Jirisan Help

[vexed]

Hey,

I'm heading up to Jirisan at the new year (Western) and was hoping to get some advice. I was originally going to do the huge entire ridge trail, but I've decided against that in favour of a shorter a more manageable hike.

I'm thinking of starting from Gurye early Sunday morning and heading to Nogodan then on to Tokkibong before heading down to Ssanggye-sa. I figure it's a fair trek, so I should stop in a shelter somewhere between Nogodan and Tokkibong making it a 2-day hike. However, I'm not sure if there is a shelter between the two places. Does anyone know?

Thanks,
Kirk

[firepink]

As far as I'm aware, you have three choices for huts:

1. Nogodon shelter, which sounds pretty big
2. Piagol Shelter, which is smaller but pretty out of your way - you have to hike down Piagol valley for a bit over an hour to get there, but you can return to the main trail a slightly different way
3. Baemsagol shelter, which shows itself as a 40 minute walk downhill from Tokkibong, but I'm not sure what that translates to when you're going uphill.

Hope that helped :)

[vexed]

Hey,

Thanks for the info.

I think I'll aim for the Baemsagol shelter.

Just one more little question...

I plan to start from Gurye early Sunday morning and get to Baemsagol. Then stop over there, and Monday head to Ssanggye-sa (finding some accommodation around there). Is this do-able or will I get caught short between shelters? What kind of hiking time am I looking at between each place?

Sorry for the very inexperienced questions, but I just want to make sure!

[jsp1001]

This was in the Summer, but I met one guy who started early morning at Nogodan and finished at the Joongsanri entrance (below Cheonwanbong) at nightfall. I'm wondering why don't you go from Nogodan to Cheonwanbong, since it is the more usual course, and the Baekdudaegan (a kind of Korean equivalent of the Pacific Crest Trail, or CDT, or AT) follows this route? There are at least three or four shelters between Tokkibong and Cheonwanbong.

[Hypoxic]

Look into the availability of the Baemsagol shelter. There are plans to have it demolished as recent assesments of it have shown it to be not environmentally-friendly. I would assume that if it is demolished it won't be done until spring, but keep it in mind just in case.
Like mentioned, the Piagol shelter is out of the way, but Piagol is an awesome route, and the owner of the shelter, Mr Ham Tae-shik, is an 80 year old man who has been living alone in Jirisan for nearly 40 years. He speaks some English and it's very interesting to hang out with him.

[Hypoxic]

Just got back from Jirisan for a few days. The Baemsagol Shelter has indeed gone the way of the dodo.

Great trip, by the way. Snowed a lot on Sunday. Not many people at all, only two others on the Piagol flank ascent (though I've never run into any more than two or three on that ascent at any given time, just the same).

[isipau]

Hey there. I've got detailed hiking information for Jirisan on my blog, detailed maps, and links to the website where you can make shelter reservations. I've hiked the entire ridge route twice this year and it's really not that bad. We did it in 19 hours during our November run. Of course, now the snow is likely to be heavier and you can't move that fast. The hike you're planning shouldn't be a problem to do in a single day, unless you're really set on spending the night on the mountain. Start early.

I recommend making shelter reservations (there's a link on the page below) if you really plan to crash up there. The shelter people will accommodate foreigners without them, but they really get upset sometimes. Bring earplugs and a sleeping pad, unless you can sleep comfortably on a piece of bare wood surrounded by snoring Koreans.

http://koreaclimbs.blogspot.com/2007/12/click-image-for-high-resolution.html