It's around 11:30 p.m. as I write this, and I'm checking the Korean National Weather Service's website to see what the weather will be like when I arrive in Hyeonpoong Friday evening, then leave and walk 25K Saturday morning and afternoon. What I'm currently seeing is this:
- 9:00 p.m.-ish arrival in Hyeonpoong on 11/29: 4ºC, feels like 2ºC, partly cloudy
- Saturday morning start, 11/30, 5 a.m.: 2ºC, feels like 0ºC, cloudy & dark
- by noon: 10ºC (feels like 8ºC, practically warm!), sunny and clear
- by the time I arrive at the If Hotel, early afternoon: 12ºC, partly sunny
Nice weather for visiting that Chinese restaurant across from the If. So Day 1, at least, ought to be a breeze. But notice the operatic rise and fall of the temperature: the walk will start off freezing, and I'll have to shed clothing as temps warm up. I might even be in short sleeves by the time I arrive at the If Motel. Crazy. The region is forecast to be varying between sunny, cloudy, and partly sunny at least through December 8. Of course, by the 8th, I'll have worked my way almost to Andong, so most of this forecast is irrelevant to me, but as I'd predicted earlier, starting in Daegu means starting with higher temperatures. So at least that's comfortable. I'm bringing my winter clothing and ice cleats in case things get bad somewhere along the way, but I'm hoping that things stay good. I'm especially hoping there won't be any rain. Because that would suck.
But in the internal debate over whether to take along my winter coat or just use this new, heavy windbreaker/raincoat plus extra layers, the raincoat has won out. It's no contest: if it rains, the winter coat, which is awesome because of its down lining, would be a liability: have you ever been out in the cold in a soaking winter coat? Few things are worse for distance walkers, and down has no value when soaked.
I'm almost packed and ready to go. And now that the weather's going to be so much cooler, I'm taking along all my meds this time, including my insulin, God help me. It's going to be a very interesting eleven days.
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