A Christmas Hike on Baekyang San

Today was Christmas day.  And it was another cold winter day in Korea.

To celebrate the occasion, I put on a pair of warm socks, a pair of expendable pants (because I tend to tear my pants when I climb steep slopes), a Mountain Equipment Coop fleece, insulated vest, and windbreaker, as well as my hiking shoes, my tuque and my gloves, and climbed to the summit of Baekyang mountain (백양산).

There, I found a beautiful natural landscape. 

A spring, iced by the December cold.

A view of 백양산.

Climbing through conifers towards the crest of 백양산.

Exposed rock near the summit of 백양산.

Trees and rocks near the summit of 백양산.

I also found a broader view of the country in which I am a guest, and of the city that is beginning to feel like home to me. 

A view of Busan from 백양산.  Visible are 백양산, western Busan, the Nakdong river, and the city of Gimhae.

A view of Busan from 백양산.  Agricultural lands along the Nakdong river are visible.

The western slope of 백양산, western Busan and the Nakdong river.

Looking out through the trees near the summit of 백양산.

Again, 백양산, western Busan, the Nakdong river, and Gimhae.

Busan as seen looking eastward from the summit of 백양산.

And I thought of my friends and family, who are mostly in Canada, and hoped that they were all sleeping peacefully and that they would soon wake up to a joyful Christmas morning.