Day 10, Leg 7 (as if nothing happened)

Today's walk went about as well as could be expected, and while I ended up with hot spots and other irritations on my feet that will only worsen over the next few days, I'm not blistered or bleeding. So that's nice. Probably the biggest three causative factors for blisters are pressure, friction, and moisture. They're all interrelated, too. I pre-taped my feet, trying to anticipate where hot spots might appear, and I got most of them but missed one or two. Those will get bandaged tonight. But the pre-taping eliminated much of the friction problem. Until someone invents a diet pill that can make weight instantly disappear, there's little to be done about pressure over the next week and a half. As for moisture: if today was any indication, my walks are going to vary from cool to cold, so my toes won't get too sweaty. My policy for this half or 60% of the walk is to shower only on days when I know I'm resting. That's 3 out of 11 days, so I might be ripe when I bus home on the final day. No matter.

The temperatures today were, as I'd predicted previously, all over the place. I left the Hong C Motel at 4:45 a.m. and headed for the river. It was a bit above freezing, but after a couple hours of walking, my fingertips were icy, so I had to put on one pair of gloves (I'd brought two pairs and will wear both when it's cold enough). As dawn became morning, and the sky lightened, the world began to warm up, so one by one, I had to shed various items and stow them in my backpack: my outer winter hat, my foreskin-shaped neck warmer (I think it's called a gaiter), my scarf, and my winter vest. They'll all be back on tomorrow morning when I leave at 4:30; they did keep me snug and warm while it was dark. The Daegu area is definitely a few degrees warmer than Seoul during the day, though; that became more obvious as the hours rolled on.

In the pre-dawn darkness, the starry sky was a sight to behold. My travel companions in the firmament were Jupiter, Betelgeuse, Sirius, and Orion's belt and sword. They hove in the northwestern sky until the atmosphere lightened, with stubborn Jupiter being the last to disappear. You can't normally see a sky like that when you're in Seoul; the light pollution is too much. But in the rural, river-valley outskirts of Daegu, light pollution is a lot weaker. 

Most of the walk was fairly quiet in the early morning except for two old men who, at different times, marched onto the trail and kept their own cadence. One old man had his radio or cell phone cranked up such that I could hear him coming up behind me when he was way back. As he got closer and eventually passed me, the music got louder and louder. I hate it when people don't keep their music (or talk radio) to themselves. Wear headphones or ear buds, dammit! Both old men turned left to cross a dam that wasn't part of my route, leaving me in blessed silence until after dawn. A bit after 9 a.m., a new scourge arrived in the form of bikers. I'd thought most of these folks would have stopped biking for the year, but I guess these were the really dedicated ones. I bowed in greeting as each biker passed me; most bowed back, but some (especially women) stared stonily ahead, determined not to see me. 

Navigation was easy until it was time to leave the fringes and turn into the city, at which point I had to rely on Naver Map to avoid losing my way. I got to the If Hotel at almost exactly 12:45 p.m. It was a 4:45 a.m. start, so 8 hours of walking if we include rest breaks and photo stops. If we subtract those things, my time for the route was around 7.3 hours, giving me a walking speed of 3.4 kph. Pretty pitiful, and having my ass kicked by faster old men only rubbed salt in the wound. 

Since I arrived so early, I decided to grab lunch at the Chinese place first, then hit the local convenience store to pick up wet and dry tissues for use while on the trail. This is now my third trip to An Shi Seong, and I hit the place during its Saturday lunch rush. I had to wait to be seated, and I ordered my now-usual fried mandu plus gganpoonggi. The mandu was as good as always, and the chicken was back to being its original, super-crunchy self. Service was hectic and hasty, but I nevertheless enjoyed the meal. 

There's little left to do but relax, charge my phone, watch some YouTube, and rest my poor, battered feet, which must endure a 33K walk tomorrow. I'm not bleeding or oozing today, but tomorrow might be another story. 

And here are your ten pics for today (plus a map and stats):

The segment tomorrow is 8 km longer.

Don't trust the distance, but do trust steps and calories.

Dalseong Dam Certification Center

You can see Orion's belt and sword along with Sirius, Betelgeuse, and Jupiter.

lightening sky

goddamn park golf, even when the grass is brown

"I've come to watch your power flowin'."

faux sunrise

flower power

one of several family plots

Daegu is known for frogs called maeng-ggongi.

gganpoonggi: gloriously crispy chicken

The Dalseong region (county?) of Daegu looks to be sunny or partly sunny for the next several days; I don't know whether that will be true as I march farther north, but a man can hope. With no snow or rain in the immediate future, I don't have to worry too much about moisture. At least I've reserved my pension (Libertar), which I'll hit this coming Tuesday.

If Hotel: a cool W70,000, but it's got a smart toilet, thus allowing me to bidet myself. Because you never know whose tongue might come a-calling.

Sickness report: all clear. I was pretty snug and warm all day; I had a sniffle because of the cold temps, but not a cold. If I do catch a cold, I've got medicine for that.