up. Ok, one more try.
The following week, again at exactly 10:00 a.m., we all met online and tried to find cabin space. This time we were on the Korean version of the website instead of the foreigner site. Not sure if it made a difference, but somehow we snagged a reservation and the trip to Jirisan was on.
At 10:00 a.m., two weeks in advance, the five of us logged onto the park website to make this happen. By 10:01 a.m., all of our computers were frozen and every single cabin had been booked. Man. Koreans are good at planning. I'm not. I may have mentioned that.
So yet again, Matt and I failed at meeting. I was ready to give up. Then I thought to myself, what would Mike Stjernholm do? Probably push ups. Or at least something related to not giving up. Ok, one more try.
The following week, again at exactly 10:00 a.m., we all met online and tried to find cabin space. This time we were on the Korean version of the website instead of the foreigner site. Not sure if it made a difference, but somehow we snagged a reservation and the trip to Jirisan was on.
I didn't take this picture I told my mentor teacher, Kyu, about my plan to traverse the park, thinking he may have visited at some point.
After asking him if he was familiar with Jirisan, he replied "I know a little bit but not much."
I probed to find out more: "So a little bit, like you drove past it or know someone who went there?" Kyu said, "Well I been there about 15 times. Last time I went for five days by myself to decide whether or not to propose to my wife. Oh and I also should have died there one time. I almost fell off a cliff and slept in the rain because the cabin was full."
You could say Kyu knows "a little bit" about Jirisan, and I was anxious to learn a little bit myself. But first I had to get there.
Our hike would be during "Chuseok", Korea's version of Thanksgiving, and while most Koreans don't travel much this particular weekend is a logistical travel nightmare. Still, I had two weeks to sort out the details and find a way to Suncheon, a town near Jirisan. All I had to do was make it to Suncheon by Saturday morning, easy task. Yeah not for me.
After asking him if he was familiar with Jirisan, he replied "I know a little bit but not much."
I probed to find out more: "So a little bit, like you drove past it or know someone who went there?" Kyu said, "Well I been there about 15 times. Last time I went for five days by myself to decide whether or not to propose to my wife. Oh and I also should have died there one time. I almost fell off a cliff and slept in the rain because the cabin was full."
You could say Kyu knows "a little bit" about Jirisan, and I was anxious to learn a little bit myself. But first I had to get there.
Our hike would be during "Chuseok", Korea's version of Thanksgiving, and while most Koreans don't travel much this particular weekend is a logistical travel nightmare. Still, I had two weeks to sort out the details and find a way to Suncheon, a town near Jirisan. All I had to do was make it to Suncheon by Saturday morning, easy task. Yeah not for me.
Knowing I would somehow struggle to find Suncheon, I began asking my school, every single day, to help me reserve a bus ticket. Every day they put it off, for almost a week and a half. With two days until Chuseok I still had no ticket, so I pestered a friend to navigate the Korean bus reservation website. Every bus to Suncheon was sold out through Saturday.
Defeated and facing the realization that I completely failed at meeting Stjernholm 2.0, I returned home and wrote a depressing email to Matt about my lack of transportation. He responded only with a blog about hitchhiking in Korea. What would Mike Stjernholm do? He might end up in a local pornography ring, but he wouldn't quit.
I began making signs to hold on the highway:
"I like your country please drive me somewhere"
"I NEED to get to Suncheon."
The signs of course were in hangul, and "need" wasn't capitalized because Korean doesn't work that way. I made three or four versions of these signs and briefly considered buying a motorbike to drive to Jirisan myself, before falling asleep.
Defeated and facing the realization that I completely failed at meeting Stjernholm 2.0, I returned home and wrote a depressing email to Matt about my lack of transportation. He responded only with a blog about hitchhiking in Korea. What would Mike Stjernholm do? He might end up in a local pornography ring, but he wouldn't quit.
I began making signs to hold on the highway:
"I like your country please drive me somewhere"
"I NEED to get to Suncheon."
The signs of course were in hangul, and "need" wasn't capitalized because Korean doesn't work that way. I made three or four versions of these signs and briefly considered buying a motorbike to drive to Jirisan myself, before falling asleep.
The next morning was the Thursday before our trip, and I bitterly informed my teachers all the bus tickets were sold out, and that my chance to see Jirisan was dismal. Their response was moving.
