Garasan 가라산

585 meters

approximately 5.5km return

📍trailhead

Let me start by saying that although Garasan isn’t my overall favorite hike in Geoje, it has arguably the very best view in all of Geoje. Updating this blog post has been long overdue, even the mountain itself has had updates in the past few years! I fear my pictures still won’t do it justice, so I guess that just means you’ll have to hike up to see it firsthand. ^^

Garasan is the tallest mountain on Geoje Island and there are several trails to the peak with options for turning it into a longer hike towards Nojasan or even as part of the GRT Day 2. The trailhead mentioned above will take you just 2.4km to the peak itself, but the best part of this hike is a further 0.3km.

My most recent hike up Garasan marked my first ever solo camp-out on top of a mountain. Something I’ve been taking baby steps towards all summer. It was a bit scary when night fell, but overall such a great experience. I was lucky to have Andrew and Ashleigh join me for the hike up, and Andrew act as my drink sherpa carrying my water and beers to lighten my load.

A short drive past Hakdong Pebble Beach is a small parking area on the side of the road where vegetables are usually sold. Park here and start your hike.

Starting out, you will follow an old dirt road by-passing a fenced off farming area on your left. Continue on the road and soon it will turn into a proper trail.

There’s not a lot to be said for the trail up Garasan itself. Most of this hike is slightly rocky terrain with a mix of rocky “stairs”. After about 1.5km of climbing, you will reach the ridgeline and be greeted by a floor-less wooden gazebo. This is a good spot to take a rest before tackling the remainder of the hike.

The trail will get a bit more steep for the final section. Keep climbing and know that you are more than halfway there! Eventually you will reach a wooden set of stairs. Take note that the stairs are uneven depths. I always notice this when going up but fail to remember when coming back down so I’ve stumbled slightly every time I’ve descended them.

Very near to the peak there will be a slight opening with some newly formed rock stairs leading to the right. Go up these stairs. In years past, this area had a lot of silver grass, but has since been cleared. I’m hoping that it’s just a matter of regrowth needed because I always enjoyed this particular spot on the trail. “Dinosaurs” have even been known to roam this area in years past. ^^

Just a few more steps to the summit stone! Make sure you stop for a photo and pat yourself on the back for climbing the highest mountain in Geoje!

Just next to the summit stone is the wide open grassy area where Garasan’s fire beacon used to be. There are plenty of signs up there with information written in both English and Korean, so I won’t bore you with all of the history of it, but it’s interesting to read and know that you are hiking through history, so to speak.

A few years ago this area had an old helicopter landing sight, and the trees around it had blocked most of the view. With the restoration of this area, some trees have been cut back to reveal the spectacular view of the Hakdong Gogae (Ridge) leading to Nojasan.

So you’ve been to the peak and saw the summit stone, time to turn back right? Nooo! The best is yet to come!

It took me three slightly underwhelming hikes up this mountain before I realized the amazing view that would lie ahead! Continue directly across the grassy opening and enter the trail next to the rocky wall.

Almost immediately the trail will fork right or left, go left. It’s about a further 0.3km to the look-off that’s shown in the cover photo. You’ll pass two wooden sign posts along the way. Continue straight at the first sign post in the direction of Jeogu 3-way intersection . Next, you’ll reach one more sign post that has a sign pointing to the “photo zone” and newly structured viewing deck.

Next up is the most spectacular view in Geoje! What a perfect spot to spend my first solo night on the mountain.

I got to enjoy a few beers and hang out with Ashleigh and Andrew for a bit before they had to go, leaving me on my own to face my fears.

I’m not gonna lie, I was quite scared the first few hours after dark. After two boar encounters last year and seeing their size first-hand I was quite nervous of the possibility of them sniffing around my tent at night. Although I still felt relatively safe that they wouldn’t come up on the platform and was sure to store my food well away from my tent in a tree.

My other fear of course, was as a women alone on the mountain. I was relieved that no other hikers came up this way once I was set up, advertising the fact that I was on my own up there. I felt a tad bit safer with my newly purchased folding knife next to me, too. I was advised by Ashleigh to start whittling things with it if anyone was around, haha!

It turned out that I slept relatively well and even overslept the sunrise by about ten minutes. Luckily for me, it was a bit hazy, so once I made my coffee I got to see the “second sunrise” above the haze. I know this post is about Garasan, but for me it’s so much more than that. This is about facing my fear and not letting it hold me back from something that I’ve dreamed of doing for a long time. I can’t say all my fears have dissipated, but I know I can do it and I’ll be ready for next time.