Day 1, Leg 1

I survived today's roughly 35-kilometer walk, but I did need several rest breaks.  It was tough going in the bright sun; like last year, the weather was warm today.  It was cool in the shade, to be sure, but there just wasn't enough shade. 

My Korean buddy JW joined me for less than half of today's walk after having initially told me that he'd wanted to meet up after Chuseok.  JW is nothing if not random, often changing plans on the fly.  I don't mind, but only as long as he doesn't mess up my plans, which are the result of careful cogitation and the trial-and-error experience of two previous walks. 

JW's accompanying me for Days 2 and 3, and on Day 3, he's bringing his son along.  The boy's attitude and behavior have improved over time:  there's no more of the whininess that characterized his pre-teen years, but it's not obvious to me that he actually enjoys these walks.  In fact, JW tells me that it's the boy's younger sister who has become an avid distance walker. 

JW thinks, however, that the boy needs to get out of the house more often; he's generally stuck at home, taking remote classes and not doing any of the outside activities that used to be a normal part of his school life.

JW says he still wants to do a post-Chuseok walk with me and his son, but we need to discuss the particulars.

Today's walk was around 52,000 steps. My pedometer and my My Fitness Pal apps have radically different ways of calculating the gross total of my calorie burn; the pedometer's assessment is more conservative and therefore, to my mind, more trustworthy. 

I started out the door right on schedule at 4:30 a.m.  We arrived at Gayang Station a bit behind schedule, at about 2:55 p.m.  For me, that was about eleven hours of walking:  a hell of a way to start the trek.  JW met me under the Gyeyang Bridge, near the east end of the Ara Canal and not far from the Han River.  JW and I parted ways right around Gayang Station; I was too tired to search carefully for a restaurant, so I stumbled into a local Chinese place and ordered jjambbong and fried mandu. The lady did the typical "Wow, so you can eat spicy food!" thing that many Koreans do when encountering a foreigner. I'm surprised she didn't marvel at my ability to use chopsticks or to speak Korean. 

I found a back-alley motel with the modest-sounding name of Dean. Again, W50,000 for a night, but the room seems okay for that price. Washed my filthy clothes, drank a lot of juice, showered away the day's grit and grime, and here we are. I'm sure you care nothing for the prose and only want to see the pictures, ja?  Well, your wish is my command.

My pedometer:

 

4:30 a.m., just outside the motel:

A street in Incheon, super-early in the morning:

Geomam Station:

I guess we know what time it is:

The empty subway train that took me a single stop:

Abandoned gloves always tell a story:

Last stretch of road before trail's starting point:

One of the most distinguishing features of the Four Rivers Trail is the pair of windmills:

Only one of the two windmills was moving... but why?

Is this, by chance, a better angle?

How about this?

Had to angle the camera to catch both:

The famous arch at the starting point:

Selfie from the other side of the arch:

Busan: 633 kilometers away.

I don't think I've ever photographed this plaque:

As you know from following my previous blogs, I'm a fan of shwimteo, and I photograph then obsessively. Here's an unusual one:

Looking north across the canal:

Spider pic 1:

Spider pic 2 (Korean orb-weavers are out in force this time of year):

Spiderweb pic: gossamer glow:

Let's leave it at Spider pic 3:

Farther along the path, a flower:

The road goes ever on and on:

A sculpture of kids doing something:

Closer shot:

A different sculpture:

The Ara Canal stretches 15 km:

Oh, how it stretches:

I met JW here, under the Gyeyang Bridge.  This is a shot I took while lying down, resting my feet, enjoying the shade, and letting the ibuprofen course through my veins, keeping the foot pain at a tolerable level:

Here's a creepy selfie. I've heard it said that, if you want to imagine what you'd look like after plastic surgery, lie back and hold a mirror over your face. Gravity does the rest with your flesh:

I had to turn around to catch this loose peloton as it receded:

JW walks ahead of me as usual:

The distinctive sculpture/tower thingie that marks the end of the Ara Canal:

A shot of JW taking a shot.  Metashot?

Cosmos flowers: Mom's favorite:

Cosmos were a big part of my journey last year:

Is this some type of daisy? I know nothing about flowers:

A weird shwimteo:

JW passes the weirdness:

Resting under one of the final bridges of the Ara Canal:

JW, on his phone and up to no good:

Final stretch before Gayang Bridge:

The seating arrangement of this shwimteo was interesting, as was the table at its center:

JW way ahead of me during the final stretch:

By this point, JW and I have separated. He saw no reason to rest all afternoon and evening while also paying for a motel when he could just train home and do something constructive. So he and I parted ways, and I found myself in a Korean-style Chinese resto. Here's my order:

It's way past my bedtime, so I'll leave off here. Day 2 takes me 30 km back to my place. It'll be another long walk, but not as long as today's.