We took a day trip to Sobaeksan National Park for a hike to Huibang Falls and Huibangsa Temple.
This hike came highly recommended by my friend, Alyssa Mayo, and has been on my calendar for a month. We were all really excited about today's hike. The weather wasn't too bad today, and we all had our hiking backpacks packed with water, sunblock, a lunch and snacks. We found parking on the street right in front of the trail head, unloaded and started our adventure.
The first half of the hike was pretty easy and absolutely gorgeous. Koreans do such an outstanding job with their hiking trails! They make them so diverse and fun. We crossed a bridge with a tire material bottom.
We had to cross over a small stream then walk up some rock-made stairs. The girls all loved crossing the stream as they jumped across small rocks to get to the other side.
This entire hike has you follow the river. The river is a constant bubble of small rapids and little miniature waterfalls. The river also made it much cooler and the hike is in full shade for almost the entire way.
It was fun seeing all the little rolling waterfalls, the kids would point and shout that they found another waterfall. Many of the bridges were formed over these miniature waterfalls, so it made the viewing even better!
So we were about 20 minutes into our hike when we get to a parking lot, paved road and a ticket booth. The person at the ticket booth doesn't speak any English and Google Translate was failing us. From what we could understand, it cost money to continue up the hike to the waterfall. The frustrating part, our wallets were left in the car. We sat on some rocks in the parking lot to figure out what to do. The kids were getting frustrated and complaining, and it was almost lunch time. We were only about .5 km from the Falls, so we decided to hike back the way we came, get the car and drive it up to this parking lot. By doing it this way, we aren't making the kids hike longer then necessary, and we would have had to hike down anyways, we are just getting it done earlier rather then later.
We go back down the way we came, by the bubbling river, passing the miniature waterfalls, on the beautiful bridges and over the small stream.
We get to the car and drive to the parking lot, pay our fee and continue on our hike! We find a sign and are only .4 km from the waterfall!
We get to the waterfall and are greeted by a nice full roaring waterfall. The kids were hoping to dip their feet in, but there is a walkway with railings that prevent you from getting close to the falls.
This waterfall is supposed to be South Korea's biggest inland waterfall. It was a beauty!
Right next to the Falls is a covered area with benches. It was the most perfect spot for a picnic! We all sat down, got Monster out of the backpack and enjoyed our lunches as we listen to the roar of the waterfall. The kids were all commenting on the plants and insects and beautiful scenery while they were eating. I would rank this as the best picnic spot we have been to!
We were only a super short distance to the Temple, however, that super short distance required a ton of stairs. We went onward in pursuit of conquering the stairs! And conquer we did! The best part was the super long bridge that connected two peaks! It was a straight down drop, hundreds of feet down, so I was glad the Monster was in a backpack!
You couldn't beat the view though! It was such a clear and beautiful day. As we stood on the bridge, we could see all around us. We all really loved the beautiful view!
Right after the bridge is a bend in the road, and we found ourselves at what looked to be an abandon temple. There was a stray nasty dog that was walking around the temple, and not a soul in sight. The building had a ton of weeds and looked abandoned.
It didn't make sense to me, since this temple was supposed to be an active temple. As we were walking out I saw a sign pointing up the path. We walk just a few hundred feet and a beautiful courtyard opens up with pagodas and a temple!
As we walk into the courtyard, we are greeted by a cute old Korean lady. She gestures for us to stop and walks into a house/ shop looking building. She walks out carrying about eight popsicles! She hands the popsicles to each of the kids and one to Kevin and I also! She mentions for us to keep them all. She pats the kids on the head and rubs Zac's face. The kids are beaming from ear to ear and open up their treat. We tried to pay her, but she brushes us off and walked away.
These popsicles were the best popsicles I have ever had. They were all flavors we hadn't ever had before. My favorite was a green one that was a melon flavor. I think it was cantaloupe maybe, but it was amazing! We all took turns tasting each others popsicles, and commenting on which ones we liked, which ones were OK and which ones were gross.
The temple had a few patrons inside worshiping. The kids always love seeing the big Buddha statues in the temple. I love exposing them to the culture and the religious aspects of it. Little A kept walking up the stairs to see the patrons worshiping and to look at the Buddha.
I don't know if it was because of the popsicles, or the beauty of the temple grounds, or if it was the beauty of the hike, but all the kids said this was an amazing hike and they loved it so much! I agree with them! This was such a treat, and I'm not just talking about the popsicles, the whole day had a sense of magic and awe!
We made our way back down. All the kids had a little extra pep in their steps. We passed by more beautiful miniature waterfalls, and were sad when the hike was done. It was a perfect day. Perfect hike, perfect picnic, perfect waterfall and perfect temple!
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