Walking the Trails

My Sunday morning ritual usually consists of this: wake-up last, grumble through a breakfast, shower (while showering, the host family leaves for choir practice), watch a little tv, hop on my bike if it is not raining, walk if it is, and get myself to the church on time, to reference My Fair Lady. The biking is not so bad. The walking takes an eternity as the bridges across the river are strategically located at each end of the hamlet. The church is just off the bridge at the west end of town, and so I would naturally take the road that direction. Unfortunately, that bridge requires me to follow the mountain road which is rather hilly and meanders far from the river. Thus, either way can take me upwards of 40 minutes to walk to church.

I have known for some time that there are trails all over these hills, trails that would supposedly offer a more direct route from the bridge to my house, but had yet to find them. Still, I knew there was a trailhead at the bridge I needed to cross. Usually, I do not take this because the family offers to drive me home if I walked to church. Today, however, they drove out to Wonju to see their grandmother, so I had to fend for myself. A perfect opportunity to test my theory.

Well, my theory turned out to be true; the trails are a more direct route. Still, trails in Korea are laughable things. They are literally “footpaths” meaning they are not big enough for even two feet. Certainly nothing you would want to take a pack animal on, nor wear shorts for. They also seem to have forgone the concept of switchbacks. If you need to go up in elevation, you just go straight up.

I might be more inclined to take the trails again in less miserable weather. (The rain made it so there were a couple of washouts where I had to run across the mud a la Sonic the Hedgehog for fear of the dirt falling out from under me. For those who aren’t familiar with Sonic the Hedgehog’s anthology, consider Indiana Jones running across a dirt ledge as the ledge falls away behind him.) Then again, in less miserable weather, I’d probably take my bike.