walk pics from yesterday

Yesterday's walk was... interesting. JW ended up quitting on me, saying something about how his dad was sick, and JW needed to go back and see him. Maybe this claim was true; maybe it wasn't. JW was pretty stressed and unfocused when we met at Hanam City Hall Station yesterday morning (something about delays and forced transfers), and as we walked along, he seemed tired and distracted. It was obvious to me that, even though JW has expressed before how much he likes this particular route, he was flagging.

One of the things that boggles my mind is that, by this point, JW has walked hundreds of kilometers with me. In every sense, he's easily a veteran distance walker, and he's even gone on sorties of his own with either his son or his daughter (the daughter seems to like these walks more than the son does). But despite JW's veteran-walker status, he's still prone to taking frequent (and long) rest breaks. JW is a runner, too, so this isn't a question of his cardiovascular fitness; he could easily walk circles around me by that standard. But JW seems to be susceptible to some nasty foot pain. He doesn't talk about it often, but it's there: he's admitted as much on certain rare occasions. Despite having bought himself a decent pair of walking shoes, JW still experiences a lot of pain, and I suspect that that's been detracting from his enjoyment of these walks. So my guess is that, yesterday, JW was tired and antsy, and after 15 km, he'd had enough, but he needed a face-saving excuse to cut his walk short. I'm not saying JW was out-and-out lying, but I suspect he was trying to save face at least a little.

So we parted ways at Yangsu Station, which is at about the 15K or 16K mark. JW trained back to Seoul, ostensibly to be with his dad (so why did JW elect to come walking with me if his dad was such an urgent priority to begin with?), and I continued on alone. The day was bright and pretty hot. I was in my standard black shirt, and I'd bought a pair of black toshi (sleevelets) along the way because I'd forgotten to take a pair from home. My hat proved to be pretty decent protection, but I did still end up a tiny bit cooked by the sun. Nothing tragic.

Because we'd already taken so many rest breaks during those first 16 kilometers, I finished the hike later than anticipated. (Ideally, at 5 km/h, I should be able to walk 35K in 7 hours without stopping or slowing. Factor in reality, though—fatigue, slowing pace, bathroom and rest breaks—and I predicted we'd need about 9 hours to reach Yangpyeong. I was off by half an hour, but that's largely because of JW, who needed at least two bathroom breaks to empty his bowels, and who tarried during our other rest breaks. I'm old and diabetic and pee frequently these days, so I try to start my walks with little to no fluid in my body as a way to minimize my pee breaks, but even with those precautions in place, I still have to pee now and again, especially as I swig water while on the path. In other words, I was the cause of a couple of stops, too. That said, I thought 9 hours was a reasonable prediction, but JW surpassed my expectations, so to speak. Thanks to his delays in the first part of the hike, I ended up arriving in Yangpyeong a tiny bit before 8 p.m. Because JW had arrived at our meeting point almost a half-hour late, we didn't starting walking until about 10:25 a.m. I got to Yangpyeong at about 7:50 p.m., so I guess that was about a 9.5-hour stroll.

Technically, JW can walk a lot faster than I can. He's done so, including on long stairs, like those that go up the local mountain, Daemosan. But instead of leaving me in the dust, he keeps pace with me, probably just to be polite. I need to encourage him to power on ahead so he doesn't get bored or anything, and he can stop and wait whenever there's an intersection, and he doesn't know which way to go. I need to make that the new policy from now on. I do worry that JW feels held back by my pace.

All that said, I spent some time snapping pics along the way. Below, you'll see plenty of images you've seen before from when I've done this route previously. Lots of familiar stuff. I made an effort to snap some new, never-before-seen images; I don't know how successful I was. Captions accompany some of the photos. Enjoy.

Hanam City Hall Station, Exit 2, which points toward the Han River

The path takes you pretty quickly out of the city. You leave the urban reaches within, oh, 2 km.

