Mountaineering

See that? That's where I'm going.

I thought this picture would be cute because of the sign he's standing next to, but somehow the toilet paper makes it more embarrassing.

As far as I can tell this building is related to Buddhism or university or both.

Crossing the overpass.

Entering the area.

Fitness equipment. Who'd bother, when you can climb a mountain?

Some sort of shanty home.

Storm drain.

Here's the path near the bottom. Grassy, lots of roots, some rocks.

Bird's nest.

Rock pile.

The canopy over my head blocked out the view of the city behind me, but I was able to peek through and see this.

Roots under a big rock. From here the way was rocky and I had to watch my footing.

Looks like I'm pretty high up.

Peeking through the trees I can see Namsan.

By now I'm getting fairly close to on level with the top of this building.

Imagine looking over your shoulder and seeing this. It was dizzying.

Attempting to look down on my office.

From big to small.

There is a lot of parkland.

Here is the way I've come from so far. I started at the green-roofed building down there, and if you look up that street running toward the top of the frame my office is around there.

Attempting to climb a particularly steep section of rocks, I found the way barricaded by this crap.

At this point I thought this might be the highest I could go. The higher I went the steeper it got. Also the ground was in bad condition, covered in soft leaves with a layer of frost on top. It was dangerous. I traversed under the rocks and found an easier route on top.

Arriving at what appears to be the peak, I found this strange little hut and tower.

As soon as I arrived, a line of four helicopters flew over my head. At first I hid, but then I decided if they were by any chance looking for me and I wasn't allowed up here, I would not be able to escape.

Let's look down now.

This is Seoul.

And this is how you spell "Dharma Institute" in Korean.

This little guardrail keeps you back from the edge. It looks sort of like a rock diving board.

A nice clean view of the city.

Looking down on Poidong. I can figure out where my office should be.

A cloud's shadow passes over the city.

Here's the thoughtful guardrail.

And here's an easier way down.

Wait a second--how did she get up here?

Even though she didn't take my way, she still must be pretty fit to make it this high.

Twisted tree.

The way up.

I am officially designating this one of the peaks of the mountain.

Many ways to go.

The boundary between Gangnam and Seocho.

Another hiker.

I could've used his help.

There were lots of hikers up here. This one had an audio guide.

More rocks.

I found an area where a lot of them were sitting.

This picture shows the course I took last Friday night. I basically followed the road running along the bottom of the picture, and made it past that big intersection in the upper right corner.

A shadow passes over the skyscrapers.

Time to get back.

There are two ways up. I took the way on the right.

The first rock pile I passed.

Ghetto barbecue, Korean style.

Finally, the road.

Investigating the storm drain.

A hideous spider.

Looking up the way I came.

Yep, I climbed the bitch.

Another look at the spider.

I wish this wasn't ruined by the branch but I was in a hurry because it looked like she saw me.

A flower picture to make myself look more innocent.

I stopped here for a much-needed beer.

Heading back.

Well it seems like everyone's at work but me.