SATURDAY, MAY 31 —> to Jigijae, distance 20km
We awoke to a peaceful morning sheltered by our jeongja. The education center was quiet without students or staff on a Saturday. We quickly ate our breakfast, packed up and hit the trail. The route for the day was long, but it looked fairly easy. Most of the day would be flat sections following the ridge. However, there would be a few steep climbs and descents.
We rested a lot during the course of the day. We figured a total of about five hours! During one of these breaks, I saw a yellow-throated marten dash along the trail. It was a quick flash, and as soon as I saw it and told Kellyn, it disappeared into the forest.
A nice treat during our hike was a mulberry tree at the edge of a farm that borders the BDDGT. We stopped and pulled down branches where the ripest berries hung. They were so delicious, and my fingers and teeth were dyed purple by the time I was done eating.
The biggest challenge of the day was that there was only one water stop 2/3 of the way to Jigijae, our destination. This was tough because the distance was our longest yet, and it was oppressively hot and humid. We were dripping in sweat and needed to keep hydrated. Yet we didn't have the option of refilling until the middle of the afternoon. So much of the BDDGT is like this, and it's one of our biggest complaints on the trail.
By the time we reached Jigijae, we felt accomplished for doing a 20km day and were thirsty. The only water available was at a sanjang we couldn't find. This complication was intensified by our exhaustion. We walked up and down the main road and began to argue in frustration. Kellyn found the sanjang's phone number in our guidebook and called the owner. He hung up without much word of what he would do after Kellyn said where we were. But a few minutes later he arrived in his van.
He and his wife were awesome. They gave us pulpy grape juice, eggs from their chickens, tomatoes from their garden and route-planning advice for the trail. He shared his concern about our going to Songnisan National Park in a couple days because rain was in the forecast. The owner warned us that the trails in this park are even more difficult than Jirisan. This was an ominous warning indeed.
-Ben