Day 16, Leg 11

Four days, three more legs, and 93 km to go.

just 25K today, not 31.3K

following the Nakdong, then veering away

Another gorgeous day of walking, and the forecast through the 15th remains immaculate. This morning was cold but not freezing. I had prepped a pair of chemical-heat pads, but they turned out to be unnecessary. I had also gotten off to a late start for today's 25K trek, leaving the Bonghwang Motel at 5:40 a.m., which meant that my walk through the unlit woods, early on, wasn't nearly as dark as it had been last year since, this time, I benefitted from the dawn's early light and didn't have to use the flashlight function on my cell phone. I arrived at the Bobos Motel at around 4 p.m. My several breaks totaled about an hour, so my average speed was a typically slow-pokey 2.8 kph, probably because of all the shutterbugging.

I once again didn't see a single shaman spider. There were also three hills that left me gasping—something that hadn't happened last year. Not to worry: despite being steep, these three hills weren't that long, so I was able to recover after each one. While I didn't see spiders, I did see a lot of cows, and I again had to wonder how many were milchers and how many were beef cows.

Fortunately, I remembered from last year that there was a portion of today's path that required switching Naver from "cycle" mode to "walk" mode because, at a certain point, the cycling path led to a high-traffic artery that I could never have walked. Once I got past that section, I switched back to "cycle" mode.

As I was walking, I explored alternatives to my current chosen route, which is not ideal because it makes me veer off-piste. I think I found two alternatives, one of which is much better than the other. There is another pension that sits almost exactly halfway between the Bonghwang and the Gangnam Motel in Jibo-myeon. I would not need to go off-piste and could instead continue to hug the river. The problem, though, is that pensions are expensive and not my ideal option. I'm a "yeogwan and cheap-motel" kind of guy, and I don't mind a certain level of squalor. It might be different if I had a travel companion with sophisticated tastes, but I'm alone, so I prefer the lower price ranges (although lately, it seems that motels and other low-end lodging are getting increasingly expensive). Anyway, I'll look more deeply into the pension option, but I think my current route, despite the way it drags me a little off the official path, may be the best available alternative.

And I have to confess that I had imagined the shape of Sangju City and the Nakdong River rather poorly. Up to now, I've simplistically thought of Sangju as a perfectly circular city that I enter at the 6 o'clock point, then I walk around to the 3 o'clock point and stay a second night before shooting east to Andong. But I think Sangju might be better thought of as elliptical in shape, wider than it is tall. I still enter at around the 5 o'clock point, but because the Nakdong veers west right before it launches east to Andong, I spend my second night in Sangju at around 10 or 11 o'clock on the ellipse, northwest of where I'd been the previous night. From that point on the ellipse, I then throw myself more or less straight east, rejoining the official trail and heading straight to Andong via Jibo-myeon. So my apologies for my previously misleading description. I was right in my general outline of what was happening (I do indeed turn east toward Andong after Sangju), but I hadn't painted a very accurate picture of the geography, which you see quite plainly in the route map above. Or look here:

Click to enlarge, then right-click and select "open image in new tab" to see full size.

So as you see, the river veers west along my chosen route. But the moment I part from the Nakdong (by going farther west), I'm off-piste. I then have to retrace my steps for the first part of the next segment before continuing on to Andong in earnest.

Here's what I hope is a clearer picture, rendered by AI:

I don't think the AI did a perfect (or even a good) job locating the Nakdan Dam. Compare the curvature of the Nakdong in the Naver map to what the AI rendered above. In the Naver version (which I assume is the correct version), the dam sits at the bottom of a backwards "C," just before the river starts to curve left and west. In the AI version, the dam sits right in the middle of a C-shaped curvature at a point that goes right and east before finally curving left and west. Anyway, the AI image gives you a very rough idea of the relative positions of the dam and the Bobos Motel, with a maybe-accurate rendering of city limits. Also: Although the dam and the motel appear to be outside of Sangju, Sangju does in fact extend beyond those boundaries.

