Olle trails 14 & 15A
7-8 February 2026
It had been a particularly tough week at work. Year 11 reports and Year 8 parent's consultations. I am a Year 8 tutor and have a Science class of 25 boys. One of them walked off with my Apple charger just before the meetings! I still do not have it back!
So I felt particularly desperate to get away for a night in the tent, despite the forecast of 50 km/h winds and snow.
I was very slow getting up on the Saturday morning. I packed really quickly before heading out at around 11:00. As I followed the route, I suddenly thought about the fact that I could not remember packing the pump to inflate my mattress and then as I though about it further, I could not remember packing the mattress either. At one point, I decided to head back home and opened the Kakao taxi app on my phone. I felt weak and tired, but decided to push on to when I arrived at a main road, where it might be easier otherwise have a drive respond to my request. As it was, I pushed on past the main road to a great little cafe, where I had a coffee and "eggs in hell". I like hot food, but I could only just about eat it. The egg and prawns were fine but the tomato/garlic/onion sauce was very very hot! I checked my rucksack and sure enough, I had forgot the pump....... but the mattress was there! Feeling fortified, I decided to push on to the Hallim camping site, which is an official site with a toilet block and nearby shops and cafes; even a Starbucks!
So I felt particularly desperate to get away for a night in the tent, despite the forecast of 50 km/h winds and snow.
I was very slow getting up on the Saturday morning. I packed really quickly before heading out at around 11:00. As I followed the route, I suddenly thought about the fact that I could not remember packing the pump to inflate my mattress and then as I though about it further, I could not remember packing the mattress either. At one point, I decided to head back home and opened the Kakao taxi app on my phone. I felt weak and tired, but decided to push on to when I arrived at a main road, where it might be easier otherwise have a drive respond to my request. As it was, I pushed on past the main road to a great little cafe, where I had a coffee and "eggs in hell". I like hot food, but I could only just about eat it. The egg and prawns were fine but the tomato/garlic/onion sauce was very very hot! I checked my rucksack and sure enough, I had forgot the pump....... but the mattress was there! Feeling fortified, I decided to push on to the Hallim camping site, which is an official site with a toilet block and nearby shops and cafes; even a Starbucks!
It felt good to reach the sea, though I was much more exposed to the cold winds. There is a boarded path over the rocks surrounded by cacti. The fruits shown are prickly pear fruits. Prickly pear fruits are used to make jellies, juices and confectionary. I had entered the position of the campsite on my Garmin GPS and it was clearly marked anyway. I walked past the first pitches to reach some camping platforms in a wooded depression behind the dunes offering, good shelter from the strong, bone-chilling winds.
Once pitched and my bedding sorted out including blowing up my mattress and pillow by mouth, I headed off for a black pork burger and then to Josie's Beer Shop. It is more of a shop than a bar but she has a few stools in front of the beer hand pumps and a caravan outside. Josie is extremely knowledgeable about beers of the world. One of the locals was drinking a bottle of Sam Smiths. She asked me if I liked Sam Smith's beer. I replied yes, but told her that it was not my favourite, preferring Theakston's or Timothy Taylor's. She had not heard of Theakston's but she knew Timothy Taylor's. She asked me what I thought of Jeju's "crapt beers". there is no native 'f' sound in the Korean language, as it lacks the labiodental fricative consonant [f] found in English. When Koreans use foreign loanwords with an 'f' sound, they typically substitute it with the aspirated 'p' sound. Another example is "coffee" becoming kopi.
Two beers were enough for me, as I did not want to have to get up in the night. I did accept a free sample of a Korean whisky as a nightcap.
Other than having to get up for a pee at around 01:00, I slept well. I have never gone for the bottle approach! As it was, I had a little walk round the area for 15-20 minutes before returning to my cosy tent. While the winds were strong, my tent was in a sheltered dip and barely moved all night, though there was the constant roar from the wind. It seemed fairly constant, rather than gusts and it struck me how it was a bit like camping next to a large waterfall.
Though I only had a summer sleeping bag with an extreme rating of zero, I had recently invested in a Mont-bell down jacket that significantly boosted the performance of my sleeping gear, as well as being great for popping out during the night. The combined weight is still under 900g!
I was up and packing at the break of dawn. I still had the last few kilometres of Olle 14 to do before continuing along Olle 15. The original plan had been to do Olle 15B so I could get back home reasonably early to do a bit of work, iron my work shirts etc but with being blasted by the blizzards coming straight off the sea, I decided that taking the inland route of Olle 15A would be preferable, and it is only 2.5 km longer.
Though I only had a summer sleeping bag with an extreme rating of zero, I had recently invested in a Mont-bell down jacket that significantly boosted the performance of my sleeping gear, as well as being great for popping out during the night. The combined weight is still under 900g!
I was up and packing at the break of dawn. I still had the last few kilometres of Olle 14 to do before continuing along Olle 15. The original plan had been to do Olle 15B so I could get back home reasonably early to do a bit of work, iron my work shirts etc but with being blasted by the blizzards coming straight off the sea, I decided that taking the inland route of Olle 15A would be preferable, and it is only 2.5 km longer.
At times, I was exposed to the elements but the sections walking through villages and forest gave some shelter form the winds. Also the sun gave an occasional appearance and, unlike where I live in Scotland, Jeju is far enough south for the sun to give a significant amount of warmth.
I remembered Seonunjeong Temple as a highlight the last time I did this route. I remembered the canteen and despite it only being about 11:00 when I arrived, its canteen seemed like a great option for lunch! It runs n a self-service basis and they will not accept any kind of payment. I did drop 5000 won into a large piggy bank. I did not eat a great dea - just some soup, rice and a tangerine - just enough to give me the strength to go back out into the cold and complete the route feeling a little bit stronger.
On this occasion, I did not venture into the temple, keeping my visit more brief than the last time. I was just a little bit concerned about getting a taxi from the end of the route. Home is at a slightly raise altitude and the roads were likely to be worse there so the taxis might be reluctant to take me there. I thought that getting back early would at least increase the chance of being able to use public transport.
On this occasion, I did not venture into the temple, keeping my visit more brief than the last time. I was just a little bit concerned about getting a taxi from the end of the route. Home is at a slightly raise altitude and the roads were likely to be worse there so the taxis might be reluctant to take me there. I thought that getting back early would at least increase the chance of being able to use public transport.
The route ahead is pleasant enough but I did not take many photos. There is a slight detour into Geumsan Park. This seems to be an optional extra. I think that there would be lots of mosquitos at the height of summer, but is worth the detour outside of the months of June to September. One thing that I made a note of was the decking which has the potential for camping when I come to do the route in reverse, which is the general plan once I have completed them in the forward direction - a bit like Forest Gump reaching the end and then going back in the other direction.
I took few pictures after this. I had been following two sets.of footprints for some time and saw two people (a man and a woman) leaving the forest as I approached the entrance. I thought that I would try to catch them up, but even with about another 6km left, I never did catch them up. I was pacing it out a bit, so I am a bit surprised about that. I did pass a cafe, so maybe they had popped into there and perhaps I passed them without knowing it.