Kevins Walk 7: October 2023

Happy Halloween! With today's day of rest, my day/leg numbering is now off by 3.

When I did a route check for tomorrow's walk into Daegu, I could no longer find the Boom Motel (a.k.a. Motel Boom) on Naver. It may have gone out of business. I did a check on other motels in the same area, and there were plenty. I'm going to try the Motel If (shades of Château d'If from The Count of Monte Cristo), which sits close to the bike path. Naver is saying the walk is 33K in length. The original walk to Boom was 32K, so there's not much difference there.

A change in motel doesn't bother me that much; these things happen. Reality is always evolving out from under you, so you can either kick and scream like a child (which I admit I do sometimes), or you can roll with the circumstances and adapt.

Per tradition, I went across Chilgok Dam to the observation point across the river, taking photos the whole way. Before that, though, I went down the street to Holly's Coffee to have whatever lunch might be on offer. Different cafés have different menu items that vary from lame to awesome. Last time I went, I had a cheesy risotto that wasn't great but wasn't bad. This time around, I indulged in a mushroom bread-bowl soup, a sandwich claiming to be a croque monsieur, and two strawberry smoothies. I also bought a prepackaged cookie—white chocolate and dried cranberry. Very carby, the whole thing was. Music for the kids a generation or two down from me was playing; I couldn't relate, and I've never liked K-pop, anyway, no matter the decade. The food turned out to be mediocre, with the smoothies being the best thing about the meal (the croque monsieur was a joke; I'll make one myself once I'm back in Seoul). A lot of cafés make decent smoothies—a drink I like, but that I consume only once in a blue moon.

The short, steep climb to the observation point required me to stop a few times to catch my breath; this shit doesn't get any easier as you get older. The path featured a lot of steps, and I remembered that the last time I was here was before my stroke, hence the added difficulty of the steps. The view was amazing, though; I could see my motel, the local railway (I photographed a passing KTX), the dam, the woods, and a good portion of the town. Sweeping and panoramic.

This next phase of the walk is a bit abusive. Including tomorrow, I have two over-30K days that are not followed by a day of rest. In theory, I also have a camping day this coming Saturday, but I'm formulating a Plan B in case of rain. I also discovered a pension that sits right before Sangpoong Bridge. If I use that pension next time, along with whatever my upcoming Plan B will be, I can avoid camping altogether without having to slog through any 42K or 44K treks as I did in 2020. That means walking across Korea with only a small backpack. Much nicer.

Here are some photos from today.

a sexy leg of lamb to start your day

the distant observation deck as seen from my room

someone

keto-heads are ripping out their hair about now

bread-bowl closeup

The soup was supposed to be some kind of truffle mushroom-garlic thing. I've decided, after trying several truffle-y products, that I don't really like truffles that much. They strike me as overrated. They're cloying, and their flavor dominates everything. I'm also not convinced that they "add elegance" to a dish. I suspect truffles might work well on pizza, where they can compete for attention with other strong flavors. But in just about all of the truffle-related dishes and products I've tried, truffles don't deliver as advertised. I'd rather they not be in the dish or product at all. Just my opinion. The bread was okay, though, once the soup was gone.

croque monsieur closeup (with jam)

smoothie closeup (green leaf is dyed white chocolate)

goodbye, Holly's

It says, "Chilgok Dam."

the one Islamic dam

rail bridge

Next bridge over, seen from the dam; I'll pass it tomorrow.

my ancient enemy: stairs

observation deck as seen from a distance

0.5 digital-zoom effect

I can hear Darth Vader telling Luke, "You cannot hide forever."

ta-dah (see here for a discussion of this place)

a view back at part of the town

a look forward along tomorrow's path

In a sense, I caught the KTX.

dragon image

Danger Guy!

digital zoom of my motel as seen from the hilltop

what to do when you're out of toilet paper

I tried several times to upload a video of the live snake I saw yesterday, but the upload hasn't been successful, and I don't know why. I'll upload the vid when I publish the full photo essays after I'm back in Seoul. Sorry!

ADDENDUM: I should note that the motel ajumma did not visit my room at any point to resupply anything. In fact, I didn't even see the lady today on my way out or when I came back. A guy was in the front office when I was coming up the stairs. He nodded in acknowledgment, and that was that. I ran out of toilet paper yesterday, but the room's Kleenex box is serving me well as a surrogate. Don't need no resupply.

PHOTO ESSAY

sexy leg

that hill as seen from afar

the Lee Motel

immodest lunch

bread bowl (mushroom soup... a bit funky but edible)

the "croque monsieur"

Yes, the "leaf" is edible chocolate.

The heart starts off with, "You're a very precious person." This is one of many, many anti-suicide messages to be found along this trail almost all the way to the very end. In between the footprints at the bottom of the pedestal, it says 잠깐/jamggan, or "Just a sec," i.e., Wait before you do anything.