Tomorrow's walk, then, is the second longest of the whole journey: 36 km to Jibo-myeon (Gangnam Motel), the little town right next to Andong. I'll stay two nights there, then walk 30K to the west side of Andong (Songhak Motel), and on the final day, it'll be 28K to Andong Dam and the end. And then I'll grab a bus back to Seoul.

As always, the imminent end of the walk brings with it mixed feelings. There's the happiness of accomplishment, but also the sadness that comes with the end of an experience. And there is also hope: hope that my health will hold out so I can do another walk next year. We'll see. I may have to postpone next year's walk to 2027 since I've promised several people, both Stateside and in France, that I'd be visiting them next year. I don't think my finances could take the hit of multiple international trips plus a long walk.

Much to think about. Enjoy the pics.

morning straightaway

land and the incredible sky

giant marshmallows (them wrapped hay bales)

amazing reflection

"Steep ascent, 17% grade for 300 m"

"Wall—No exit or entry"

view from a bridge

flower, worse for wear

"Ggoggami" (dried persimmon) and "Ho" (tiger)

unintentionally hilarious bridge

The above-pictured new bridge on North Creek (Bukcheon, 북천) is supposed to show a bicycle rolling over a symbolic Earth, but the unintended effect is that of a screaming cartoon frog holding its arms over its head after someone has commanded the frog to Stick 'em up.

BONUS VIDEOS:

1. Farmland

2. Water Wheel

PHOTO ESSAY

5:39 a.m. I didn't take many pics of the Bonghwang Motel on the way in, so...

...here are some pics on the way out. "3rd Floor—Bonghwang Motel."

"Welcome—Bonghwang Motel" (pictures of phoenixes; bonghwang/봉황 = phoenix)

almost out the door

out the door and looking back

"Our Korean Beef Village" (Uri Hanu-chon/우리 한우촌)

a street leading out of my part of town

past the neighborhood I went by yesterday, then past the dam

Nakdan Dam, 5:55 a.m.

"Nakdan Dam"

A "duck garden" restaurant, which sounds great for the people, but not so great for the ducks.

6:04 a.m.

the glowing "welcome" sign I always photograph on my way out of Nakdong-myeon

Nakdong River History Museum (sorry for the blur)

same museum

Inland Aquarium Business Center

a closer look as I pass by

sight uphill

"Nature in water." (But why the mix of English and Latin?) I do like the abstract fish.

"Watch for bikes."

another stand of pines (you'll see this a lot in Korea)

"Watch for 🚴🏻."

6:24 a.m.: a little more neighborhood to go before the forest trail

also 6:24 a.m.

We go left and enter the woods. Last year, I started earlier, and it was close to pitch-black.

Slow: You might find boobs on the road.

grave, because of course

6:28 a.m.: As you see, the brightening morning made the trail more navigable this time.

waiting for the baler

6:31 a.m. Dawn is here.

apiary, quiescent

top sign: steep rise: 11% grade for 40 m
bottom sign: Nagak Mountain, Tambang Street Restroom: 150 m

Remember that the pic is brighter than what I'm seeing with my own eyes.

The trail is visible as the sun rises (you get used to the dark), but the phone camera will always pick up way more light than your eyes will.

"Steep descent: 10% grade for 40 m."

As I've joked before, Korea is prepared for three sexes.

Actually, the arrangement shows a men's toilet, a women's toilet, and in the middle, a men's stand-up urinal. Why do men get all the perks, eh? (I don't know, from the pic, which is the men's regular toilet and which is the women's—left or right? But the middle is definitely a stand-up urinal. It's what the French and Swiss call a pissoir.)

up the little hill

Again, minor hills like these don't count as hills, per se, when I'm telling people about different segments along the trail.

sanbul joshim/산불조심—another forest-fire warning

top sign: steep slope up: 10% grade for 60 m
bottom sign: icy path—bikes watch for slippage

hill, topped

and down again

the tucked-away places where people live and work

Not far from here is where I'd encountered an eager puppy back in 2017. After 2019, I never saw the dog again.

quiet myo on the hillside

This advertises an 18% grade down for 40 meters.

But we need to go up first.

