(Photo by Kyle Haney)
3 a.m., my alarm goes off. It was my reminder that I made a goal to catch a sunrise over Ulsanbawi Rock.
“Holy crap, I’m tired,” I mutter as I lay there with my eyes closed. I began weighing the pros and cons of hiking this early in the morning.
“What if the park isn’t even open? Am I just gonna sneak through the gate?”
“What if I just go over to the beach and catch a sunrise over the ocean again?”
“…what if there’s a bear?”
That last one cracked me up.
As I talked myself back into this last-minute idea I came up with six hours prior while polishing off a beer at Craft Root, I got out of bed and got dressed. Thankfully, I had an extra instant oatmeal packet and an energy bar from the day before.
I heated some water, made the oatmeal, walked out the door, and realized I forgot said oatmeal on the counter. “Screw it” I said, and continued to the trailhead with just the energy bar.
- Getting to the trailhead
At 3:30 a.m. I was parking my car in the exact same place I parked two days prior when I made this same hike in the daytime like every other sane person. This time, though, I was surrounded by nothing but pitch-black emptiness.
I was all alone.
No more crowds of people to dodge around, no more laughs of children running from their parents. Heck, had I heard any laughter that early in the morning, I would have been scared, turned around, and driven off.
At 4:45 a.m., and I’m about three-quarters of the way done with the hike. Sunlight had finally begun piercing the darkness above me. However, my immediate surroundings still remained cloaked in the most beautiful shade of midnight blue.
(Photo by Kyle Haney)
At this point I figured, “if someone out here is going to kill me, they would’ve done it by now”. I also thought, “this sunset sunrise over Ulsanbawi better be worth it” lol. Doing another quick check of the sunrise time on my phone, I determined I was going to make it to the summit on time. At my pace, it looked like I was going to make it to the top about 10 minutes early.
Perfect.
(Photo by Kyle Haney)
- Arrival at Ulsanbawi Rock
As I climbed up the final few stairs to the summit of the Ulsanbawi Trail to catch a sunrise over Ulsanbawi, the beauty I was rewarded with in that moment was unlike anything I’d ever seen. Well, almost unlike anything I’d ever seen.
The first time I caught a sunrise from the top of a mountain was in Colorado. I was extremely fortunate to be just over 14,000 ft above sea level in Colorado on Mt. Evans.
(Photo by Kyle Haney)
The photo I took that morning is one that I’m still extremely proud of. I stood atop a 14k-foot mountain and watched a hundred-mile-long shadow stretch across the Rocky Mountains. It was as if I was standing on top of the center of the entire solar system.
(Photo by Kyle Haney)
This journey, my adventure to witness the sunrise over Ulsanbawi Rock, transported me back in time to that exact moment.
I watched the sun cast its warm rays of light onto the jagged peaks of the Taebaek mountains and relived one of my favorite moments in Colorado.
All alone, shivering on the side of a desolate mountain in South Korea, I found a sense of joy. All because I chose to get up early and get moving.
Story of my life, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.
- Get up, sleepy heads!
Long story short: get up early and catch a sunrise at least once in your life.
And if you choose to do it at Ulsanbawi Rock, I promise you you won’t regret it. When you see the sun rise over the East Sea and fill the valleys of the Taebaek mountains with one of the most magical collisions of light and darkness, you’ll be thankful you made the journey to witness the sunrise over Ulsanbawi Rock.
For more great travel stories by Kyle, check out globetrotterkyle.com