You can't see it, but past the fence (and down) is Deokpoong Creek, or Virtuous Wind Creek.

the tower that stands next to Starfield, the huge shopping complex

getting close to Paldang Bridge (I'm waiting on JW while he's on the pot)

The pedestrian path next to the bike trail. I'm not a fan because of the pebbles, which always end up in my shoes.

You have to pass under Paldang Bridge before you take the jug-handle exit and cross it.

one of the few signs in the Seoul area that actually threatens you with a fine for not masking up

This small bridge, soon to be completed, will be for bikers and walkers. No more need to cross Paldang Bridge!

bridge-related construction

up the ramp, eventually circling rightward to cross Paldang Bridge

a view of the bridge from the ramp

both bridges as seen from the ramp

on the bridge, being passed by lots and lots of bikers

now on the other side of the river and enjoying our dedicated pedestrian lane

on Paldang Dam, the sign in the distance says, "Korean Water Power, Nuclear Power"

the Notorious JW

tunnel as we pass by Paldang Dam

a couple kilometers later, the Korean resto with the French name of "Bonjour"

I think I photograph these sculptures every time I pass this way.

sign for Neungnae Station

As you see, the cherry blossoms are out. Petals are already falling. They'll all be gone soon.

Rabbit Island Café

a dilapidated something at Neungnae Station

The front of the thing looks happier than the back.

wide shot of the station itself, which is more museum exhibit than functional train station

one train car, forever stilled

the mighty Han (here, it's the Namhan-gang, i.e., the South Han River)

Experience harvesting strawberries!

about to cross the water again

Rango stands guard next to one of the riverside cafés.

view from the bridge, and very windy

windblown JW

sign welcoming you into the Yangpyeong region, but this isn't Yangpyeong City yet

Han River End-to-end Bike Path Information

Yangsu Station, where JW and I parted ways. JW went back to Seoul, and I continued onward.

Here's an American-style orb-weaver. The more colorful, vicious-looking Korean orb-weavers (black, red, and yellow) don't appear until late summer or early fall.

The wind made photographing the spider frustrating.

farm—one of many

the train goes in the tunnel (and other Freudian thoughts)

second tunnel (there are maybe ten total along this route)

Can't remember what piyangno means. A ro is a road, street, or path.

closeup of blossoms

Shwimteo aren't normally that yellow. And is it really a shwimteo if it lacks a place to sit?

The Buddha's birthday is on May 8 this year.

Shinweon Station

stone for masonry work

a ramshackle dwelling, complete with barking dog off to the side

farhwud... ta build a fahr, o' course

Yangseo Elementary School

2 km to Guksu Station... always makes me laugh because guksu can mean "noodles" in Korean

the footbridge's sign reads, "Yangpyeong Bike Leisure Special Region"

the cutest "No Pets" sign I've ever seen

When I first photographed this years ago, I remarked on Koreans' fascination with abstract art. It's true: they love that shit here. You can find abstract sculptures all over Seoul.

I thought I'd take the opportunity to photograph these suburban homes, which strike me as almost American in style. Some of the residents were sitting outside when I came by and started shutterbugging. They looked annoyed.

A tarp awning to protect an awning. Nice.

blocky and modern, without the canted roofs seen in many US suburbs

Now we've got some angled roofs!

pottery humor

Something seems still to be under construction.

stairs to mystery

The dog in the foreground wanted to bark at me, but he got distracted by these interlopers.

obligatory Kev-shadow pic

Noodle Station! Guksu Station is how I know I've got 10 kilometers to go to my destination.

always some development somewhere

lone cherry tree

see shwimteo, photograph it

with blossoms

Ashin Station, 2.3K ahead; Guksu Station almost 2K behind me

town sprawl

I'm normally not quick enough to catch recumbent bikers whenever they pass. Got lucky this time.

contraption

more square, Bauhaus-ish architecture

a building that once was

I think this is the final tunnel: Gigok Tunnel, 570 m long.

tall cell tower

Paldang Dam, 24 km back where I came from
Yeoju Dam (past Yangpyeong), 32 km ahead (you pass Ipo Dam first, though)

Ashin Station isn't exactly on the path: it's located off to the side and up a hill.

