Seven treasures are supposed to be hidden in the mountain cluster of Chilbo-san in the northern province of Hamkyongbuk-do in North Korea 🇰🇵. Located on the coast of the frigid East Sea, Chilbo-san has a sea facing side and an inner mountain side. It covers an area of 250sqkm

There was a time when Kumgang-san near the border, was visited by southerners directly from the south. It would have been an incredible journey had they also the opportunity to take a passenger liner from Sokcho to Wonsan and then Kimchaek for a couple of nights in Chilbo-san #북한의백두대간산과마을과사람들 #하이크코리아 #해칠보산 #northkorea #hikinginkorea #로저셰퍼드 ...

Afternoon out with five American guests from Miami of @_travel_connoisseur_ on Bukhan-san. Warm weather with hazy backdrop. Seoul looking chic in the Monday spring. #하이크코리아 #hikekorea #북한산 #miami #hikinginsouthkorea #bukhansan ...

I met up for the third time in Korea with Sachin his wife Richa and their daughter Ahaana today in Namwon. The last time was twice in 2018 at Baegeun-dae and Daecheong-bong Sorak. She was five or six then. Ha ha.

We drive west to Sunchang and then a bit to Gangcheon-san. A mini Geumgang-san in someways with its amphitheater shape, and lots of water running off it. It’s like walking into a nation. Several spurs run down to meet the valley and as you increase up it you end on top its back ridge at about 600m. Standing on an old fortress wall you can look back down at the small protected nation that could live in it.

The weather was clearer than the morning and the wind nice and cool. Spring hasn’t arrived here yet. But the light and ambiance was impressive.

Gangcheon-san on the mighty Honam-jeongmaek is a real little kingdom. I walked through it back in 2009 on the Honam ridge, but don’t think I stopped or realized there was a tourist village below in the warren. Ah the Honam. A minstrels pathway. #강천산군립공원 #호남정맥 #순창군 #전라남도 #하이크코리아 #로저셰퍼드 ...

Hike Korea: It was a tough two days in the wet of Baeka-san in Hwasun-gun, South Korea for the high school students from British Education Korea on their Duke of Edinburgh Adventurous journey for bronze medal. Getting up over Baeka-san 810m took them nine hours on day one. Exhausted faces when arriving at the campsite and then the rigmarole of setting up tents and cooking before the forecasted rain arrived. The rain arrived by dark, and some stayed out like teenagers do standing around a campfire in the rain. But it belted down pretty quickly by 9pm and some had to dash for a night in the campsite hall from their Lotte Tents.

It was a soggy campsite in the morning, but the rain ceased enough for them to steadily get ready for a day in the wet. It drizzled heavily as they walked in the spring rain. Cherry blossoms up here beginning on that day. It was very tranquil and their energies were higher. The ground easier as it made its way on lanes behind villages that crossed over spurs at saddles. Arrived by 1.30pm for the coach to pick them up where after checking back at the Baekasan Hyuyang-lim they’ll enjoy a hot local dinner at the Baekasan Garden sikdang.

Always surprising that some who didn`t want to, actually finished it fairly well after the trauma of day one.
#dukeofedinburghaward #DofeBronze #dofekorea #adventurousjourney #dofehikekorea #hikekorea🇰🇷 #백아산휴양림 #백아산가든 #노치마을야영장 #하이크코리아 #hikekorea #로저셰퍼드 #britisheducationkorea #hikinginsouthkorea ...

Day 2 with my Singaporean guests in Palyeong-san, Goheung-gun. Doing the gritty and picturesque 8-bongs. The overheads still a steel bellied hull of dark lights and the Gobi sands. But surreal enough. A cruise over the suspension bridges that connect Goheung to the back of Yeosu and we’re eating raw fish in one of several fish sikdangs down by the ports. Yeosu is somewhere I should try to spend more time in. That’s a really developed area next to the sea and mountains. Good to see the south seas of the east end at Jolla for the first time this year. Got a few more lined up to see in Mokpo and Haenam on westside this April. See wats goin down cuz! #팔영산 #고흥군 #여수 ...

