Donghae October 25-26

[skinsk]

Anyone up for the abso-friggin-lovely Mureung Valley (http://www.koreaontherocks.com/climbing/areas.php?area_id=260&q=area_type%3D1%26) near Donghae (East Coast) this weekend?! Great hiking, views, a nice temple, some falls, and 18 moderate cracks to get all the traddies (or traddie wannabees) stoked!!

If anyone can join at Yuhaksan (NW of Daegu) Fri or Mon, that would be great!

[skinsk]

hey, don't bury this thread. . . it's chronologically before Halloween!. . . I need at least 3 more people, at least one more leader of trad. . . 'cuz this place should be in the book. . . many many 9s and 10s. . . Heather, Philip, Alec, Jake, Dee?!, Kim-lee?!, Corey (really, it's worth the trip back to Korea!) Kris and Jess (not like you can't go to Seonunsan any day. . . Jess. . . you need to be leading cracks so you don't have a huge gap! 5.9 to 11d!! Lindsey. . . c'mon, you want to plug cracks too. . . Wes? Les? (it rhymed). . . Daegustas (not so far). . . and aren't there even some KOTRers in Donghae!?

[mbeery]

Hey I recently just did my first KOTR bouldering trip last weekend and would love to do some trad climbing this weekend. I brought my full trad rack to Korea too but no rope. I normalk lead 8-9 trad but haven't beeb climbing much recently. Just give me some directions on where to go or meet.

[Tonypetro]

hey Whats up all!!!
I'm Tony in PoHang, just arrived 5 days ago. Sounds like a grand time, I'm new to the area, but for sure want to climb this weekend. I'm racked, love to place some pro, boulder, sport, its all grand times..

Friday night, or Saturday Morning I can arrive. I 'll be checking out train or bus time tables..

Later

[skinsk]

Donghae is on the East coast-- perfect for Pohang-ers! I would guess there're several busses, but you might have someone t your work check the schedule.

Of course, from Seoul there are direct busses everywhere. Starting in East Seoul (Gangbyeon) saves you 10 minutes or so and busses run from 07:10-18:45, from Seoul Express Bus terminal they start at 06:30 and run until 20:00, every 40-50 minutes. Depending on what type of bus (I don't know times for each) it costs about 15-20,000.

Once you're there, there are frequent busses out to Mureung Valley-- one of the big destinations for Tourists in Donghae. Someone at the bus terminal should let you know where to catch a city bus and which one (there are about 30 a day, all day). Sadly, I lost my cell phone and it doesn't seem to be coming back, so we can try to plan a meeting place Sat AM if people know when they'll arrive. I'll try to figure out where I'm coming from in advance (somewhere west! Daejeon or Daegu?) and maybe pick up someone with a phone!

Everyone can only bring whatcha have! Be that a rope and rack (I have both, and prefer someone else to carry them!) or whatever. If you have a helmet, you might bring that (Kris nailed Jess with a rock here-- no major harm done, but still a warning!)
I guess you can camp. . . if others were down for that I'd be too. . . otherwise, we could get a room if others were down for that!
Or half and half.

[heatherj22]

I'm down to place some pro. If the cracks and face are nice, that makes the weekend all the more fun. I'm having some trouble finding my way out to Donghae as well. I've checked the times and I can't find a direct bus. Do you know of a bigger city I could check for?

[skinsk]

OK, so Donghae is on a weird blue train line. . . from Pohang (a little offshoot stop itself) you'd first go to Gyeongju, then to Yeongju, then to Donghae. From Ulsan to Yeongju, to Donghae.

Heather, when I did a train search, it gave me 2 connections: the $1054 from Ulsan to Gyeongju 10:05- 10:40, then the #1682 from Gyeongju to Donghae 11:05-16:31 Kinda time consuming. If you can sleep on the train (super-duper ear plugs?) train #1624 leaves Ulsan for Yeongju at 23:29 - and connects to the #1692 from Yeongju to Donghae 02:46 05:57 busses from the city to the climbing start at 6:30AM.

By bus-- you'd think you could come straight up the coast, but maybe that's not super fast. It doesn't look very develped on any maps. The Donghae website lists 4 daily innercity busses from Donghae to Ulsan and also lists busses that "end" at Donghae. . . I'm posting the link (http://www.dh.go.kr/open_content/english/donghae/04_04.htm?names=4). It looks like they leave Ulsan at 8:15 from the Inner-city (cross country) terminal. It's worth having a Korean friend check or call your area code)1330 for help in English.

Tony, nothing to/from Pohang listed. . . the fastest and most direct connections I found is through Uljin, also in your province. busses are frequent and start at 4:40 (through 9:30PM, every 20 minutes). . . if you can sleep on a bus, you can get an early start. From Uljin to Donghae busses run from 6:30AM to 8PM, every 30 minutes. The whole thing will take you about 4 hours (travel time). Worth it, though:D

mbeery. . . no hints in your profile about where you're coming from. . . (the picture looks like Indian Creek, but that would be a little far for a weekend:eek8: !) this would help me to offer some directions. . . otherwise directions and bus info for the crag is in the crag post, linked to the first post in this thread!

[heatherj22]

Sorry, dude. I'm out. 5.5 hrs for a day and a half? Not even I'm that crazy! I'll see you at the G next weekend for sure. Have fun and be safe.

[skinsk]

The main reason I'd be going is because I need some photos of climbers here. . . so if there aren't enough people, my time is better spent elsewhere (the rain's got me a bit behind). . .

[heatherj22]

If you're going for pictures, this place is for sure on my list of places to hit in the next little while. Maybe not until Feb, when I get back, but it'll for sure go down. I don't know when you're planning on sending everything to print, but I could keep you in mind when I do make it out there.

[skinsk]

I'd need it by early Dec at the latest. Want to have it done by 2009!

Looks like I've got people, though! Which will be good. . . as I want to double check pics I have, etc. . . though the more the merrier!

[skinsk]

Spence, Jason. . . best bet is a bus from Dong-Seoul (East Seaol Terminal) on the light green line just 2 stops below Konkuk University. Direct busses run to Donhae taking just under 3 and a half hours. If you could plan to leave at 9-9:30, I could try to meet you in Donghae 12:30-1:00 at the bus terminal. . . I have room for 3 in the car. . . I don't have a phone at the moment, but I'll check the net tonight if I can tonight, or at least tomorrow; check KOTR when you get there.

Kris and Jesse, it would be great if y'all could come Sunday. . .

Brandi. . . you, too. . . if you could come, excellent. . .