From here, the trail smooths out.

not quite Mount Doom

swooping right

국토종주

more myo on the slope (see the one with the grave marker? and more myo behind it?)

looking back at the bridge

When I'm heading in the other direction, i.e., toward Busan, it's the end of the walking day, and I know that Nakdan Dam isn't far off when I see this bridge.

...and once again, we are by the reassuring river.

one last look back

Here, I have my choice of bike paths. The left path is older, presumably being replaced by the right path.

Do you see the myo up on yonder hill?

zoomed in on the myo

zoomed in even more

pumpkin squashes all over—'tis the season

squashes at my feet

Koreans use the generic term hobak/호박 to describe all squashes, including pumpkins. The term bak/박 generically designates anything gourd-like and roughly volleyball-sized. So a subak/수박, for example, is a watermelon (su/수/水 = water).

sign for a family cemetery

It's up that way.

another uphill road I'm relieved not to be on

first set of campers

looking back (note their solar panels, which probably don't harvest much energy)

The trail goes on.

rosy-fingered dawn, 6:57 a.m.

gorgeous landscape

big sky

straightaway, with pedestrian lane

"Nakdong River Eco-culture Visit Trail"

I've walked only 3.3 km since the Nakdan Dam, so maybe 4-something km since my motel.

I'm pretty sure the sign is lying about there being a rest area 500 meters ahead.

Do you see a rest area? I see a village.

These kinds of villages are usually composed of residences and little else. No real shops, no real facilities, nothing for bikers or walkers or campers. There's little point in stopping in one of these villages unless you're desperate to find a church or temple or somebody's grandma.

ready for baling

Even with the cloud cover, this tableau is beautiful.

farm road

It leads straight to that village. No, thanks.

국토종주

The early-morning sun has cleared the mountains to the east to shine on yonder mountains.

shwimteo, civilized and old-school, with garbage bags for your trash

I'm guessing that's a cow house in the distance, what with the wrapped hay bales right there.

Ouranos judges you.

not quite the cliffs of Dover

Faux sunrises can happen several times in a morning when there are mountains. Here's another faux sunrise.

—and another wallpaper for my iMac desktop

more of the big sky

ads for a local minbak (cheap stay for bikers and walkers, but too early in the day for me)

You may recall that a minbak/민박 started off as the renting-out of a home's bedroom, with the option to dine with the family. Nowadays, there are minbak that are almost like yeogwan or motels unto themselves. They might have communal bathrooms and showers, plus a simple room to sleep in. My understanding is that they're among the cheapest forms of lodging.

'mallows, mellowing out

a framework with no canopy, protecting nothing

more hay ready for baling

farm and sky, Gaia and Ouranos

just beautiful

To be sure, I've passed some ugly scenes, too, but you take the bad with the good.

What stories could this place tell?

mystery crop again

I'm tempted to say arugula, but I think not. And AI is no help.

Mirabile dictu—I've still got a pedestrian lane.

국토종주, swerving right

Sangju City, Jungdong-myeon
In other contexts, Joongdong/중동/中東 means "Middle East."

Joongdong Bridge, 450 m in length

국토종주, rightward we go

route map, plus cautions about the watercourse and bike paths when it's snowy or rainy

no escaping the tossed-off gloves

its partner...?

border sign for Joongdong-myeon

our old friend, cracked concrete (may as well call it "shit concrete")

big sky, apple pie

Joongdong-gyo/중동교—middle + east + bridge

450 meters, boys. Let's try to make it across alive.

The sun always seems to be just coming up. It's 7:44 a.m. (The sun is well up by now.)

just wow

You can't hide.

Almost across. No abandoned gloves?

I guess not.

If I were on the Four Rivers trail, I'd end up heading to and through Mungyeong.

The modular pieces stand by and await their turn.

That spelling, "Dain," might lead you to think the town's name rhymes with "Dane." In Korean, though, it's clearly "Da-een." And Mungyeong is "moon-gyeong," not "moong-young."

cow house

"In-laws' house" (maybe a restaurant?)

