We did not know what we were in for heading to this mountain. We could see its massive bulk looming from afar; peaks lost in low clouds. The steely shape was Gubyeongsan (구병산) and our next adventure.
The drive from Seodaesan was only an hour. The foot of this mountain featured an unusual scene: there was a little village with no temple in sight, and a huge, possibly abandoned parking lot. But there was great signage pointing us up Gubyeongsan, and we even passed a few hikers, so all seemed well.
Until it suddenly wasn’t. We found ourselves in a ravine, with fallen rocks and downed trees eroding the trail beyond recognition. Bright ribbons still tied to fallen branches tried to lead us astray. Rocks shifted beneath my feet, often giving way and tumbling away, crashing down the mountainside. The earth around the rocks was so loose that it simply slid out from under my feet in big clumps every time I stepped.
I clambered upwards laboriously: hands, knees and elbows often on the ground, taking breathers as I clung to big boulders and still-standing trees. It was not a little terrifying! But we kept going, making our way slowly up Gubyeongsan.
This was not foolhardiness. We still saw ribbons, were equipped with a map and occasionally we came across remnants of what were once steps. And we’d seen some hikers above us, so we knew that it could be done. Surely the erosion was new, and surely we didn’t have far to go before we reached a proper Gubyeongsan trail!
We reached that trail, on the ridge, a couple of hot messes. From this side, a warning sign restricted access to the trail we’d just used. But there was also a great view, and someone had left incense burning on a little rock altar. Kent and I took a moment there to gather ourselves.
Unfortunately, in our eagerness to avoid getting stuck behind an especially slow-moving hiking group crowding the ridge, we bypassed a few of the prominent peaks. Shaken up from our less-than-ideal climb up, I was kind of okay with avoiding any unnecessary ruggedness at the time. Looking back, I think we missed some of the appeal of Gubyeongsan!
We made our way along Gubyeongsan’s ridge, up and over or around multiple little peaks. It was a bit of a grey day, a haze starting to obscure the valleys below and a forest of trees still bare of foliage. But Kent kept making me laugh, and so we kept our spirits up.
On the summit, we received the gift of an apple from some fellow hikers! We spent some time with them and with the summit, grateful for our safe passage and for the hard-won beauty of another mountain peak. After munching the apple, we found an alternate way to descend Gubyeongsan.
At first we weren’t sure where we could go down, with so many trails still closed for spring thaw. On the route we found, erosion once again made for very slow going.
But there were exciting features, like a little staircase through a waterfall, an explosion of cherry blossoms and a friendly little lizard! At the bottom, we ran a bit below Gubyeongsan, back to our starting point. We passed some huge satellite dishes and met an extremely industrious and persuasive little grandmother who insisted we try (and buy) some of her persimmon vinegar.
KNOW AND GO! GUBYEONGSAN
TRANSPORTATION
We’re back in the under-explored and underappreciated Chungcheong provinces for Gubyeongsan!
There’s a bus stop in Jeokam village right at the foot of Gubyeongsan. There’s a direct bus there departing from Boeun’s bus terminal. Take the 211 for an hour, and you’ll step out onto a trailhead. There’s also a direct intercity bus from Mungyeong’s terminal. Nearby Sangju city doesn’t have any direct connections, but you can use bus 814 to reach Hwaseo village and transfer to bus 214 for the remainder of your journey.
We were doing our usual 2018 mountain mission thing and had rented a car for our multi-mountain adventure. This was convenient for our purposes, but not the most epic way to do Gubyeongsan: for that, see below!
HIKE & RUN
You can hike to Gubyeongsan from Songnisan! I thought it was very important that you know that. It won’t be easy (it’s fairly far!) and it won’t all be alpine (you’ll descend into several villages and cross a couple of roads) – but it can be done! So, now you know that there is potential for big runs and hikes here!
There is also, as you will have recently read, a large potential for getting lost on this mountain. If you look at Gubyeongsan’s map, you might notice a lot of dotted lines. Those might represent use trails, unmaintained trails or trails lost to the wilderness – but one thing they do not represent are good routes to the summit. Steer clear if you’re on a timetable and/or if bushwhacking is not your thing.
The shortest route to the top is the 2.3 kilometer climb from Jeokam – take the route to the west of the village, on the other side of the river. But as previously mentioned, there’s a lot more you can do on Gubyeongsan and beyond!
STAY & EAT
Jeokam village lies at the foot of Gubyeongsan, and boasts the Songnisan rest area on major highway number 30. You can park there. There are some small seasonal vendors in the village, but I didn’t see anything in the way of an official restaurant or accommodation.
Boeun is the nearest town, just west of the Gubyeongsan massif. Sangju city is only slightly further away to the east. But if you’re making a weekend out of this, you could always stay (and feast!) in the well-appointed tourist village in Songnisan National Park!
OTHER NOTES
Gubyeongsan is a well-regarded mountain of 876 meters. It’s found on both the Korea Forest Service 100 summits list (see here) and the Black Yak 100 summits list (see here).
Our Gubyeongsan adventure was a scramble-y eight kilometers in April of 2018. We also visited nearby-ish Seodaesan on the same, action-packed day.
The mountains are calling on the 120 summits main page! And I hope you go, to Gubyeongsan and others!
