Conquering Seoraksan's Gongnyong Ridge: Korea's Toughest Hike
Daily · Published 9/11/2022 ·
#설악산 #공룡능선 #국립공원스탬프투어여권
I finally tackled Gongnyong Ridge — supposedly the hardest, most grueling hiking course in the whole country.
I’d prepared a lot, but the ankle injury was unavoidable.
Since I set off already nursing a bad ankle, I needed a real strategy.
I volunteered to bring up the rear and went for a steady, sustained pace, keeping rest stops to a minimum. But honestly —
this is the kind of mountain that drains every last bit of your stamina, then demands more, wringing out every last drop of sweat before it finally lets you escape.
That said, the effort paid off. No question about it.
The stretch climbing up to Madeungnyeong Junction…
Since we headed up in the predawn dark, I pretty much walked staring straight at the ground. Actually, “crawled up” is more like it.
Seeing the sunrise, my chest swelled and something inside me got a little choked up.
We ate and rested at Madeungnyeong Junction.
One of the crew had brought along a dinosaur costume just for the occasion, since we were doing Gongnyong (“Dinosaur”) Ridge.
So of course we snapped a commemorative photo together, haha.
After this, well… like it goes for everyone, there’s barely any room to stop for photos.
You have to keep moving at a steady 0.8 km per hour. And there’s no bailout route partway through.
The view was so stunning I had to grab a shot.
This is the famous King Kong Rock.
And in front of it, I pulled out a different… dinosaur.
At last — 1 km to Huiungak Shelter.
Once you reach this point, you’ve covered roughly two-thirds of the route. Either way, you’ve made it out of the “Dinosaur.”
In the distance you can see Daecheong and Jungcheong peaks.
And way off there, Huiungak Shelter comes into view.
Got one more stamp in the book.
Finishing Gongnyong Ridge left me with a lot to think about.
If I want to keep enjoying hiking, I’ll need to completely change my style — and I think I will.
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