"Steep slope up: 5% grade (oooh, scary) for 300 m"

Sometimes, I wish I had a huge vacuum cleaner.

shapes and colors and sky

and Port-a-Johns

ladies

be happy in your milking (or beefing)

small boardwalk

If there's a clearing on a hillside, there will be myo.

straight on

I can kind of see a face in the clouds.

up a long hill

I don't recall the upcoming hill being quite this serious. But this time around, it left me out of breath and needing to stop once or twice.

Gansang Village (Gansang-ni/간상리)

Well, nuts.

The road is leveling off, but the bike trail is still going up.

Just when you think you've topped a rise...

...it keeps on going up.

more graves

and still more

zoomed back for context

The shwimteo where I usually sit and take a break. I needed one after that modest ascent.

While I'd never advocate for tearing down trees just to get a view, I would advocate placing your shwimteo and observation decks (jeonmangdae/전망대) where there is a view. A clear view.

"Sangju Dam Bike Minbak"

top line (green font): "Welcome to Sangju, the Bike City"
route-map title (white font): "Gukto Jongju Bike Path (Sangju Portion) Information"

a slightly better angle

and now—downhill

"Steep slope down—9% grade for 150 m"

leveling out

You see a lot of little plots tucked away in small valleys. See the gravesite?

a closer look

Koreans are never very far from their dead.

I'm about to head out into the farmland.

VIDEO: Farmland en route to Downtown Sangju.

The day turned sunny.

how to know you're in the sticks

"Warning! Danger: Aircraft Shooting Range. No unauthorized entry or filming (etc.)."

more mystery plants

Mystery solved? Are these the leaves of a Korean radish?

chilies

farmers, farming

a distant building that looks like a ranger station

The road goes ever on and on.

I'd been following a creek for a bit, but the creek and I are about to part ways.

Even little waterfalls are charming.

Slightly uphill I go.

country road

top of the hill coming... but a bigger hill is on the way

Guess who.

plots of land in different states of post-harvest

circling around to that big hill

another cow house

And there they are.

ladies

Even more, hiding in the shade.

ladies

The sign is supposed to be pointing to a temple: Cheongryong-sa/청룡사, which is probably Blue Dragon Temple. But at 10 km, it's pretty far off.

This isn't really true of city temples, but a lot of mountain temples usually require you to do some work to reach them. The physical hardship of reaching the temple mirrors the spiritual hardship of attaining enlightenment. I wonder how far away from this temple you have to park, and how far (and how steeply) you have to walk.

the bridge leading to a steep hill: Odong 2nd Bridge (Odong 2-gyo/오동2교)

I can already tell that this hill is going to give me trouble.

"Steep ascent: 17% grade (tough) for 300 m"

The hill says, "Bring it!"

moon

moon, closer

moon, CLOSER

A young lady greets me and pushes her way up the steep hill. I'm about halfway up.

I really should start counting this hill as a hill. It's not long, but it is steep.

grave marker, gravesite

See the myo?

Like most steep hills, we get the graffiti—claiming victory, groaning in defeat, proclaiming love.

Whew... down the other side.

Gyeongcheon Bridge (Gyeongcheon-gyo/경천교), 12.6 km ahead; 7% grade downhill for 150 m

the downslope steepens

a myo tucked way back there

more myo

Don't take a piss on holy ground.

lots of graves in the area

Let the dead rest in peace.

myo and marker

AI to the rescue: 

The text on the stone monument outlines the establishment of the 'Sungjowon' ancestral park by the Gunsu-gong branch and the Daegu fathers' association. It details the land acquisition, construction of the main building, and the second building in the early 2000s.

stone saying Sungjoweon/숭조원 in hanja coming up

Sungjoweon/숭조원

a second shot, closer in, to make reading through the shadows easier

And down we go.

The country roads are quiet. 9:53 a.m.

more bales-in-waiting

distant grave

first hints of persimmons

the heart-shaped ones

juicy, but not ripe (and note the moon, presiding over all)

two trees, whispering secrets to each other

spirits, crushed

What's all this? Who's gonna pick it all up?

another shabby-looking shipping-container office (sand off the rust and spray or paint on some protectant!)

a tank that looks like a giant Lego

another tympani-like tub

a concrete farm building

"Wall: no exit or entry"

Dilapidation! I love it.

another road I won't be taking (off to the right)

hay-bale tractor (blue)

tiny cell tower, beaming cancer into my head

wrapped stacks of something

residence watched over by tree-lined berm

I think it's a residence. It might not be.

