Hiking Cheonggyesan Mountain in Seoul

I love that we have lived here so long and we are still experiencing new things.  This past weekend our hike took us to Cheonggyesan Mountain.  It is in the Seocho-gu district of Seoul.   Cheonggyesan and Gwanaksan are two of the most popular mountains (so I have read) in Seoul area and they are known as 'guardians of Seoul." Cheonggyesan is 620 meters (2,034 feet) above sea level and Gwanaksan is 631 meters above sea level.  Gwanaksan didn't seem as hard, but we didn't go the entire way up - we took a more scenic path.

We drove to Cheonggyesan - in fact Hubby ROCKED it getting there.  I knew how to get to the Yangjae subway station by car and then he winged it from there and he drove STRAIGHT to the mountain.  (I'm sorry I ever doubted him! :)

This is the route you will go when driving or by subway -
Walk straight, turn right when you get to this underpass.

We bought a couple of cups of cherries for 2,000 won each before heading up the mountain.

Cross a small street right after exiting the underpass.
Take a right at the 1st alley.
(Just follow all the hikers!)
And you are there!
There are tons of trails to choose from....

We picked Maebong trail.

And we stretched it out before we started!
(These signs crack me up.  I can't help but to laugh and take a picture each time I see them!)

What we are learning about Boy 3 is that about 10 steps in he is tired.  (Maybe he needs to stretch more!)  But then after about 20 minutes he has a burst of energy and is good to go!

We had no idea what to expect with this hike....

And a little ways in we started to see a pattern.
Stairs...
stairs...
and MORE STAIRS!!

Break #1 of 262.
They are still smiling...

About a 1/3 of the way up Boy 3 started counting the stairs (I encouraged this to help get his mind off his aching calves) ....he counted over 3,000 uneven sometimes seriously steep stairs.  Once we realized the entire hike was stairs we thought for sure someone would quit at some point along the way..... But they kept going.....

And going!
This hike was super crowded as we continued to go up, up, up....

It was actually pretty hard to stop and look at all the pretty things around us because it was so busy.  And we forgo finding our 'cool things'.  These cool caterpillars were EVERYWHERE!

Still going up.
I was so proud of the kids!

Sometimes finding a spot to break was tough.

And a few times we just pulled over to the side.

In just over 2 hours later we finally made it to the top!
Our GPS told us our stopping time was a little more than our hiking time.
But we didn't care, everyone made it! 
I couldn't have been more proud of these kids. 
This was their toughest hike to date!
And they are STILL SMILING!

The view was amazing.

Proud boys!
(As they should be!)

I DID IT!

We were thrilled to see the ice cream man at the top of the mountain!
Asian Pear ice cream chillers never tasted so good!

The hike down was a little harder than anticipated.
The kids (and I) were all experiencing 'wobbly legs'!
And now 3 days later my calves are still aching a bit...

As with all hikes, we ended with a yummy lunch.
This time we took the kids somewhere they have been wanting to go for a while....Brooklyn Burgers!

I really cannot tell you how proud I am of these kids.  There was minimal complaining and they just kept on trekking!  The hike was 'easy' as it was all stairs, but then again it was 'hard' because it was all stairs.  We did a little over a 5K up and down the mountain and these kids ROCKED IT!  Way to go my awesomely adventurous children!  This momma is proud!

To get there by subway:
Line 3 to Yangjae Station from there get on the newly opened Shinbundang Line and go to Cheonggyesan Station. Go out exit 2 and follow it to the underpass (in the top picture!)