Day 1, Leg 1

Some data to begin with!

Distance: approx. 24 km

Time: from about 6:30 a.m. to about 3:30 p.m. = about 9 hours (slow because taking pics every 100 meters)

Steps: 35,902

Calories Burned: 4,085 (MyFitnessPal), 3,053 (pedometer)

Calories Consumed: 4,347 (MyFitnessPal)

[That's right: I'm negative for the day. I gained weight.]

I barely needed to consult Naver Map today, given that this was almost exactly the same route I walked this past December, and it's fairly well marked except for one or two intersections. Physically, the route was easy; it presented no challenges, not even the longish hill at the beginning. My stair training is serving me well, and I can now eat modest hills for breakfast. I don't know how I'd fare on some of the tougher hills of the Four Rivers path, but I bet I'd do better than I've done before. 

No rain today. The gods were merciful. I guess the typhoon has blown past us, but I think there's more rain being forecasted. The poncho is ready to deploy if needed. I also think I may have been too harsh last December: there were plenty of ocean views, and despite the ubiquitous civilization, there were stretches of today's path that were quiet and ruled only by me. Surprisingly few bikers out, but the few bikers and random strangers I met were all pretty friendly despite my lack of a mask. Our interactions were those of regular people, mask-free, talking to each other as if life were normal, which it really ought to be. Don't cower, friends. Live life.

I was really impressed with Hwajinpo, a freshwater lake right by the sea. Hwajinpo is huge, and I'd like to explore it more, but I get the impression that the locals are actively trying to keep the lake quiet and peaceful. Developed property generally sits well away from the lake, for instance, and I saw few to no benches around the lake's edge, except for the first kilometer or so of my trek around the lake's perimeter (doing the entire perimeter might take a few days*). I thought of Lake Brienz in Switzerland, one of two huge lakes flanking the city of Interlaken. I've hiked Brienz twice. That lake is so big that it has its own boat-driven transportation system to take pedestrians to parts of the lake border faster. No boats on Hwajinpo, by contrast. No fishing canoes, nothing. Utterly quiet. If the local citizens are, in fact, actively keeping activity away from the lake, I think they're succeeding, and maybe it's for the best. God knows this country needs its green spaces.

Hwajinpo did give me an idea for future hikes, though: lake-perimeter hiking. This wouldn't be like the placid walking I do along bike trails: there's no guarantee the whole perimeter of any lake would be hikable or drivable. There could be some severe hills, as well as some rough trail. I'll have to do some research to see whether such hiking is even feasible, but it sounds, at least, like a good way to spend some weekends. Stay tuned for more on this.

Quite a few dead frogs this time around, and my favorite orb-weaving spiders are out in force, as well as some orb-weavers recognizable to Americans. I got some gorgeous closeups of several spiders. There was one tossed-away mask, and only one or two abandoned gloves. Maybe throwing away gloves is more of a landlubber thing. 

I'm not where I said I'd stop. Instead of going to the Hanjin Motel, I've instead stopped at the Seongshin (Holy Spirit?) Motel. For W50,000 a night, I'd expect my room to come with a little less loose hair all over the floor, but I've come to expect a certain amount of grubbiness as part of the package when I do these long treks. Quality control and customer service don't come easily to lower and middle-echelon Koreans.

My late lunch, upon arriving in town, was across the street at Jang-an Myeon-ok. Kimchi-jjigae and mul-naengmyeon. Kimchi-jjigae, despite the gochujang (which has rice flour in it), is actually quite low-carb. Can't say the same for mul-naengmyeon, which is mostly noodles, despite the veggies.

The Unification Observatory certification center apparently moved. When I asked a biker about it later in the day, he said the booth was now across the street, in a parking lot. I didn't see it there when I looked that way, but then again, I didn't look that hard. So at some point, I have to go back and get that stamp. Maybe in late October or sometime in November. I did something similar in 2017.

So let's talk about the elephant in the room: food. How could I start the trek off so badly? As inaccurate as MyFitnessPal can be, I'm glad to have it as a sort of guideline to help me retain some perspective. I'm going to eat very little tomorrow as a result of what I found out about today (snacks, sodas, fruit drinks), and the notion of allowing myself to be "more liberal" with food during this trip is going to have to be revised. I may, in fact, bring back some 24-hour fasting days to keep myself from falling off the wagon. Part of my struggle has always been about maintaining a sense of proportion, whether I'm eating or cooking for others. It's an ongoing education. Stay tuned. I want to be able to report that I'm down a few more belt holes, not bloated and looking like Jabba the Hutt.