Nagam-seoweon (낙암서원): sign for entrance to a (I think) Confucian academy

farm neighborhood

Follow the sign.

Can you see over there, in the shadow of the trees...?

another tucked-away myo

myo: about as zoomed-in as I can get

irrigation channel

Who dat??

still advertising this path as both the 4 Rivers and the Nakdong bike trail

Flow, water. Flow.

There's a dog on that property, barking.

10:35 a.m.

a timid-looking apiary off to the right

steep descent coming

Down we go.

peekaboo

I stop here for a few minutes. This rest area overlooks an archery field.

Behind me on the other side, there's this 3-restroom setup. I used le pissoir.

As before, from left to right: men (squat toilet), men (stand-up urinal), women (squat toilet). It might amuse you to know that what we euphemistically call "Number 1" and "Number 2" are called "little thing" and "big thing" in pure Korean, based on the Sino-Korean (hanja) expressions daebyeon/대변/大便 (lit. "big excretion," or feces) and sobyeon/소변/小便 (lit. "little excretion," or urine).

trying to peer past the tree to see the archery targets

some archers, back from collecting their arrows

where the archers stand and fire

I don't know anything about Korean archery (yanggung/양궁), but it strikes me as an activity in which arrows are launched in a placid, lazy arc at the target, which always sits at a far distance from the archer. I'm sure there are different varieties of Korean archery, and I know there are quite a few Korean Olympians who have made names for themselves doing Western-style archery. I haven't picked up a bow in years, and I was never that good, anyway.

Ah, the targets.

drainage gate (baesumun/배수문)

On we go, with giant marshmallows for company.

I smelled the new paint long before I saw it: workers painting new lane markers.

another home I wouldn't mind usurping living in

Way in the distance, you can see the bridge I need to cross (Gangchang-gyo). A couple km to go.

Not to be confused with Gyeongcheon-gyo, a different bridge for which we'd seen that sign, not long ago, saying, "12.6 km ahead."

The rock says: "옛 江蒼 나루터 (yet Gangchang naruteo)," or Old Gangchang Ferry.

This bridge is low, close to the water.

And there's construction going on there. 11:37 a.m.

I have to watch out for oncoming traffic, but there isn't too much. (Normally, there'd be a walking lane.)

"Sangju Waterskiing (and coffee/drinks)"

a rather hefty glove to lose

I believe I'm looking left here.

looking ahead, getting close to the end of the bridge

a resto called Joeun Maeuntang

I'm guessing "Joeun" is a name and not a pun based on the Korean adjective for good (좋은, also pronounced "jo-eun"). Or maybe it is a pun based on a (woman's) name. A peek at the Naver dictionary suggests that 조은 (the spelling used on the restaurant) can be a deliberately misspelled version of 좋은/good, or it can be a hanja word/phrase meaning "the king's benevolence" (朝恩). Phonetically, though, it definitely sounds like "good maeuntang."

Maeuntang is a spicy seafood soup, often with bony fish or crabs or other seafood in it. I love the broth, but I don't love having to pick out bones or crack shells to get at the meat. I'm a lazy American eater: just gimme hunks of solid meat—no shells, no bones, no gristle—just meat. For people like me, eating in Korea can get expensive because proteins (even pork) are expensive.

off the bridge and about to switch modes on Naver Map

I remembered an incident from last year: up near that bridge ahead in the above photo, I had originally tried to follow Naver's cycling directions, but the plotted path led onto the freeway, which I'd be insane to walk on, not least because there could be police patrolling that area. So I changed things up and switched modes from "cycling route" to "walking route," and Naver showed me a plausible way forward that was, unfortunately, a few kilometers longer than the original route. But I followed the walking route for a while to get past the freeway before switching back to the cycling-route mode to finish the day's walk. So I did the same thing this time, and it worked out fine.

Anyone else thinking of Lone Pine Mall?

