Hiking up Mount Hallasan is apparently a must for every visitor to Jeju Island. It's famous for being South Korea's highest mountain and also one of its most famous national parks. You are supposed to be able to see some spectacular volcanic scenery from the top including lots of craters, crater lakes and volcanic cliffs.
We got up really early in preparation for the hike and took a public bus to one of the trail heads. It was a cold but beautiful and clear day as we started the steep climb. The trails were well-marked and clean and the other Korean hikers were very friendly. We didn't see any other foreigners the whole day - just other Korean visitors and local hikers (It seems Koreans are really into hiking and when they go hiking they are always decked out in the latest gear).
We climbed up for about three hours and started hurrying because of some clouds moving in and a rapid temperature drop. At the top there was a little shack where we warmed up with other hikers and had some instant noodles. Many Korean said hello to us, asked us where we were from and welcomed us to Jeju. Some even gave us some candy and chocolate. Many people reminded us to take our trash with us and keep the national park clean (a HUGE difference from China). When we were served our noodles, the attendant gave us a plastic bag to carry our trash back down the mountain. I was pretty impressed.
On the way down it was kind of cold and foggy and we were happy when we made it back to a different trail head and someone offered us a ride to the bus stop. The national park office let us in to sit next to the little gas stove while we waited for the public bus to take us back to Jeju City. It was a fun day but I was ready to be done hiking and warm up again.
the forest in the first picture looks so beautiful!