First spring hiking tour for the season I guess. The Gobi sands hazing the light. A fresh wind keeps the clouds racing along. It’s a Saturday and things are picking up along the Jolla rivers. Cherry blossoms begin. Mountain azaleas, a bit here and there.

My two lady guests from Singapore on their first visit to Korea. We are going rural to get the domestic vibe. Baeka-san fills an afternoon of hiking. But we can’t see Mudeung-san or Jirisan. The Gobi sands shimmer in the sky like the bellies of small fish in a large shoal.

We cruise back slowly through Dongbuk-myeon, Juam, and then stop in Seokgok-myeon to grab some salt tablets for one of the ladies. We check out the CU store and I explain how these stores are very useful for travelers in the rural areas.

We get into Gurye and eat grilled fish with rice and fresh sides.

Tomorrow, Goheung-gun. In the south by the sea. A Peninsula. It’ll be ripe there. We’ll climb the eight knobs of Palyeong-san, and see if the Gobi sands are shimmering over the blue clouded South Seas. #백아산 #석곡면 #구례읍 #하이크코리아 #로저셰퍼드 #hikekorea #전라남도트레킹 #황사 #방낭자 ...

On the last day of the 2N/3D Duke of Edinburgh Adventurous Journey the high school students from NLCS Jeju and Singapore got a real weather treat. For two groups it snowed on the mountain they climbed up and over. For the other group they crossed an icy cold river and then enjoyed grand views along the Nakdong river. Over the three days of backpacking they got to see a good variety of terrain and weather. I`m sure this type of adventure is not for all of them, but I still think it is likely a new and reveling moment for those ones. For the other teenagers, I could see it was an unforgettable experience for them - where they bond and grow strong physically with the use of raw adrenaline. Especially at the end, coz that`s when it really sinks in. The extra efforts all worth it. The mission completed well. Chur. #dukeofedinburghaward #dofekorea #adventurousjourney #dofesilver #dofeadventurousjourney #dofeaward #dofehikekorea #hikekorea #로저셰퍼드 #청량산도립공원 #안동시 #낙동강 #봉화군 ...

Day 1 and 2 have been challenging days for the international high school students from NLCS Jeju and Singapore. Especially for the two groups from Singapore as they don’t have the high sharp terrain that Korea has. They don’t know what that feels like, or even to just live under its permanent recesses.

The Duke of Edinburgh Adventurous Journeys are designed to introduce the physicality of outdoor experiences and the mental discipline required for them. It is relevant to so many other things in life. The endurability of self competitiveness. The will to continue with fatigue - that will reveal new strengths within yourself. To persevere with your team mates and together achieve a shared goal. To get to the end. And go again. Wherever that may be. It doesn’t matter.
#dofekorea #nlcsjeju #NLCSSingapore #dukeofedinburghaward #hikekorea Hike Korea ...

Today 34 international high school students set off on three different courses for 2N/3Ds of backpacking in the greater Cheongryang-san Provincial Park area of Andong-si and Bonghwa-gun. They are from #nlcsjeju and #nlcssingapore and are participating in silver medal for Duke of Edinburgh Award. It was a tough day and a bit of an eye opener for the crew from the flat humid lands of Singapore. But they did it. Bigger stuff to achieve tomorrow. #dofekorea #dukeofedinburghaward #dofeadventurousjourney #dofeaward #hikekorea ...

