Fall Colors on Suraksan

So I've had these pictures for a long time, I just keep forgetting to post them. I climbed the mountain next to my apartment a few weekends ago with one of my friends. It was really beautiful up there! We hiked for about four hours, all said and done. The day wasn't terribly clear, so it is a little hard to see the city in some of the shots from the top, but without further ado, I give you Suraksan.

There was some Korean guy who had climbed halfway up the mountain to read his newspaper on the side of the trail. 

So this is what the trail looks like at the bottom. It isn't too steep, and overall, it is a rather enjoyable hike!

Then, about halfway up, it turned into something like this. This definitely required a bit more motivation and planning of footing.

The last third of the hike was this. There are small steel spikes embedded into the rock to help you keep your footing, and you basically pull yourself up. 

Just before it got really steep, there was this guy selling snacks. I guess he got bored and lonely up there though, so he made friends with the birds. 

My apartment is somewhere down there. 

Heading back down!

Here is a panorama I put together of what the view from the top of the mountain is. It is beautiful up there!

When we were hiking back down, we kept hearing this music. Finally, we turned a corner, and there was this guy down in a ravine playing a saxaphone. Unfortunately, my memory ran out about five seconds before he finished his song, but it is still pretty cool!