3.003 Grilled Pork Chops

3.003

8 (Sun) January 2012

Grilled Pork Chops

3.0

by me

at Seolmaejae National Recreation Forest

-Okcheon, Yangpyeong, Gyeonggi, Republic of Korea-

solo

Solo Getaway, Day 1 of 3.

For reasons that I decline to share here, I needed to get away, on my own, so I loaded the car with gear/food/booze/entertainment and headed for the hills. I’ll be camping out for 3 nights.

Seolmaejae National Recreation Forest (설매재 자연휴양림) is a park. It’s on a small mountain with decked campsites and cabins for rent, along with meeting halls and sporting facilities and hiking trails, as well as a restaurant (closed during the off-season) and a convenience store that has a lending book library, even a few titles in English. Electricity and hot water are available and, unlike most forest parks, open fire is permitted, including burning of firewood and coals . Restrooms and showers are well-maintained.

With so many decks to choose from – all of them – I took my merry time walking over them, jumping on them, until I found the perfect one.

It’s one of the best camping grounds that I’ve experienced in Korea. And close at a mere 50 km from home. I’m so grateful that it’s open.

For now, I have the entire park to myself – exactly what I had in mind – unless someone else is silly enough to camp out in this weather. Well, I do know many extreme backpackers who do, but they wouldn’t come here.