What an epic day! Our Soyosan (소요산) run ranks up there among the coolest things we’ve ever done. What happens when you combine training for a big upcoming race and a 100 summits mission? Amazing things, I tell you. Amazing things.
We approached Soyosan on the mountain’s longest and least traveled route. When we stood on the summit, we’d traveled FIFTY kilometers to get there! We used up all of the daylight on this mission in early April 2018. And the entire journey was awesome.
To kick things off, we followed the Korea50k course, starting from the base of Chilbongsan. This was a literal practice run for the real deal happening three weeks later! We got to revisit all of the famous race course peaks: Chilbongsan, Cheonbosan and Wangbangsan en route to Soyosan (*the latter was not included on the Korea 50k course in the early years, but since 2019, has been on the longer routes). It was all very familiar from our two previous races on these same trails – but different too!
The differences were in the form of push and pull factors. In a race, the nearness of competitors often causes me to adjust my pace. Unless I’m actively talking to someone, I don’t like to follow too closely behind – and I really don’t like it when someone tails me, either. Also in a race, there are predetermined stops: every checkpoint represents a chance to break, refuel and regroup. You also might run faster approaching and leaving an aid station than way out on the course. Running independently, there are no such stops, so every decision about stopping and pacing is your own.
I actually really enjoyed running the Korea 50k on our own! However, I did miss meeting friends along the way – especially when we got seriously lost and could have used another pair of eyes to find the trail! We also spent nearly the whole run reminiscing about the people we met in previous years and the times – good and bad – we had on this trail in 2016 and 2017.
We’d stocked up on supplies for this run, knowing that it would be longer -and harder – than the Korea50k with Soyosan as our end point! There would also be no aid stations and no trail friends around to help us out. But this was excellent training: we often do big missions on our own and need to be self-reliant, and in races we’ll skip an aid station if we’re feeling fresh or it has a very long line!
Aside from getting lost a handful of times and enduring some unhealthy air quality, we had an excellent time on our very long lead-in to Soyasan! Although we saw very few other runners or hikers, we did see a work bee atop Wangbangsan. We stopped on that mountaintop for a while, to celebrate the highest peak on the Korea 50k course.
After crashing down into Gipiuel valley beyond Wangbangsan, we were immediately striding uphill again. We scrambled over the challenging Guksabong, where another crew was hard at work improving the trail circumnavigating the base!
Our next stop was a blissful one atop Suwibong, where we inhaled the banana bread we’d been carrying all day up to this point. We were leaving familiar ground behind: from now on, everything would be brand new!
New, and gnarly. We were suddenly on the craziest ridge ever. Six kilometers lay between us and Soyosan, with zero bailout options. Turning back would not be an option, so the only way to go was onward!
We passed the hugest power tower I’ve ever seen. Looking up it was dizzying, but made Kent and I wonder if – in an alternate universe – we could get jobs taking care of these remote structures. We carried on down the knife’s edge ridge, our surroundings becoming more and more intense as we made our way towards Soyosan.
We were quickly enclosed on either side by spools of threatening razor wire. It was imperative that we tread the thin trail carefully with no stumbles: a mean feat when ropes and ladders began to appear alongside rocky scrambles! Even the sounds were ominous: a loud, low booming shook the earth beneath our feet. We figured we must have been above a practice range or something. Once again, nothing to do but carry on.
Little yellow hiking ribbons encouraged us onward: simultaneously marking the way to Soyosan and providing comforting evidence that other humans had been here before us. On the final approach, the wire gave way to bare rock, and eventually the dull thuds of shelling stopped echoing off the mountainside.
Finally, after many hours of running, we reached the peak! We watched the sun set over Soyosan and marveled over how far the day had brought us.
Then we had to hustle down. The sky was quickly darkening, and we knew some scrambles still lay ahead. But somehow, with no foreknowledge, we managed to choose the easier of two routes down.
Having never been there before, we were slightly surprised that when we reached the base of the mountain, we were actually not quite done with our run. The moon shone overhead, above the mountain, and the streetlights of the city beckoned. We kept running until we reached Soyosan station, and then, we could stop.
KNOW AND GO! SOYOSAN
TRANSPORTATION
Soyosan is actually easy to reach: it’s just a very, very long subway journey from Seoul. Soyosan is the final stop on the dark blue (#1) subway line if you’re going north. So, to get to the mountain, simply stay on the subway until you get to the station named for it. Don’t forget your book!
As you’ll read below, you’re on a trail nearly as soon as you step out of the subway station, so no problem there.
HIKE & RUN
Unless you are training too, I very much doubt your route to Soyosan will look anything like ours! But if you want an epic challenge, hit me up for the GPX.
Otherwise, let’s discuss the usual options for Soyosan! The good news: You can start your hike right from Soyosan station: simply cross the road at either of the two zebra crossings to the south (right) of the exit. Boom! You’re on the trail. The bad news: the lead-in walk on the road is a little long. If you take the more northerly route, you’ll be on trails right away – but have a longer hike to the summit. If you take the second, southerly trail, you’ll have to head up the road for a kilometer and a half with the traffic.
The road ends at Baegun hermitage (the temple at the end of the valley). From there, you can take one of two approximately equal routes to the top. Why not make it a loop and go up one trail and down the other?
If you want to go long, but perhaps not 50k long, there are several other peaks you can visit close by. North-bound, you’ll hit the smaller but identically named second Soyosan peak and then have the option of continuing on to Deokilbong or turning west for Habaekundae. West of the peak is Gongjubong and another route down to the town.
STAY & EAT
As mentioned previously, I happen to be a big fan of Dongducheon. There’s rooms to be rented, and a wide variety of yummy things to eat. In the neighborhood immediately below Soyosan, some of that food is mountain vegetable cuisine! Alas, Kent and I got off the mountain so late after our epic adventures that we didn’t get to sample any. Order some deodeokgui for me, please?
OTHER NOTES
Soyosan is a thrilling climb (particularly from the east!)! It’s a well-known and well-regarded mountain. You should expect to see other hikers completing their Korea Forest Service 100 summits list (see here) as well as the more obvious folks on the Black Yak 100 summits quest (see here). You might know that Soyosan is 587 meters: but what you might not know is that all of those meters are rugged and rocky!
In April 2018, Kent and I ran to Soyosan via a very interesting route! This mountain’s summit was our final destination on a monster training run in preparation for our upcoming Korea 50k race. That epic run was over 50 kilometers and took us over 12 hours! The following day we climbed Gamaksan (Paju) to cool down.
How about heading on back to the 120 summits main page to find your future mountain friends?
To summiting Soyosan!