Scribes (translated) I entered in the logbook at the old stone hut on Paektu-san in June 2012. My North Korea 🇰🇵 photos for license at northkorea.picfair.com
“백두대산줄기의 산으로 향했던 또 하나의 훌륭한 여정을 끝낸다. 이번 원정에는 5월에 강원도, 6월에 평안남도로 갔다. 호랑이와 곰 이야기를 들었다. 마을 사람들이 나누어 준 음식을 먹고, 도새라는 초여름 우박을 동반한 폭풍우의 극심한 날씨도 겪었다. 8월과 9월에 다시 와서 같은 동료들과 여행을 계속했다. 평안남도의 가파르고 험준한 산으로 다시 향해, 깊은 계곡으로 들어가 맑은 물이 콸콸 흐르는 개울을 걸어서, 자동차로, 심지어 벌목 트럭을 얻어타고 건너며 좋은 시간을 보냈다. 여느 때처럼 텐트에서 자며 모닥불 주위에서 현지 음식을 먹었다. 이후 량강도의 고원지방으로 올라갔다. 여기서 불어난 강물 때문에 길이 막히는 낭패를 처음으로 겪고, 아침에 짙은 서리가 내리면서 산의 색조가 변화하기 시작하는 것도 보았다. 2000m가 넘는 산을 오르며 며칠을 힘들게 보낸 적도 있었다. 이 눈부신 9월의 오늘 우리는 백두산에 서 있다. 이 멋진 땅의 사람들에게 항상 감사한다. 겸손하고, 친절하고, 유머를 잃지 않으며, 열심히 노력해서 최선의 결과를 내고자 하는 강한 의지를 가진 사람들이다. 우리 팀원들에게 감사하고, 믿음직하고 강인한 산림청 직원들을 비롯해 나와 같이 한 지방 관료 여러분께 특별히 감사하다는 말씀을 드린다. 우리를 먹여주고 길을 가르쳐준 마을과 산속에 사는 사람들에게도 특별한 감사의 말씀을 빼놓을 수 없다. 정말로 훌륭한 분들이다. 내가 하는 이 일이 열매를 맺어 나의 개인적인 경험이 북한 밖의 사람들로 하여금 이 나라를 더욱 잘 이해하게 되기를 바란다. 다음에 다시 만날 때까지.”
#백두산 #천지 #백두대간 #하이크코리아 #로저셰퍼드#northkoreapicfair #북한의백두대간산과마을과사람들 ...

I woke up to a frosty clear morning at the foot of Baeka-san in Hwasun-gun. With a full overnight pack, I made my way up to the familiar peak and enjoyed the good views of Mudeung-san, Ongseong-san, Mohu-san, and far away to the east, Banya-bong on Jiri-san. I had scoured many of the peaks and ridges in this region. My plan was to head east to the small Boseong river township of Seokgok, some 20kms away. There was a particular ridge I wanted to get onto, that I was sure I had used before, but then again maybe I hadn’t? I’m not really count’n em. I just take on whatever I can see in front and what I leave behind me becomes a blur in my consciousness - another chip for my DNA.

Its treed crest thickened with head high bamboo grass. But beneath it I could make out a game trail. I came across nodes where other ridges joined this one, and passed one I thought I had used to join this ridge from the north some years ago, but it turned out it wasn’t, coz, I came across that place a couple of kms later. Oh how I enjoy not remembering my way through the maze. The detail arrives again, newer.

It was five hours and 8kms later by the time I pushed through to the forestry road at Songchi-jae. I stopped and enjoyed some cold-hard bread and sausage. 

I snaked my way down the imdo until it joined a sealed village road. I got offered a couple of rides to Seokgok by friendly farmers, but declined, becoz I wanted to beast my feet some more. It was 5pm by the time I got into town. I found a sauna house and soaked my body. It surely saved me. I left my pack at the CU and ate beef soup at a local sikdang. After collecting my pack from the CU, I shadowplayed my way in the dark with a couple of bottles of local Makoli for the car park next to the river. I pitched my small tent on the grass next to a vinyl-jip. In the jips tallowed light I quietly finished my drink. Before slipping into my tent, I took salt tablets for the second time that day. I slept well in my heavy bag. #rapalasunglasses #백아산 #석곡면 #nicetocu #남도오백리역사숲길 #목사동막걸리 #로저셰퍼드 #하이크코리아 ...