Monday, February 09, 2009

Hiking Trailheads in Changwon

I went hiking on Sunday with the librarian at my new school and her husband. Yang Suk Soon and her husband picked me up and drove me to the trailhead in the morning and we hiked well into the afternoon.

We climbed along a trail that runs up a mountain and then along the length of a ridge to the Northeast of Changwon. The trailhead is nearly within walking distance. East of town on the other side of the mountain one could see a small air strip that looked to be abandoned.

Several times since, I've explored the hills surrounding Changwon that are within walking distance from my home. The towering apartment complexes quickly give way to rows of houses, then small farms and orchards that bump up against the ramparts of steep, rugged hills.

The trails are wide and well used. Tons of people were out for the day, dressed in the latest fabrics from Northface, Scholler and their local Korean made counterparts. Almost everyone was overdressed for the occasion.

At the trailhead end, the city built a small array of air compressor guns people use to clean the dust off their shoes and pants. Very interesting! Also along the trail are several areas with outdoor exersize equipment. You can do bench presses, incline crunches, and chin-ups. They even have a couple of big hula hoops for exersizing. Unfortunately the hula hoops weigh about 5-7 kilograms.
They took me out to eat afterwards. Galbi! Delicious. Unfortunately I was careless enough to forget my camera. These come from an album linked to Google Earth.

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