All of the sudden, the same people who'd been ignoring me for weeks dropped all of their work and started helping me. There were three teachers on computers looking up every route to Jirisan possible while my Vice Principal was juggling schedules so I could take the next day off to travel. I think there were cell phone calls involved, and at one point our secretary mailed a package I'm assuming was related to helping me get to Jirisan.
All of the sudden, the same people who'd been ignoring me for weeks dropped all of their work and started helping me. There were three teachers on computers looking up every route to Jirisan possible while my Vice Principal was juggling schedules so I could take the next day off to travel. I think there were cell phone calls involved, and at one point our secretary mailed a package I'm assuming was related to helping me get to Jirisan.
The teacher-efforts resulted in a long shot route to Gwangyang, a city near Suncheon. I would have to wake up early on Friday and show up at an obscure no-reservation bus terminal in Daegu, 3 hours away, then wait in line hoping there was enough room for a final bus to Gwangyang.
A friend's birthday party had kept me out that Thursday night, and I woke up late Friday morning making it to Daegu hours after I should have. Armed with only a backpack and a piece of paper that looked like a treasure map, I found the obscure station. Luck was on my side for once, and I claimed one of the last seats for the two hour ride to Gwangyang. The aisles were lined with standing patrons who weren't so fortunate.
A friend's birthday party had kept me out that Thursday night, and I woke up late Friday morning making it to Daegu hours after I should have. Armed with only a backpack and a piece of paper that looked like a treasure map, I found the obscure station. Luck was on my side for once, and I claimed one of the last seats for the two hour ride to Gwangyang. The aisles were lined with standing patrons who weren't so fortunate.
This is what Gwangyang looks like. This is also what every other middle sized Korean city looks like.
I met up with Matt and crashed in Gwangyang that night. Gwangyang is known for having a steel factory......moving along.
An early Saturday morning cab to "Gurye" on the west end of the park followed by a short bus ride put the five of us in the unlikely position of actually being inside Jirisan National Park. To make a very long story just moderately long, I'll summarize the days of hiking briefly.
An early Saturday morning cab to "Gurye" on the west end of the park followed by a short bus ride put the five of us in the unlikely position of actually being inside Jirisan National Park. To make a very long story just moderately long, I'll summarize the days of hiking briefly.
Day 1: All of us underestimated the hike which ended up being about 6 hours and 15 kilometers. A nice couple gave me kimbap. The forecast for 0% chance of rain resulted in rain. Two people in our group were stranded after dark without headlamps. A woman gave us the chocolate bar pictured to the left.
Everyone finally made it to the Byeonksoryeong shelter somewhere in the neighborhood of 7 p.m., and after a quick meal lights were out within the hour.
Everyone finally made it to the Byeonksoryeong shelter somewhere in the neighborhood of 7 p.m., and after a quick meal lights were out within the hour.
Snorlax 2012 Normally you'd sleep great after 15 kilometers of hiking, but snorlax (left) had other plans. This man was making sounds I've never heard come out of a human. What began as anger evolved into genuine concern for his health, then eventually turned back into anger.
Snorlax recruited followers throughout the course of the night, and virtually no one in the cabin slept more than a few hours.
There was also a guy obnoxiously packing his gear at perhaps 3 a.m. When I awoke, I asked a fellow hiker how he slept. He responded "I think someone starting counting plastic bags in the middle of the night."
Snorlax recruited followers throughout the course of the night, and virtually no one in the cabin slept more than a few hours.
There was also a guy obnoxiously packing his gear at perhaps 3 a.m. When I awoke, I asked a fellow hiker how he slept. He responded "I think someone starting counting plastic bags in the middle of the night."
Day 2: Kicked out of the shelter at 9 a.m., about 8.5 hours of hiking ensued over 17 km. By far the more difficult of the two days. The East side of the park is more beautiful and provides better views. Going downhill is overrated. I like grilled cheese sandwiches. The East face of Jirisan is also significantly steeper, if you ever hike across this park travel West to East. Two hikers from our crew took a shorter route home due to time restrictions. I am getting tired just thinking about this day.
To reach the summit it took 5 months of failed planning, 9 hours of traveling, and about 32 kilometers of hiking over 15 hours. But it was all worth it for the view from the top of Cheonwangbong peak.
This is what Korea looks like from inside a cloud.
Well not really, all we could see was clouds. Satisfying to reach the highest point of mainland South Korea nonetheless.