This park sign says, "Ashin Gallery."

more abstract sculpture

This resembled a clam-like monster or the cross-section of a crashing wave.

wave with mushrooms growing out of it

another train car for exhibition purposes

a couple signs for Ashin Gallery

and another sculpture of a couple... same artist as for the sculpture at Bonjour Restaurant?

majorly cracked, not fixed in years

Ashin Station in the distance

back out next to the South Han River

one of several empty waterskiing facilities

Caught another one!

This confused me. Is the stream called Okcheon (Jade Stream), or...?

ad for Okcheon naengmyeon (noodles in cold broth)

Okcheon Naengmyeon Restaurant... I keep telling myself I'm going there someday.

...or is the creek named the Satancheon ("Satan's Creek" is how I like to think of it)?

Don't be fooled by the "Riv." designation: this is a creek. Cheon means "creek."

Another little arfer.

another place I keep wanting to visit: they sell soondae-guk here (blood-sausage soup, which I love)

midget car for full-sized people

Evening falls, and the light is now failing.

The Yangpyeong Certification Center is 3 km away, but I'm not heading for that.

After swinging away from the river's bank, I'm turning back toward it.

another waterskiing place

This sign is more meaningful to me because it shows I've got 3.5 km to go to Yangpyeong Station.

...darker...

I pass by the property with the animal sculptures. Here's a garlanded bear.

And here's a giant attack squirrel, as big as the bear.

That tall building in the distance is right next to Yangpyeong Station.

My phone camera picks up all the ambient light and makes the scene brighter than it really is.

JW would recognize this Catholic church; we stopped in here once before. Yanggeun Seongji. The final two syllables, seongji, mean "holy ground." Normally, a cathedral is called a seongdang, or "holy hall." I'm not sure about the first two syllables, yang-geun, but yang (as in yin and yang) can mean "the sun" and geun can mean "root." Thinking abstractly, "sun-root" could mean "sunrise," i.e., the origin or genesis of the sun every morning as it rises in the east. "Sunrise" is a Christian image signifying the resurrection. Interestingly, the Chinese characters for "Japan," pronounced ilbon in Korean (日本, 일본), also mean "sun-origin." The character il (日) means "sun," and the character bon (本) is a tree with a little horizontal bar at the bottom representing roots. Bon means "base" or "origin," so again, "sun-origin" signifies a sunrise, which is why, in English, we call Japan "the Land of the Rising Sun."

Actually, I'm wrong (of course): I see, via Naver Dictionary, that Yanggeun is simply the name of a district in Yangpyeong. The relevant Chinese characters are 楊根, where the second character (geun) does indeed mean "root," but the first character (yang) refers to a willow tree. So: Yanggeun Seongji is Willow-root Holy Ground. Oops.

getting closer

Gas prices are pretty jacked up these days. They used to hover at W1300-W1600 per liter.

And here we are.

Went to my favorite Chinese place for a shameless meal after 35K. I was starving.

Medium tangsuyuk (sweet-sour pork) plus mandu (dumplings).

On the subway back, I was amused to see this sign. I guess if Copland can give us a "Fanfare for the Common Man," Seoul's metro can give us "Seat for the Pregnant Woman."

Last shot: someone left their farecard. D'oh! As far as I know, no one appropriated it. The card just sat there.

And that concludes the story of yesterday's 35K walk. It was good, all in all, and I admit my inner introvert may even have been relieved to do the final 20K alone. In two weeks, I'm supposed to head out with JW to Yeonpoong-myeon to do a 30K-ish hike that starts with a 5K hill. It's not as bad as it sounds: the slope isn't all that steep, but the view from the hilltop is amazing. I hope JW likes that. He can be hard to please sometimes.