Seoraksan National Park.

This weekend there was supposed to be a Snow Festival in Sokcho, in Seoraksan National Park. So Paul, Ara and I planned to head up to Mt. Seorak for a few hours to check it out. We can take a bus near our apartment that will take us up to the park in about 15 minutes. There is a cable car you can take up the mountain, and the views are spectacular. However, the winds in Sokcho have been really really strong lately and so the cable car wasn't running and most of the exhibits in the festival had been cancelled. Nevertheless, we had a great time walking around. Ara showed Paul and I where to find the big Buddha, and also where the Buddhist temple from the Shilla dynasty was. There were plenty of people out hiking through Seoraksan, which seems to be beautiful any time of year.
The sky was overcast and you could see snow blowing around the mountain tops. We followed several trails and I got a bunch of great shots of the temple, the bridges, and the Buddha. The park was cold and beautiful, almost hauntingly so from the starkness of the wind and the bleakness of winter. There were a lot of families in the park, enjoying the trails and the temple. We would have liked to hike more of it, but the wind was just too harsh. Ara says that once spring comes, the park fills to the brim and it's packed with tourists. I was glad to experience it at a less busy time. I can't wait to get back there once it warms up!




Mt. Seorak












The entrance to the park.