first walk in March

Today was a good day for a walk, so I walked out to the Han River. It was around 10.6ºC when I started (about 51ºF), so I wore just my jacket. Eventually, I'll have to do two or three training walks with a backpack on my back.

looking up Gaepo street; my apartment building's on the far-left edge of the photo

the footbridge I always cross to get to the Tan's creekside

walking along the Tan (note the baesumun/배수문/drainage gate)

"I See U" graffito, grit-blasted off but still visible

traffic dummy, resting

scrawny tree, "conversation pit," creekside brush

Click to enlarge, then right-click and select "open image in new window" to see, up close, the yellow sign between the trees.

Almost at the confluence with the Yangjae Creek; I'll turn right here.

about to cross the Yangjae; I'll continue along the Tan (off to the right)

where the Yangjae flows into the Tan

a rare shot between the two low bridges (pedestrian + bike)

Egret? "You know nothing, Jon Snow."

The fish are back.

Whoa—a new cairn (tap/탑) has sprung up.

a closer look

A CLOSER LOOK

I never walk this short boardwalk. Don't know why.

other, cruder cairns?

You can't see it, but the Tan Creek is off to the right.

all paved over now—no more fencing or construction equipment

a view down the path and down the creek

I'm stepping off into this long parking lot (left).

looking way over at Jamshil, the district where the Lotte World Tower is

stadium across the way (formerly an Olympic Stadium from the 1988 Seoul Olympics)

a different stadium, plus other colors

walking along the parking lot—Pylon F

Pylon(s) H

crossing the Tan Creek and nearing the halfway point, where I turn around

Jersey barriers and—whoa, who's that?

the almost-final stretch to the U-turn point

plastic Jersey barriers

two more bridges to go

seeing the beauty in the ugliness

Professor X would be proud.

rebar crosses

There's been a lot of aggressive landscaping, like this ramp.

Could I live here?

construction, scaffolding, etc.

almost at the turnaround point—final bridge ahead

This red rig-thingy was pumping up and down in a rather naughty way.

looking left

where I turn around—right by the Tan/Han confluence

When I was about a quarter done, I was standing at the Yangjae/Tan confluence, taking pictures, when a random old guy sauntered up and handed me two little nurungji (toasted-rice flavor) candies. You should never accept candy from strangers because you never know if they're trying to poison you, so I pocketed the treats, bowed in thanks, and went on my way. I did eat the candies upon my return, and I didn't die. Maybe the poison needs something to react with to be activated, so stay tuned. Or maybe the guy was making a statement: Big fella, you look as though you could use some food. Here you go.

After I had turned around and by the time I had done about three-quarters of the route, I suddenly realized that I had seen only guys on bikes. With the imminent arrival of spring, all of the fair-weather pussies are back out, but today, for whatever reason, I had seen only guys. A rolling sausage party. Then suddenly, at about the three-quarters mark, a line of female bikers appeared—maybe four or five ladies in rapid succession, thoroughly owning their side of the path. It was almost as if the cosmos had responded to my having noticed a deficiency; it supplied a correction. For those of us not in relationships, anyway, women make everything better. A bit like bacon. Just remember which one to fry and which one to eat.

On Thursday, I'll do a longer walk, maybe down to Bundang (18K). Then on Saturday, I'll try a nighttime-to-morning walk from Yangpyeong to Yeoju (33K). Basically, I'm testing whether I can do these stretches with no major problems. The upcoming walk promises to be brutal: short, but with a 40K segment and a 34K segment: Days 1 and 4 of five days on the trail.

I don't know if I'll be taking pics of my upcoming little walks, so treasure the photos you see here. Naver Map is still being vague about the actual, full distance I'm walking when I do this particular route. Sometimes, it's 9K total; sometimes, it's 10K. I'm tempted to split the difference and say it's 9.5K. Whatever. A vague "9 or 10K" is fine for such a short walk.

Right—more later. Maybe.