...or maybe it's still (Fraternal) Twin Pines Mall after all.

passing a crick

I take off down a road that parallels the freeway (to my left), thus keeping myself safely away from traffic.

This doesn't mean I won't encounter gloves, though.

Baskets for bushels? I assume these are for persimmons and apples.

This looks abandoned.

The quiet path ends when I pass under a bridge and into a neighborhood, then go onto a highway.

hitting the bridge soon

almost there

looking right

about to thread the needle

Even the small creeks have concrete "shelves" for aerating water.

I'd say, at this point, that Korea's is a managed ecology.

through the tunnel and over to the neighborhood

hardy crop

What is Korea if not a country of flowers?

chrysanthemums

outhouse? Hitler-dog's bunker?

old house, with the telltale cracks of piss-poor concrete

These look about ready to retire for the year.

canna lily or cockspur (not cockscomb)

but even now, still fascinating

What's it like to live in a place like this? I imagine a quiet life.

closing in on the highway

looking left across the creek

asters

at the highway

following the highway now, looking left

humble myo, not on a hillside for once

As a friend of mine once said while passing a cemetery: "I give you... the dead!"

a while to walk before the next phase

By this point, I've switched back to "cycling route" mode on Naver Map. Of course, the route that Naver gives me is now slightly different, but no matter.

another unpaired glove

...and more shamelessly naked hay bales!

It's horrible. Disgusting. Flagrant. Defiant.

A Korean with poor English who reads the above might not understand that I'm joking.

For my geo-locators: this is the Shinsang-ni/신상리 bus stop. The Sangju stop lies ahead, and Nakdong lies behind.

under another bridge

The Yes Motel. Despite its orgasmic name, I won't be staying there. It would make the next segment of the walk over 40 kilometers long.

Seongdong-ni/성동리 bus stop (same bus line? dunno)

nice bench for once—not weatherbeaten

I love the colors here: ground, red roof, trees, blue sky.

Up another hill I go.

But there are people who live up higher.

puffball tree

I enjoy a spot of shade as I ascend. It's 12:37 p.m.

looking over at a far-off neighborhood (see the solar panels?)

A church stands out.

more hill to go

more persimmon trees, still fruiting in the winter

Holy Spirit Church (Seongshin Gyohoe/성신교회) in the background

A few notes:

1. church = gyohoe/교회, pronounced "gyoh-hweh" (the romanized oe = "weh")
2. seong/성/聖 = holy, sacred
3. God the Father = seongbu/성부/聖父 (lit., "holy father")
4. God the Son = seongja/성자/聖子 (lit., "holy son")
5. God the Holy Spirit = seongshin/성신/聖神 (lit., "holy spirit")

The character shin/신/神 (also written as 神) predates the arrival of Christianity and means "God" (monotheistic) or "god" or "spirit." It's also pronounced shin in Japanese (as in Shinto/神道, lit. "god-way," or "way of the gods"—shen tao in Chinese), but on top of that, there's also a native-Japanese pronunciation: kami. So in Japan, Shinto is also called kami no michi, or "way of the gods." The kami (神, god) is also found in the Japanese word kamikaze (神風), or "god-wind," usually translated as "divine wind." The characters 神風 would be pronounced as shinpoong/신풍 in Korean; kamikaze is the native-Japanese pronunciation of the characters. The Sino-Japanese pronunciation of 神風 would be shinfu. Note the phonetic similarities between the Korean shinpoong and the Japanese shinfu. There's a lot of that between Japanese and Korean, which is why, for Japanese students living and studying in Korea, Korean is absurdly easy to pick up: there are so many similarities in terms of vocabulary, phonetics, grammar, and cultural assumptions. It's a lot like a Spanish-speaker learning French: so many parallels, so much shared linguistic history.

The Chinese character on the corner of the blue roof of the foreground building is bok/복/福, which can mean "happiness" or "good fortune." It's a common thing to put on one's eaves.

I'm guessing the funky, curved white roof is less a performance space and more an agricultural space.

straight on to Sangju, following Route 45

about to enter the city proper

I'm glad to have a shoulder for these few dozen meters. Noon traffic and all.

