Death March on Korea's K2

This week is Choosok (Korea's Thanksgiving) and so we got three days off of work. I took two extra days to have the whole week off. One of my Korean friends invited me on a camping trip on Monday and Tuesday. When I think of camping I think of poorly prepared road trips, friends drunkenly running into a black forest, plastic gift cards used as spatulas, ditching the tent and sleeping in the car, waking up with friends uncomfortably close to you... but my friend Colin interprets 'camping' as sprinting up Korea's K2 (only slightly smaller. You know, it is Korean...)
I honestly had fun and am glad to have been invited. That being said I will now be honest-er. Colin invited me to go camping with his friends but it ended up just being the two of us. It wasn't the first time a group camping trip dwindled down to just me and one other (that is actually how I met one of my best friends: Christopher Travis Brown). I've hung out with Colin two other times and now we were going to spend two straight days together. I figured, 'whatev!' If it sucks, it would only last two days.
As usual, I let my companion plan everything. I thought this would be best since:
1. He speaks/read/prepares in Korean.
2. Has been to the mountain multiple times.
3. He was the one who invited me.

Anyway, all he suggested I bring was a change of clothes and some 'snakes.' I ASSumed we were going to get to the mountain early, hike to the top and back, find a motel, stay there, and head back to Seoul the next day. I brought a change of clothes, sleeping bag ('just-in-case'), a rain jacket, and some cereal. We met in Seoul then took a three hour+ bus ride to the east coast where the park was. Colin wanted to try to climb to the top of Soraksan, Korea's third tallest mountain at 5,604 feet. (Or as Koreans and the rest of the world prefer, 1,708 meters). I didn't bother to research any of this before the trip. I was just excited to have plans with my Korean friend. So we start up the mountain...

Oh, I want to tell a funny story when we got to the park we sat down to eat before we started up the mountain. A man was varnishing the wood railing near where we ate. I noticed because I love the smell of varnish and my sister HATES that word. (So I try to find as many relevant and irrelevant times I can use it in casual and forced conversation). Anyway, I thought to myself, 'I better not touch the raining and get the varnish on me.' Two seconds pasted and I forgot all about the varnish. Then Colin wanted me to take a picture of him (as all good Koreans do). He sat on the railing and got varnish all over himself. I suggested that he eat a Mentos but he had no idea what I was talking about.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u4hlzRNu3uE&feature=related

... The first day up the mountain was awesome. It was an ideal day. And the surroundings were beautiful. My tarded mind can not convert meters/kilometers into feet/miles to save my life so I had no idea how far we had hiked or what the meter markers were saying...But I can read pictures. There was a map of the mountain and its trails. I quickly realized we hadn't even traversed one-fifth of the route that would bring us to the top after hours of hiking. I then realized I hated Seoraksan and wasn't mentally or physically ready for this excursion. I figured there wasn't much I can do but finish so I just followed Colin. Thankfully Colin is a smoker and had to stop multiple times for a smoke break. And I stopped for pictures. Colin was sprinting up the mountain like there was a pool of naked girls at the top. And I wasn't feeling the death march so I took my time. I think Colin got the hint that I wasn't going to go fast and slowed down.
I was a geology minor in college and pasted multiple interesting geologic features on our hike. I tried to restrain myself but I had to share the most interesting things about the granite we passed. I got to use the word 'dike' in a lesbionic-free contents. Either way, he wasn't impressed so I kept all my geologic findings to myself.
At about two-thirds up the mountain, it was starting to get dark, Colin's knee was hurting, my entire body was in protest so we pushed forward to the next check point. This park randomly had huge buildings that you could stay in along the mountain. Even though Colin told me to bring 'snakes' he didn't bring any food for himself. So at the camp site these awesome guys gave him some kimchi and other gross Korean food. I usually try not to resit the food people offer me but I didn't want to have the 'green-apple quick step' out in the middle of B.F.E. We slept in this big room with about fifteen other people. I am a light sleeper so I had a hard time with new campers arriving and setting up there beds, Colin snoring like he was having an asthma attack, and sleeping on a dang piece of plywood. One of my pet-peeves is when people wake me up in the morning. I experienced that most disturbingly at Camp Peniel. The Day Camp counselors (specifically Faber McMullen) had to wake up before I did and carelessly slammed doors and turned on lights while others (most specifically/importantly: ME) were still sleeping. Either way I was brought back to waking up pissed off because some D-bags were up at 4am to start hiking to the top of the mountain.
That is how the day started and the rest was 'down hill' (or up a bloody mountain) from there. The second day was colder, wetter, both Colin and I felt worse, and there was so much fog you couldn't see anything. It waited to start raining until we got to the top of the mountain. But mother nature persistently pissed on us the whole way down. And the end of the trail couldn't have come any sooner. I can't contemplate meters but I do register decreasing numbers. I was so excited when the sign read a decimal number of kilometers left to the bottom. As if were were actors in a comedy Colin and I get to the bottom of the Seoraksan drenched and walking like elderly hunch backs. We were then told we had to walk 30 minutes to the bus stop. I almost cussed at the park ranger I was so discouraged. We continued to walk slowly to the bus stop. I was reminded of one time when I went shopping with my cute grandma in Fredericksburg. I have long strides and didn't even notice Mrs. Prejean shuffling to keep up. Finally my frail grandma asked me to slow down and apologized for 'walking like an old woman.' I felt really bad and my grandma is so cute.
After all that, I am glad I went. I just wish I didn't feel like I was hit by eighteen 18-wheelers.

Later.
In .love.
Jp