Nice sunstars from my 35mm prime lens.
Route 18 in green and route 17 in brown.
Olle 18 & 17: 25-26 April 2026
I had been to a birthday party the previous evening and was in no great hurry on the Saturday morning. I arrived at the end of Route 18 at around 11:45. I took a taxi to the end of the trail as I was doing it in reverse. I did not want to set up camp too early and increase the risk of someone telling be to move on.
It is unusual to have the routes waymarked by painted arrows on the stone walls. I was following the reverse orange arrows.
The caterpillar is Pryeria sinica, also known as the Euonymus leaf notcher moth larva. There were many of these, most of which were suspended from silk threads. I photographed this one as it was crawling up the wall and not swaying in the breese. They are considered as pests due to their ability to rapidly defoliate ornamental plants.
It is unusual to have the routes waymarked by painted arrows on the stone walls. I was following the reverse orange arrows.
The caterpillar is Pryeria sinica, also known as the Euonymus leaf notcher moth larva. There were many of these, most of which were suspended from silk threads. I photographed this one as it was crawling up the wall and not swaying in the breese. They are considered as pests due to their ability to rapidly defoliate ornamental plants.
I had stopped at the same cafe during my previous visit and I made a point of having lunch there on my return: Eggs in Hell.
I do not know the species of fly on the flower. The second photo is a Seven-spotted ladybird (Coccinella septempunctata). The butterfly is a Small Copper butterfly (Lycaena phlaeas).
Olle 18 is a very varied route with lots of interesting things to see. The building with the Taegeuk symbol is Haesinsa Stele Protection Pavilion where a Stele is an upright slab or pillar of rock with an inscription.
This was my tenth night using my NEMO Kunai 2P. I was not carrying a stove but a self-heating gimbap. I have not used a self-heating meal for many years. I was very impressed by the loud crackling as I added 150ml of water, followed by steam being ejected out of two small holes in the outer bag. The food was hot and while it did not look much, it was very filling. I followed it up with dried strawberries coated in chocolate.
I did a spot of night time photography including some of the tent. I could not really create an image of a tent glowing in the darkness due to the street lamps that illuminate the paths leading to the top of Sara Peak.
When settling down for the night, I was too warm and I did not completley zip up my sleeping bag. By 2 in the morning, I was a little cold. The high humidity and drop in temperature resulted in a lot of condensation, both inside and outside of the tent. It is not that it is not a very well ventilated tent. The fly is not flush with the ground, I left the door unzipped and the vents open. It is just that the moisture in the air condensed on every surface. I have never packed away a tent so wet without there having been any rain!
I did a spot of night time photography including some of the tent. I could not really create an image of a tent glowing in the darkness due to the street lamps that illuminate the paths leading to the top of Sara Peak.
When settling down for the night, I was too warm and I did not completley zip up my sleeping bag. By 2 in the morning, I was a little cold. The high humidity and drop in temperature resulted in a lot of condensation, both inside and outside of the tent. It is not that it is not a very well ventilated tent. The fly is not flush with the ground, I left the door unzipped and the vents open. It is just that the moisture in the air condensed on every surface. I have never packed away a tent so wet without there having been any rain!
It was a fairly easy climb to the top of Sara Peak and onwards to the Olle offices in Jeju city. The offices were no yet open and I continued to a coffee shop and bakery a short way ahead. The coffee place is next door to the bakery and they have a sort of symbiotic relationship. The girl in the coffee part was particularly friendly and used a translation app on her phone to wish me "happy walking" and "good travels". I went for the ham croissant and potato soup. It may seem strange having soup for breakfast, but it was what took my fancy.
Gwandeokjeong: I have passed these 15th Century buildings without entering the grounds. As I was not intending to complete Olle 17, I felt that I had time to spare and it was only ₩ 1500, which is about 75 pence.
American cockroach (Periplaneta americana)
This is quite a busy route and I stopped to chat tot an Iranian man and his partner and later a frenchman and his partner. I stopped for a banana juice just before Dodubong, a small 30-40m peak that overlooks the airport. I then continued another 2.5km to the far end of Iho beach. It was always my intention to end here as my next trip will finish off Olle 17 in reverse [about 9km] before continuing about 5km along Olle 16 for a camp. Then I'll complete Olle 16 the next day. I am not too worried about walking the routes from the official starts and finishes in a day but planning around places I want to overnight.