That's a performance space.

at last: sidewalks

And we've entered a section of town devoted to the worship of the got gam/곶감, or dried persimmon.

the mascots Ggoggami (Dried Persimmon) and Ho (Tiger, short for Horangi/호랑이)

zoomed in a little closer

VIDEO: Water Wheel in Downtown Sangju.

Spin, baby, spin!

I'm surprised the water wheel is still going this late in the year.

looking over at a courtyard of sorts

definitely an urban ambiance

the Heonshindong/헌신동 bus stop, with downtown (shinae/시내) ahead and Nakdong/낙동 behind

At this point, I'm definitely off-piste. The next segment, tomorrow, will begin with a retracing of steps to get myself back on track.

more of the decorative pines

I'll be on this street a while.

This is where John McCrarey makes one of his "feeling tired" jokes.

across the way: another purveyor of (used) tires

mural and cracked concrete

The savior of Korea, destined to be rich, is the one who invents a caulk-like chemical that you can squeeze into cracked concrete, and that cures and sets as hard as regular concrete without ever cracking again in that spot. I'm sure, though, that such a compound exists, but people just can't be arsed about cracked walls. Kind of a shame, really.

peeking at the pines

another spider couch lies in wait

This could be fall in an east-coast city in the States.

shwimteo, shweeming

wider shot

crossing a bridge

the Hwagae Bridge (Hwagae-gyo/화개교)

as per usual, anywhere from a few hundred meters to over a kilometer

I think the longest bridge I've ever personally crossed over was the 2-plus-mile bridge over the Columbia River at the border between Washington and Oregon. I was on my way down the I-5 corridor to Portland, where I planned to stop and rest to allow my injured knee to heal before turning east and beginning my trek across the country. The bridge has a safe strip right down its middle where walkers and bikers could go, walled off by Jersey barriers and unaffected by traffic. But the traffic on the bridge was noisy as hell, as I recall. And if I remember correctly, the concrete barriers were topped with metal fences.

I ended up staying in Portland for two weeks; my resting spot was a home that was run by socialists and led by a pastor. I didn't have to pay anything, but I did get a nasty eye/face infection while staying there. The house was full of old, happy lefties (plus one or two younger guys), comfortable in an environment of like-minded people. I even met a cheerful former presidential candidate who was a member of the Socialist party. He was only visiting. I recall smiling tightly and shaking the guy's hand civilly despite not agreeing with him on, well, anything.

That was way back in 2008, the first year I'd ever tried to do a long walk. Portland has, shall we say, changed since then. And that walk, at nearly 600 miles, is still the longest walk I've ever done, but it was a mess. I knew nothing about distance walking, and I recall making all of the classic rookie mistakes from the get-go: overpacking, planning poorly, getting my walk-day timing wrong (i.e., starting and ending way late), and not having a clear idea of how much distance I could cover in a single day. If you ever watch the movie Wild, which is about Cheryl Strayed, who walked a large segment of the Pacific Coast Trail, you'll see that the movie begins with Strayed (played by Reese Witherspoon) making all of the same mistakes I'd made. I recognized something of myself in Strayed and had to smile.

I know a hell of a lot more about distance walking now, and one day, if I'm able, I'd like to try the American Discovery Trail, which runs all the way across the mainland US, splitting in the middle somewhere around the Great Plains region. I imagine I'll discover that the middle of the country is called "flyover states" for a reason, and I'm sure I'll do a hell of a lot more camping. Would I involve social media in such a walk? Hard to say. As someone who leans more right than left these days, I might be inviting trouble upon myself if I were to advertise my progress to bad actors. Maybe I could use a paying medium like Substack...? That might be slightly safer.

Oh, look—park golf:

sigh...

skittish dinosaur

Sangju City Sports Park

the sports park's citizen's center

Sangju City Bus Terminal, 3.6 km ahead (not that I'll be stopping there)

Reminder: I'm on my way to the Bobos Motel in northwest Sangju.

