I went to Bukhansan last Saturday for a spot of hiking and climbing. What should've been a five hour, moderate hike with a little recreational climbing turned into a tough, ten-hour, bloody and dehydrated expedition.
I went with a group of people I met on a rafting trip the week before. They were nice people. But to be honest I felt their standard of safety could/should've been higher. Especially since I'm inexperienced at outdoor climbing I would've liked to feel more confidence in the people I was with. And how exactly they predicted it would only take five hours, I'll never know.
I picked up one injury. As we were ascending a climber above me knocked down a rock. It hit my arm and cut me quite deep on the inside of my elbow, deep enough to see white (fatty tissue I think). It bled a lot and my arm was quickly covered in blood. But my attention was more focused on the climber below me whose face was covered in blood cuz the rock and hit his forehead after bouncing off my arm. But we were both ok and after five minutes and most of my water supply we were cleaned up and heading for the summit.
Despite the usual Seoul smog, the views were quite nice. Temperature was soaring though and as the long descent dragged on we all became pretty dehydrated. When we finally made it back to the forest the sun had set so we had to hike in the dark for about an hour. Luckily I'd the sense to pack my headlamp just in case.
Then it was time for beer and Korean pancakes with tofu and kimchi and to forget about the sweat and blood. Although it all ended happily ever after I have a new respect for outdoor climbing. I always knew it was dangerous. But on our descent I saw just how easily it would be to die, from any careless mistake. But what bothered me most was how easily it would be to die because of some other idiot's careless mistake. So, to be honest, I don't think I'll be doing anymore outdoor stuff. The rewards (pretty views and stuff) are not worth the high risk (death or pissed off parents) when I can see pretty views just from hiking and get my adrenaline buzz from indoor climbing. And I certainly will not be doing anything else with that group of hikers.
I went with a group of people I met on a rafting trip the week before. They were nice people. But to be honest I felt their standard of safety could/should've been higher. Especially since I'm inexperienced at outdoor climbing I would've liked to feel more confidence in the people I was with. And how exactly they predicted it would only take five hours, I'll never know.
I picked up one injury. As we were ascending a climber above me knocked down a rock. It hit my arm and cut me quite deep on the inside of my elbow, deep enough to see white (fatty tissue I think). It bled a lot and my arm was quickly covered in blood. But my attention was more focused on the climber below me whose face was covered in blood cuz the rock and hit his forehead after bouncing off my arm. But we were both ok and after five minutes and most of my water supply we were cleaned up and heading for the summit.Despite the usual Seoul smog, the views were quite nice. Temperature was soaring though and as the long descent dragged on we all became pretty dehydrated. When we finally made it back to the forest the sun had set so we had to hike in the dark for about an hour. Luckily I'd the sense to pack my headlamp just in case.
Then it was time for beer and Korean pancakes with tofu and kimchi and to forget about the sweat and blood. Although it all ended happily ever after I have a new respect for outdoor climbing. I always knew it was dangerous. But on our descent I saw just how easily it would be to die, from any careless mistake. But what bothered me most was how easily it would be to die because of some other idiot's careless mistake. So, to be honest, I don't think I'll be doing anymore outdoor stuff. The rewards (pretty views and stuff) are not worth the high risk (death or pissed off parents) when I can see pretty views just from hiking and get my adrenaline buzz from indoor climbing. And I certainly will not be doing anything else with that group of hikers.
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