Breathing the Daegan: Victory! But not before some final drama...

The Daegan is over, we made it! How glorious! How magnificent! (See closing posts above) But, before the glory, the Daegan posed some of it's sternest tests so far, pushing everyone close to the edge, mentally and physically. Would we crack? Of course not! But the drama came thick and fast...listed below are some episodes from the final week and some of the trail conditions that were working against us.

i) The weather.

The weather was appalling for four of the last five days walking, forcing us off the trail twice in this time. It was cold and the mountains of the Baekdu Daegan were lathered in a thick misty rain which meant that visibility under the forest canopy was less than 50 metres. There were no views, and the forest was dripping wet. We camped mostly outside hyugeso's (roadside service areas), squatting in front of the entrances once they had closed for the evening, rising early in order to avoid being discovered by the morning workers. Once we camped in a dank forest pass, the mist all around us and large drops falling persistently onto our tent. Everything became damp and smelled horribly on these days, and morale was often low, with each man keeping his thoughts firmly to himself lest they further infect the atmosphere....

This was not how we had imagined finishing the Daegan. Where was the sun? Where were the views of the East Sea? Where were the famous crags of Seorak-san National Park? They had ceased to exist and I became bitter at times, brooding in the foulness of the mist. Come not with expectations, boy! Reality as it is...as it is!

Ki Jun breaking camp in the rain.

Testing conditions under the canopy.

Pathetic hyugeso campsite.

Raby loving life! A common facial expression during the final few days...

ii) Injury

I developed a slight strain in my right ankle for the last 90 odd kilometres, making hiking uncomfortable, the pain dominating my thoughts and forcing me to move slowly and tentatively. Raby had had similar dark times along the trail with his dodgy knees. The afternoon when my ankle was at it's worst ranks as my second toughest day on the Daegan. On this day I was accompanied by a poisonous mind that cursed such horrible luck.

I thought: '600 km injury free and now this, what bullshit, what utter bullshit! Yet, it is perfect in a way...never become complacent on the Daegan - you thought the worst was over - ha! F**k this!' Other similar thoughts accompanied me during a slow and painful 8 km.

iii) Ticks

For reasons unknown, parts of the trail during this week were crawling with ticks. These insidious creatures lurk on the shrubs and grasses that line the trail, crawling onto the unsuspecting hiker's feet or latching onto our legs as we brushed past the plants. Tick bites hurt and so does pulling the ticks out, but much worse is the mental anguish and obsessive checking of legs every 500m or so to make sure no new ticks had climbed aboard. I suffered three bites in a matter of minutes; each of the offenders had somehow made it under my shorts and had made a stand dangerously close to the groin. They were obviously enjoying the soft skin of the upper thigh area. Sick!

A tick that made itself at home on the back of Raby's knee.

iv) Judgement Day

Ironically, the second to last day of walking was the day that almost broke us - less than 30 km from the finish! We were back in the rain, and the terrain was rocky and slippery, with brutal uphills followed by equally brutal descents. Raby and I also got siphoned off the trail and were lost for an hour in the mist. Had we experienced a similar day's hiking earlier in the venture we may well have left the trail - the Daegan was pushing us right to the end, and we had to work extra hard - 16km in 11 hours of hiking!

v) Some respite

The above text paints a dark picture, but there were some epic moments when we got up above the clouds in the beautiful Seorak-san national park.