Gyeongsan First Gate (as the hanja says, bizarrely from left to right)

Normally, venerable hanja (Sino-Korean characters) is read from right to left. Temple names, Confucian-academy names, etc., are usually written that way, and columns of old hanja text are also read from the rightmost column to the leftmost column. Old Korean books, being read in the opposite direction from English, were even published "backwards" from how we Westerners publish our books, i.e., with the "back cover" being the front cover, and with the closed book "facing" left and the binding on the right (like so). Modern Korean books, along with being written mostly in hangeul (Korean alphabetic script) and not hanja, are nowadays read left-to-right and bound in the Western style, with the closed book "facing" right, front cover on top, binding on the left. So it's strange for me to see hanja on a gate (full disclosure: I've passed this gate several times) that's read left-to-right.

At this point, I've skipped over to the path I'll be following for most of my final few kilometers.

where the persimmons hang out to dry

These persimmons have only begun the drying process, which involves open air and fans.

Quite a lot of persimmons, just in this one building.

2:29 p.m.

This is North Creek (Bukcheon/북천). It will be my companion for a few kilometers.

I was reminded of those "conversation pits" that were the architectural rage in the 70s.

"Construction in progress, ahead 100 m. Sorry for the inconvenience."

one of many pergolas along the way

"Breathing Bukcheon"

So much construction, which means minor detours for me.

jog left, then continue

one of many creek-crossing traffic bridges

looking across

a restaurant across the way: Sunshine Jeongol

Jeongol/전골 is a lot like a Korean version of a Chinese hot pot or a shabu-shabu soup in which you've got boiling broth into which you dunk your choice of vegetables and meat. Everything ought to cook up fairly quickly, and once the solids have been removed from the broth, the broth itself will retain the solids' taste, thus deepening the broth's flavor.

bench goes vroom

another abandoned scooter

2:48 p.m.

the slight rise after passing under a bridge

Illegal filming (here) is...

...an obvious crime. (oops)

the terlit I had just visited

onward

one of many shwimteo along this path

I imagine all of this construction will be gone next year. I doubt I'll be coming this way, though.

nice for a fall stroll

"No bikes or electric vehicles"—ignored, of course

a pergola with a fuller head of hair

simple, square, modern shwimteo

Danger Guy says hey

dual-purpose girls' middle school and high school

There's the sign advertising what the building is.

biking around the world or startled cartoon frog?

startled cartoon frog, surely

"I surrender!"

another chair scheduled for execution

stairs leading to the city

—but I continue onward.

park within the park?

What a place to be left.

"No bikes or two-wheeled motorized vehicles."

3:18 p.m.

the kinetic-looking sculpture

We must all hit "zero" to appreciate life.

one of those archaic clocks you see at amusement parks

Ho and Ggoggami

"Sangju, a city for the citizens' happiness and health"

It's definitely not small.

almost as if I've barely moved

not quite the Sydney Opera House

zoomed back for context

another info panel on walking

funky geometry greets me

a jinggeomdari/징검다리, or a stone footbridge, usually crossing a creek

I waited a long, long time for this long-necked bird to un-hunch, and I gave up.

a glimpse along another jinggeomdari

These spray water mist in the summer. I think we call them "misters." Heh.

Almost at the end of this trail. The rest of the walk to the motel is through part of the city.

Looks more like a Confucian academy than a temple.

definitely not Buddhist

Some Christians were out proselytizing, and they handed me a Jesus packet containing a rice cookie and some literature. You know the drill: the solution to your problems is in the Bible, come to know Jesus, etc., etc. I did appreciate the cookie.

"What are the things you need? Enjoyment? Wealth? Health? Success? But the thing you need more is..."

...salvation. "Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you and your household will be saved." Acts 16:31

shapes and colors

agricultural supplies

not far to go

Next to the cute, pink pet-store sign is a sign for... adult products! (seongin yongpum/성인용품)

At times like this, it's best to remember Jesus.

coming up on Sangju Bus Terminal

abstract sculpture, of course

"Sangju Terminal"

around the corner and down the street another block or so

A sign for the Bobos Motel (보보스모텔). I have arrived.

There it is. 4:12 p.m.

my room... not bad

bathroom and smart toilet

Not a long walk, but tiring. And I've got a very long walk ahead of me tomorrow. 36K tomorrow, rest for two nights, then 30K, then 28K. Woo-hoo!