Pics! I hear you bellow. Here are some. I apparently snapped 500 pics today, which probably breaks some kind of record. Meanwhile, click on the first image, and a slide show will begin. When I'm back in Seoul, I'll add in the rest of the pics, as I did last year, and I'll let you know when I'm done.

my pension: Haedang-hwa, 6:30 a.m.

l'auto-portrait (with red eye)

I sure hope this isn't an omen. I'd hate to end up crushed, with my guts pushed out of my ass.

the sun pokes out

sun behind cloud

Temple of Artemis for dwarfs?

harbor (항/hang in Korean)

colorful tetrapods

This octopus and diamond ring used to be out on a jetty, but they got replaced by modern art. Scandalous!

I like this pic of the ocean and a bend in the road. It says something about human insignificance, I think.

a shot of Hwajinpo, which goes on and on (the lake, I mean, not the shot)

one of my beauties

a jetty

parasitic bivalves dominating driftwood

tetrapods in their element

a classic orb-weaver in the American mode

harvest at a distance 

harvest, up close

first cert center where I could get a stamp

part of lunch

__________

*Correction: the lake looks huge, but it's perimeter can be hiked in a single day. According to my eyeballed measurement based on a look at Naver Map, I'd say the perimeter is around 12 or so km. Not so big, after all.

ADDENDUM: Did I lose 200-ish images? My phone no longer registers 500 images for Day 1. Now, for whatever reason, there are only 318 photos in the folder I created for September 18. Hmmm. Maybe the phone miscounted the number of photos; maybe I misunderstood what number I was seeing. Maybe I, in my old age, accidentally deleted a bunch of photos. If I did indeed lose 200 pics, maybe that's for the best. I took too many pics yesterday, anyway.

PHOTO ESSAY

yours truly

barriers ready to tumble

ass-blasted frog

even more graphically kilt

always funny to see masks on the ground, as if people know deep down they're of little use

the night's rain dries

What rich person lives behind this gate?

Someone's in the reflection.

The sight of drying sea creatures has turned out to be rare.

I found out from someone I spoke with on the trail that the cert center had been moved from its original spot to across the street. And there it is, in this photo, far off. I'll have to go back and get that stamp once the walk is done.

jangseung

squash flower

first view of the sea, from behind a fence

Suddenly, no fence. What's the logic?

I don't think I noticed these typhoon escape-route signs last December.

taking the low road

Temple of Artemis for dwarfs

sea, sand, sky

on the right track

for lifeguards

how the path changes character

a wee bit of off-roading

colorful tetrapods

The cool octopus got taken down, but this idiot octopus remains.

long driftwood

burdz

where the cool octopus now resides

doesn't look anything like a Buddhist temple

As your eye tracks left, the bikers become more abstract.

and then there's this fucked-up individual

Not for the last time will I see surfboards used in this manner.

One reason why I'm prejudiced against minbaks is that so many of them look ratty.

the composition of the shot is rather yin-yang: half sea/sky, half land

more typhoon escape-route signs

a way-too-happy sun/urchin

Koreans and their love of abstract art

I became more and more impressed with Hwajinpo as I walked alongside it.

hello, ladies

one last look at Hwajinpo

Diamond Marsh (Geumgang Seupji)

soon to be harvested

chili peppers

interestingly shaped house

catching this butterfly was a lucky shot

Which way to turn?

fish shadows

the cause of the shadows

digital-zoom closeup of lighthouse

bivalve-covered driftwood

and look at this monstrosity

fish painting

Is the kid embracing a giant penis?

You and your dirty mind.

This section was closed off last December, but I walked it, anyway.

Some of these shots were taken by thrusting my phone camera through the fence.

This sign is angled for bikers who are going north to see. We southbound folk get no sign at all, so we're left to deduce what direction to go in by looking at the sign for the northbounders. A lot of this sort of nonsense happens on the trail.

Propane gas doesn't get enough love. Let's change that. So for all you propane canisters reading this blog, this pic is for you.

Why on earth would you say that?

saw the imprint, had to click

another dramatic frog death

an American-style orb weaver

Farmland so close to the ocean fascinates me.

the day's cert center, and this is where I encountered the Korean biker who told me about how the first cert center of the day got moved across the street

Someone graffitied in a bit of clarification.

Please explain what this is about.

combat-training ground (and no fence)

harvest and an amazing sky

I am attracted to the old, the dilapidated, the abandoned.

my motel

part of lunch: naengmyeon

and jjigae

a belated shot of the resto; the lady came out as I was leaving so she could hand me some soy milk to energize me for my journey